Lesson learned................

[EdGs]

My work had a bunch of chinese bearings they got for our machines, and I found out I was replacing them more because they were utter crap.

I will gladly pay more for made in USA stuff like that any day just to avoid issues. I will even buy Japanese or German bearings depending on type because the quality of most of the Chinese stuff is just not there.

 

[indept]

I remember years ago we had a Chevy Astro van. It had 2 idler arms, both were common failures. Replaced with local auto parts and they failed after 2 years. Went to dealer for oem's. They had the same Mexico stamp, identical to the auto part store item, they failed in 2 years too. Guess junk is junk no matter where you buy it.

 

[Jeepwalker]

I remember years ago we had a Chevy Astro van. It had 2 idler arms, both were common failures. Replaced with local auto parts and they failed after 2 years. Went to dealer for oem's. They had the same Mexico stamp, identical to the auto part store item, they failed in 2 years too. Guess junk is junk no matter where you buy it.

Made in Mexico parts from a parts store is NOT OEM quality.

It's true, a lot of OEM parts are made in Mexico, but so are a lot of 'lesser' economy-grade parts. A good case-in-point is a new GM front drive shaft I bought last year. Lot of guys buy the cheaper drive shafts and they don't last (for this application). But the OEM Delco driveshaft I bought was a lot more expensive than the imports made in China or Mexico. The Delco I bought was made in Mexico, but under the Delco sticker was an AAM sticker (American Axle and Machine), which make parts for GM brand new vehicles. So, it's a very good quality part. It depends who manufacturers the parts and their quality control, weather made in USA, China or Mexico. If you stick with OEM, they generally have quality control and standards on their parts.

Not all import economy parts are crap either. There's a time and place for cheaper import parts...

 

[turkeybird56]

Truth, BOIRD. Just finished up Grandma's Estate, and cremation will for me & the Mrs. Damn parasites bilk family even in death. I want a hole dug and carcass tossed in like a deer. But govt. says illegal. Why? Anything else is money for nothing - like a Chineseium sensor.

My "funeral" all arranged, payed for, through Funeral Home. My place guaranteed, Vet Cemetery in wall with Momma (cremated), and all paperwork and fiduciary stuff, etc etc done. SO all my kid needs to do is come here and settle estate and decide wat he wants. Tried to make it as easy as possible.

 

[GTyankee]

burn my carcass with natural gas
use a plastic bag & a cigar box to hold my ashes
pour my ashes on salt or fresh water & stay upwind as you do it

i don't want to get on anyone at that point

 

[Dusty]

Recently I changed out the leaky plastic oil/filter cooler assy on the wife's 300 for the improved all aluminum version.
There was lot of advice to replace both the coolant temp sensor and oil pressure sensor on that assembly and don't reuse the old ones. I ordered everything from RockAuto which is my usual 1 stop shop for car parts. This little voice in the back of my head kept repeating "only buy OEM sensors, only buy OEM sensors, only buy OEM sensors ". I must have thought "what? Can't hear you" So I got all that replaced last Saturday in the blazing heat with off and on thunderstorms. I had to worry about getting sun stroke and lightning struck in the same day. All together, oil changed, coolant topped off, we drove it to church Sunday, no problems. So the wife has to run to Cookeville (50 miles away) yesterday for a Dr. appointment. She calls me and said "the little yellow engine light came on; what does that mean?" Turns out it was running fine, no noise, running cool, all else seemed to be normal. When she got home, I put the code scanner on it. P0520 oil pressure switch/circuit error. The oil pressure sensor I just replace. It was not an OEM, the brand was United Motor Products. So basically I have to tear the car apart again and replace the sensor again with an OEM part to fix it right. I don't think there are any short cuts since all of this is beneath the intake manifold.

So, when you hear a little voice saying
"only buy OEM sensors, only buy OEM sensors, only buy OEM sensors ".

It it probably this guy
View attachment 497188

Listen,
It will save you some heartache.

I'd like to say I learned this lesson once. But I didn't. It took me a number of times before I realized that the few bucks I saved on an aftermarket part was not enough to compensate for the time it took to do the job again. My boys think OEM parts are over priced "and no better than aftermarket." That may be in a few cases, but but one of them seems to replace a front hub every year, while the factory part went eight.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 3 June 2018. Now at 73708 miles

 

[HEMIMANN]

Made in Mexico parts from a parts store is NOT OEM quality.

It's true, a lot of OEM parts are made in Mexico, but so are a lot of 'lesser' economy-grade parts. A good case-in-point is a new GM front drive shaft I bought last year. Lot of guys buy the cheaper drive shafts and they don't last (for this application). But the OEM Delco driveshaft I bought was a lot more expensive than the imports made in China or Mexico. The Delco I bought was made in Mexico, but under the Delco sticker was an AAM sticker (American Axle and Machine), which make parts for GM brand new vehicles. So, it's a very good quality part. It depends who manufacturers the parts and their quality control, weather made in USA, China or Mexico. If you stick with OEM, they generally have quality control and standards on their parts.

Not all import economy parts are crap either. There's a time and place for cheaper import parts...

Yes - I said only it is better than Chineseium. You get 2 years instead of 2 months.
Peoples found that out about Johnson Controls Batteries back when they outsourced from Milwaukee to Mexico.

 

[HEMIMANN]

My "funeral" all arranged, payed for, through Funeral Home. My place guaranteed, Vet Cemetery in wall with Momma (cremated), and all paperwork and fiduciary stuff, etc etc done. SO all my kid needs to do is come here and settle estate and decide wat he wants. Tried to make it as easy as possible.

BOIRD, just signed up for crematory, but I'm still pi$$ed about it. Friggin' death industry is nothing but a bunch of maggots eating our dead carcasses for our money that could have gone to useful purpose. I told the fam to dig a hole and drag my carcass into it. Death industry purchased the government to make that illegal. Grrrrr......

 

[turkeybird56]

BOIRD, just signed up for crematory, but I'm still pi$$ed about it. Friggin' death industry is nothing but a bunch of maggots eating our dead carcasses for our money that could have gone to useful purpose. I told the fam to dig a hole and drag my carcass into it. Death industry purchased the government to make that illegal. Grrrrr......

I did all mine when my wife died. SO all arranged, with Funeral Home, etc, paid the fee, which is in like a receiver account that they do, this is a whole industry in itself, so whenever they just due the cremation, box, and put in wall with wife at Vet Cemetery. All set up there too. I kept the stone/marble plaque simple. JUST get a sharpie and put in 2 dates, use same marble plate, easy peasy.

 

[Justin33]

My "funeral" all arranged, payed for, through Funeral Home. My place guaranteed, Vet Cemetery in wall with Momma (cremated), and all paperwork and fiduciary stuff, etc etc done. SO all my kid needs to do is come here and settle estate and decide wat he wants. Tried to make it as easy as possible.

Smart man

 

[turkeybird56]

Smart man

Just not want my son to have and deal with all the BS. I have everything done, divided, beneficiaries done, fiduciaries done, so all he has to do is show up and put all in motion and take care of any animals I have at that time. Since he is 1800 miles away, just gotta make it as easy as I can. Trying to be a responsible BOIRD.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

Chineseium should be copyrighted by @Dr. Righteous

I can't take credit for that one. I heard that somewhere a while back.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

Ugh.. that sucks.

Sorry if I missed it, but how did the aluminum oil filter/cooler housing install process go? Did you re-use the heat exchanger off the OEM?

In regards to OEM vs aftermarket parts, there's a few very popular youtube techs I watch regularly. They all say Stellantis/FCA products can be very problematic with aftermarket electronic bits.

I'd still have no problem trying an aftermarket part provided it's in an easy to get to spot and easy to replace. Anything with that stupid oil filter/cooler assembly and all the work involved, you gotta go OEM.

Actually the whole job wasn't that hard. It is located dead center of the engine below the intake manifold. There some nuts you remote to loose the upper intake from the brackets and then the in mounting screws. The only pain was this car is really low to the ground unlike a truck. Having to get under it to drain the coolant, change oil was bigger pain than replacing the assembly.

After I got the old assembly removed I soak up the oil and water with shop towels and then doing a Eric-O style orchestra hit with a can of brake clean in hand, I got all the oil residue clean up. The Dorman all aluminum assembly is identical to the plastic one, so nothing special about installing it. You have to swap over the oil cooler to the new unit. A nice plus is the kit comes with all o-ring gaskets for the assembly plus for the upper and lower intake. And also, the unit is Made in America.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

I found the Mexico-source parts are better than Chineseium, in general. Quality has improved since the original great NAFTA outsourcing of the 90's (the great sucking sound, per Ross Perot for those of you old enough to remember).

It's still not good like a USA part, however. Corporations have tried to crack down on quality for their cheap overseas suppliers, but the very point in outsourcing in the first place is the problem. People want something for nothing. There isn't any such thing in real life.

You nailed it.
I bring up Ross Perot and "that giant sucking sound" quite a bit in conversations.
Ross Perot was a bit rough around the edges with the way he expressed himself but he was dead right as to what NAFTA would result in. American jobs disappearing with very little "new high tech" jobs to replace them.
I remember Ross Perot in a debate about NAFTA, he said: "Now, now folks listen to me. Mexico is a 3rd world country. A toilet to them is a hole in the ground. " Oooooooh. Bad chose of words Ross.

 

[huntergreen]

BOIRD, just signed up for crematory, but I'm still pi$$ed about it. Friggin' death industry is nothing but a bunch of maggots eating our dead carcasses for our money that could have gone to useful purpose. I told the fam to dig a hole and drag my carcass into it. Death industry purchased the government to make that illegal. Grrrrr......

I told my wife to put me out with on the curb in a hefty trash bag.

 

[HEMIMANN]

I told my wife to put me out with on the curb in a hefty trash bag.

Why the bag? Just decompose naturally.

 

[turkeybird56]

Why the bag? Just decompose naturally.

He is in NJ, and the trash folks "would" report a body in the can if seen, so need the bag for the camouflage effect, lol. Hefty Steel Sacks.

 

[PoMansRam]

Actually the whole job wasn't that hard. It is located dead center of the engine below the intake manifold. There some nuts you remote to loose the upper intake from the brackets and then the in mounting screws. The only pain was this car is really low to the ground unlike a truck. Having to get under it to drain the coolant, change oil was bigger pain than replacing the assembly.

After I got the old assembly removed I soak up the oil and water with shop towels and then doing a Eric-O style orchestra hit with a can of brake clean in hand, I got all the oil residue clean up. The Dorman all aluminum assembly is identical to the plastic one, so nothing special about installing it. You have to swap over the oil cooler to the new unit. A nice plus is the kit comes with all o-ring gaskets for the assembly plus for the upper and lower intake. And also, the unit is Made in America.

Good deal.

I've seen this job done a bunch of times. I've not tried it myself.

I've watched Eric-O use a vacuum pump or old shop vac to suck the oil out of the valley on pentastars while doing this job. They can hold a lot of oil in the block valley for sure.

 

[huntergreen]

Why the bag? Just decompose naturally.

Don’t want the neighbors to complain.

 

[HEMIMANN]

Don’t want the neighbors to complain.

Just have the kids dig a hole.
Or cinder blocks off the pier. Can visit with Jimmy Hoffa. Oh, wait - c*r*a*b*s* ate him up long ago, nevermind.
Edit: can you believe this dumb algorithm censors the word c*rabs? We're back to the Tipper Gore record censorship crusade!.