It looks like the grinding noise after starting, the noise that got me so mad at my Bronco and led me to write the now infamous "done with Broncos" thread, was due to my remanufactured starter failing. After taking it off, we could see that the bushing inside came apart. When I showed it to the Autozone guy, he just nodded and said "yeah, that's where they usually go, " like it happens all the time. I got five months out of the starter. I got the same out of a rebuilt alternator, before the bearing went out. I forgot where that one came from. So I went to NAPA for a power steering pump, and paid extra for one of their "premium" pumps, and it was defective from the get-go. It is hard enough keeping an older vehicle going without the new stuff that you buy to fix it being as bad as the old stuff. Even the Ford dealership sells remanufactured parts, they don't have new ps pumps for example. I never asked the auto parts stores to sell the stuff so cheaply, charge me more and sell me something good. So all you can do is put them on, and hope they last.

 

You're not kidding about the parts from the national discount parts houses being terrible in quality control.

A year ago I replaced my starter and alt. in my other project vehicle, an 84 Z28. The starter almost left me stranded an hour ago, and the alt is on the fritz as well.

I've had trouble with all of the parts stores also. I could NOT get my Z to run on any of the part's stores ignition components. At 2500 rpm the car would just stutter and jerk. I tried AutoZone, Pep Boys, Napa.........

That's why I buy aftermarket stuff now. My ignition module (a cheap $5.00 autozone part) is a $40.00 Accel part. (Turns out that MSD is rather cheap and usually Accel is better than MSD.....long story). I have the rest of my ignition set up with Jacob's Ignition.

When I do my Bronco, I'm using nothing less than Accel quality ignition components. I will need a water pump and I am going with Stewart. I have a Stewart pump on my Z. The stock pump wasn't bad, but I needed more cooling. I compared the two and man oh man, the Stewart kicked butt. I can see why it is the choice of the pros. Just so you know, they sell direct to the public, they don't use guys like Summit or anybody else. http://www.stewartcomponents.com

Now I'm gonna rebuild all of the steering and suspension components. Is there a high quality replacement for tie-rod ends, ball joints, steering box and so on for an 83 Bronco?

I'd hate to spend $500.00 at Pep Boys only to have the entire system to crap out on me in 12 months.

I know exactly where you are coming from though, pulling out your hair. For me it's not even the fact that I have to either buy another part or spend more money (I'm not happy about that), but I have my vehicles to drive and enjoy, not to work on!

Feeding my 9 mile a gallon habit.

 

I think MOOG is a good brand for high quality front end parts.

 

I remember a few years back when I worked for an independent auto parts distributor(we had 4 stores ), we used to get parts at cost.....which was cool.A co-worker of mine had a '93 Camaro,which needed an altenator.We used to stock Hastings remanufactured starters & altenators. Anyway, he took the car to one of our customers,with an altenator...not once,not twice,third time was a charm.He was sooooo p...ed off,but I felt really bad.I think the shop cut him some slack on labor,'cause he had it in there three times with a month,but I'll never forget that. I always bought stuff like TomCo brand sensors,and little/inexpensive stuff like switches,oil filters,air filters,gaskets,etc.I, 99 percent of the time, will avoid remanufactured parts,if I can help it.It might be more expensive,but I always wondered about "remanufactured" parts. I hope you keep your Bronco. BELIEVE ME, I KNOW.....vehicles can be very frustrating(and keep your wallet empty).Ask me about the EFI460-powered,supercharged lawn ornament I have sitting in the driveway,awaiting attention to it's E4OD.I figure,it'll be worth it in the long run. Like my Dad always tells me : "It's a machine.Machines break,you fix them,or pay somebody to". Uh huh. Replacing the oil pan gasket on my Dad's EFI302 Flareside is next.Not bad when you get it fixed for free. I never had the pleasure of replacing an oil pan gasket on a 302 in a 4x4,but from what I've been told I'll need to add a few dollars to the ole swear jar. It was full the last time I worked on his truck.....

 

Who carries MOOG brand?

Ditto on the alt. My dad went through 3 on his Caddy, all rebuilds. Fortunately for him, he didn't buy the part and hire someone to put it in. The mech picked it up from Autozone.


My brother-in-law is a manager at a NAPA. Guess what he uses? New parts, no remans.

Back to the original poster. Don't give up just because there are a lot of poor quality parts available on the market.

I was ready to do the same thing with my Camaro, and that is a car that has very few inherent problems. Most of my trouble with that car has come when I tweak the motor and then either something is insufficient and I replace it with a less than acceptable quality component or because I broke something and then replaced it with cheap part.

When I relaxed, and thought about it, I realized that once I brought it up to a good drivable condition after I bought it (it was rough) nothing has broken due to the design of the car or otherwise. Either I've broken it or I used a cheaper part than I should have.

I'd expect the same out of any car I own. A truck I am more forgiving of b/c they are bigger, heavier and we're generally not as careful in using them as a car.

Feeding my 9 mile a gallon habit.

 

http://www.carquest.com/steering.htm

Carquest carries MOOG


Feeding my 9 mile a gallon habit.

 

I'm not trying to buy cheap parts, but that's all that seems to be out there. Where do you buy a new starter? When I need a starter, like when my original died in the parking lot at work, I needed a starter and didn't have time to order a new one. I wish Autozone etc. would just get better stuff. All my starters say "rebuilt in Mexico," which is fine, except I imagine that they rebuild them there so that they can pay poor people who know nothing about cars a few bucks to rebuild them. And that is what we are putting in our cars. I'd pay $100 for a starter, no problem, if I knew it would last. I'm not demanding $29 starters. That's my point. And it gets very frustrating when these things keep dying. Right now all of these parts are on my truck, and I'm not going to replace them. They work now, and hopefully will continue to work. But if one goes for the third time, I will demand my money back and try to find a new part.

 

BTW - I WAS able to buy a new, not rebuilt water pump at NAPA.

 

Don't any of you guy's have Electrical Motor re-builder's in your locale?

All I have to do is take my auto related things like Alt's,Starters to
a place called: *Alberta Generator & Starter*, and they will build anything I want,with the best parts avialable.

I had a Volvo Alternator go bad and they rebuilt it with more 20 amps output for $50.00 Cdn.

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JBronco:

I almost replied to your original post, but as it began to grow horns, I stayed away. The Bronco has its issues, but I think your bigger problem has to do with inferior parts. For what it's worth, I think you're finding that you're not alone (myself included). You know what I think would do us all a great justice? A sounding board or other means of rating the various manufacturers or otherwise identifying the true origin of the parts we buy from the local parts discounters. I bought my Bronco with the idea of systematically restoring one system at a time, as it became necessary, to end up with a daily driver (at my specs) at a fraction of the insurance and sticker costs of a new truck. So, for example, I had the dash completely removed from the truck two years ago for refinishing. While it was out, I replaced every bulb in the instrument cluster and even repainted the gauge needles. You know what's frustrating? When I remove the original Ford wiper and headlight switches (because I have them out, anyway) and replace them with new aftermarket switches. My reasoning- the OEM's are (at the time) 15 years old, and bound to fail soon. The aftermarkets, at least, have to be better as they are fresh off of some assembly line, somewhere. Wrong! What a pain to replace old, working parts with new ones that fail within weeks. I could take it out on the Bronco, but I could own any other vehicle and try the same theory and end up with the same problems. It's a true shame..... we have a local Mom & Pop Auto Parts store that I used to use exclusively over the discounters. For a couple of $$$ more, I could get Gates hoses & belts, and other parts that I knew to be of a higher standard. Unfortunately, in order to stay in business, they've aligned themselves with some discount line, and most of their parts have gone to the dogs. I guess the public has become used to disposable cars and trucks and leases, and those who can't or won't replace their car every couple of years demand the cheapest prices for parts. The minority (us) who hang on to our vehicles while wanting quality replacement parts are left up the creek. As evidence, just look at how quickly Ford discontinues a line of parts anymore. They have resigned that they are better off sending the masses to Manny, Moe, and Jack. Hang in there..... Glad you're still with us.

 

http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/search/search.d2w/report2?searchphrase=starter+ford&smartsearch=on&n s=Y

or http://www.summitracing.com

I have dealt with both companies. I prefer Summit, but only because they have a warehouse that is close enough for me to get my products in 2 days!

That's where I'd get a starter though.

Feeding my 9 mile a gallon habit.

 

Interesting thread;
twleve years back I needed a new fuel pump, and not wanting further aggravation, I paid the extra bucks to get a "good" one from the Ford dealer.

Well, six months later in the mountains in Colorado, that "good" pump also cr*pped out; limped in to Colorado Springs, got a pump installed there - while I was out riding my GSXR1100 on those mountain roads! - and have had no problems since. Have no idea where it came from - my guess would be NAPA.
- R

 

Mechanic's Auto Parts, Discount Auto Parts/Parts America/ Advance Auto Parts, and Napa all have good stuff. I hate Auto Zone. I got a clutch from them, and it failed after 1,000 miles! It damaged the input shaft on my tranny, and really enraged me. Come to think of it, I think that reman master cylinder came from them too! It's there own fault that they have no front windows!!!

Jared

 

NAPA - I paid over $80 for a "premium" power steering pump, thinking that NAPA had good stuff, and the premium pump from them should be really good. It was defective from the beginning. That thing whined so bad, and the whining never went away. Yes, it was bled and all that. They are just as bad as the rest. It's a crapshoot when you buy these parts. NAPA just relies on their reputation to charge more. If I'm gonna get junk, at least I will pay junk money.

 

Could we start a "master list" or a new topic board containing the names and sources of both good, new components and the crappy ones we should steer clear of? I deal with this issue when getting parts for my '67 MGB, some are OEM standard, most are crap. My Bronco is my daily driver and I want it to work. I also don't mind spending a few more $$$ if I know I am getting a quality part. I also support using local (usually family-owned) specialists like electric component rebuilders and such.