Auto Parts from CHINA...UPDATE ON STRIKE THREE
 

79 left me stranded at an intersection last night on the way home from work...no big deal as a truck that sat in a Tennnessee field for two decades before rescue you would expect to replace a lot of stuff

I replaced quite a few things because when the truck first came home a few months ago....truck was running rich after tuneup....turned out to be a bad plug...one month old and intermittent to no spark even with correct gap and no appearance of a cracked insulator....Autolite never failed me before but you can expect a bad one once in a lifetime I guess.....bad part was I rebuilt carb once and tore it down four more times for cleaning trying to figure out the rich exhaust

Distributor pickup went out and I replaced that but noticed coil had leaked out all its oil so I got another coil also same day...a month later its missing and stalling intermittently when warm and acting lean on the topend...truck missed at hywy spd but miss went away when I accelerate or secondaries kicked in making me believe it was fuel supply issue....replaced all fuel line from tank to motor and replaced weak (and new) (cheapo) mech fuel pump with a good electric one and regulator set at 6psi (I have a Quick Fuel crab on it)....still missing at consistent speeds

thought it was the OLDE IGNITION BOX issue....has a Napa Heavy Duty aftermarket box on it but got a replacement JIC and as a spare....first one I got didn't work at all out of the box....made in China....right after returning it last night, truck died @ intersection

turned out to be that my NEARLY BRAND NEW CHEAPO COIL had failed and died and was the cause of the miss and stall at hywy speed...all that fuel supply work for nothing (except its nice to have all new stuff) as it was this stupid coil the whole time

Next time I will buy nothing but Ford Motorcraft or high-end aftermarket stuff....and I will be replacing every part I bought cheap from the store with good ford stuff

Anyone else have similar issues?

Oh and will be moving the new coil from that ridiculous location right over the EGR iron intake manifold better suited for cooking stuff than for intaking stuff to prevent cookin yet another coil

eventually I`m doin a Diesel conversion when funding permits (might be awhile)

I don't know of anything made in china worth a crap. The business I'm in I see a whole lot of wheel bearings made in china. Unfortunately, many of the ones claimed to be made in the US are actually machined in another country then shipped over here and boxed, then they can label them made in the USA. I actually replaced the starter selenoid on my 99 and it didn't work right out of the box. It was a Motorcraft made in Mexico.

yeah I`m a machinist....we used to rework Dana drivetrain parts by the tens of thousands for Dana....shipped straight from their "new, state of the art manufacturing facility" in ARGENTINA (thanks to NAFTA)...threads cut shallow...the rings that lock in the diff on industrial and commercial truck pumpkins had shallow threads that would strip, etc.

I agree with what you said too, the stuff coming from south and central America is only marginally better than chinese

well my alternator started goin south late saturday night on the way home so I had to buy a Reman. one cuz my funds are short this month with kids goin off to college..................this one had a "remanufactured in MEXICO" sticker on it so I thought maybe marginaly better than Chinese

fast forward to this morning and I leave for work and hit a drive thru on the way in after I get off the Hwy....sounds like a diesel under the hood so I get out and pop the hood......yup.............bearings/bushings on this "remanufactured alternator" are SMOKED after just twenty five miles of driving

At this point I am sick...I want to friggin scream and toss it thru the front window of the store...Im so tired of the wasted trips back and forth to the stores to pickup a replacement.....DO THESE m*****F****RS have any shame?

I would have gone to NAPA, but they have weird hours here and "weekends" aren't even on the schedule which sucks.....I have bought parts from three major chain AP stores here in town with NO luck whatsoever especially in this last week

I`ve not been this furious in a long F*****G time


THE SCORE IS:
Less than 30 days
Three different brand AP stores
Five different store locations
Two junk coils....third one still works so far
One junk ICM....second still works after its fourth day
One junk alternator....see above
One junk Mechanical Fuel Pump...second one was electric which is why it still works

I`m just in total disbelief and I feel stupid for not getting a ride to work (she`s my daily driver) so I could get a good (read expensive) part from a 9-5 REPUTABLE SOURCE..."convenience" is no excuse for lack of quality to this degree

ARGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!HH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unless it is an absolute an emergency I refuse to buy any automotive electrical part from AZ, ADV or ORe as they never work or work long. I pay a little extra for my local KOI or PArts plus store, thats if I don't order it online. Actually altenators and sometimes starters I get at a local shop that rebuilds them right behind the front counter. Two or three of my vehicles have gotten remans from their with no issues. John you might know of the place... Hamilton's on 3L.

I know Hamilton's. I used to get remans from them when I did road service. I would buy 3 of them at a time, take them cores and made a lot of money re-selling them. I have used them on my own stuff too. They can also build heavy-duty/high-output alternators for you too. That comes in handy for doing jump starts, or if you've got a lot of electrical items on your vehicle like high power stereos or a lot of lights. I haven't bought anything from them in quite a while. I haven't had the need. ( I just put a curse on myself for saying that!)

They used to do rebuilds for KOI years ago. They used to be located out 16 in a house! Close to where 536 and 16 meet. Now they're on 17 near the TANK Bus garage.

Ding ding ding. That is why I was there. But general rebuilds work great too. I remember going to the old shop on 16 too.

do you have any address for this place that does alternator rebuilds or custom power alternators and things like that? or any place in Lexington like the place your talking about?? I prefer to use OE grade parts or better so I usually will go to pull a part and just get what I need or want and then just tear it down and learn to do a rebuild on it my self...that way I know its proper...course ill have the experts check my work to be safe each time...

This is Hamilton's website.
Auto Parts Rebuilder No. Kentucky & Cincinnati, OH

But they're a long drive from Lexington.