It's no mystery where I stand with remanufactured injectors vs. new. I have my reasons, based on personal experience - the difference in behavior with fresh remans vs. new made a believer out of me. That's not to say I'm in the right, nor do I profess that my experiences would be the norm. Recent threads and PMs have been showing a trend that would support my opinion - but again, I offer up that my word is not the final say.

I was "in the mood" to make a collection point for those who have gone reman, then swapped out to new. While this club is a bit exclusive now - I think it's going to grow if these experiences aren't shared with the unsuspecting and/or skeptical.

I'll start (for those who were lucky enough to miss out on the Adventures of Stinky): Remanned Stage IIs installed, they were imbalanced, knocky, smoky, and I couldn't keep them running right. I swapped and swapped with fresh remans - my vendor doing a fantastic job of backing his product. I gave up all hope and paid the extra to swap for new injectors. Hallelujah what a difference in the sound, balance, and smoothness. They sound "crisp", that's the best word that fits out of the whole thesaurus.

Wanting to understand what just happened to me, I did a lot of reading, reviewing the videos of the oil spouts with the covers off, looking at my AE logs, and talking to people in-the-know. In a word - some of the remanned injector is "magic". That's not to say it can't be explained scientifically, but some of the parts in there are so small and operate at such extreme pressures (over 20,000 PSI) - that they operate in a dynamic way which can't be explained with a simple flow bench. The rebuilder can inspect the parts, but they don't likely have the very expensive equipment that can test for metal fatigue or see microscopic wear that leads to a short reman lifespan.

One other issue popped up recently - the parts vendors are in flux. Somebody is always coming into/going out of business, new products are being introduced, suppliers have shortages, etc.... When the internals are replaced with an untried or faulty component, the vehicle owner is the one who gets to make the discovery of an issue - and has to make the bulk of the effort to correct the problem.

Now... people are buying rigs with remanned sticks and swapping them - sending the cores in to be remanned remans. Is it any wonder that a new dynamic is taking place with all the injector rebuilders? There used to be a list of fail-safe rebuilders, but that era appears to be in the rearview. One might be able to get away with sending his/her first-time stock sticks in for rebuild, then wait to get them back. Other than that procedure, replacing injectors can best be described as practicing unsafe swaps - running the risk of contracting a STD (Stick Trade Disappointment).

Counterpoint? Agreement? Experience? Question?

 

IMO it's the same fate that all Mechanical parts follow nowadays. Look how hard it is to find OEM/New Parts anywhere other than a OEM dealer that didn't cost a small brick of Gold to buy. After plunking down that brick, the buyer will run that part until it grenades, then turns it back as a core to buy a reman. Cause he don't have anymore gold bricks!(you call them Ammo for the Buck$$ooka). And the remanufacturers don't want to squeeze their profit margins anymore than they have to. So they cut the "acceptable" corners to crank out those "acceptable" cheap parts. That's why most 3rd world countries are the Reman kings. Crap goes in, Crap goes out.

 

Tugly,

I think you're on-point!

Everyone begins with a business plan to be the best. Increases in business, but lacks sufficient quality control and fails to grow to meet the original business plan. The result is poor workmanship, poor product, and business failure.

It not that anyone starts out to fail. They lack the ability to change and maintain their original expectations of being the best.

Quality and Reliability cost $$$. Most business owners care about one thing, the bottom line. Can they keep the lights on.

Most reputable businesses are businesses that failed until capital was invested. That's why so many suck. They don't invest in their product or customers.

I would pay the same as new if they were as good or better. AND you didn't get a ration when you "question their product" after receiving it.

I want customer service and a good product...... I don't care who I get it from

If you want a successful business plan, see what Harley-Davidson and Chrysler did in the 80"s. When everyone said they were dead, they had one last breath. But, two people built those companies back up to be the biggest in the 80's.

That's just me.

 

New. Search my history for the saga I went through. There is no way I could recommend anything other than new.

What concerns me is future EPA regulations that will limit production of new parts for these old engines.

 

New! I have remans now. They started goving me trouble within 5000 miles. Picked up an engine to rebuild in the future that also had remans in it. Did some blind swapping until I had a set the truck liked to run. So two sets of remans equals one set of good injectors.

When I rebuild the spare engine it will get New sticks. IMO putting remans in is the same as buying a non-oem CPS, IPR etc. The price looks great but the performance.....

Remans= been there, done that, don't want the t-shirt.

Tugly you're right with the remanned remans. How can they possibly be the same as new? They may spec that way when shipped but won't stay that way when installed.

 

my question for all the people that say remans suck.
where did you get your remans from?
some companies have horrible reputations, and others have stellar reputations.

 

That is a 'can o worms' question......

 

My only concern, when I purchased remans, was that the solenoids may fail. Most of everything else in them was replaced new or machined to their specs. IIRC, the barrels and nozzles were new. I can understand that batches of parts can be inconsistent and cause problems even with new ones. That goes back to quality control issues. I had to replace my 38R due to machining flaws during its construction. We don't live in a perfect world. It is frustrating when a part fails that is not easy, or quick, to change.

 

It might be but those of us getting ready to spend a large chunk of change really want to know the good and the bad. I'm hoping that those that have had a good reman experience will also chime in.

If you got a particular bad product for our trucks from an ebay seller or a chain store like auto zoo you wouldn't hesitate to let us know so we could avoid making a mistake. if your remans didn't work out let us know so we can decide whether or not to go that way. No one is going to decide based on one comment but if others didn't get good sticks from the same source then......oh well.


Good Thread Tugly, and timely for me. Injectors are on my short list and I've been on the fence. This may well help me decide which way to go.

 

I can't answer directly for everybody - but following the threads and talking to members and rebuilders, I would say nobody escapes this problem completely. FFD, PIS, Rosewood, and Swamps bring great feedback on the forum - but there's always a member here and there reporting a fail at some point.

I started this thread in order to emphasize the issues at play for those in the market for sticks. How many times have we read a thread from an OP with fresh remans asking where his oil is going, why the truck smokes, misses or has partial misses/terrible economy, has a poor idle, why it knocks, or why replacing the sticks didn't address the original problem?

I'd like to get in front of this and maybe help our friends out. I spent countless hours fretting over my reman injectors, and I don't wish that on anybody. It pains me every time I see a reman problem I've experienced or know about - then have to break the bad news.

 

Advertising will suck you in.

Many offer outrageous warranties. So, you feel comfortable. Well, one goes and now your in four hours work, return, shipping, receiving, four hours work putting it back in.

I'm always very weary of outrageous warranties.

They seem to be "advertising expected failures".

 

i have heard nothing but good about Rosewood diesel. i have talked to Jim a few time on different matters, and he is very knowledgeable.
he is also a site sponsor. when the time comes for injectors in the spring, i plan on sending mine to him for reconditioning.
many people say injectors are good for 3-400k miles. Jim says most injectors start wearing out around 200k miles. and rarely will it cost more than 500-600 to make them back to factory specs.
but that changes once you put high mile on them.

i see where people spend $1200+ for reman injectors and then complain they are junk.
but they will not say where they got them from or what is wrong with them, just "don't use reman injectors".

 

You be the judge...

This


or, this

 

I second Whitetmw. Mine are from one of the companies Tugly mentioned. Hate to call them out directly because other people have had different experiences. In the end I decided it wasn't worth pulling them and paying for shipping and diagnostics in the hopes that they agree several are deffective and cover everything under warranty.

I had the chance to pick up a second engine for a good price that had lots of good parts. I chose to go that route and am glad I did.

I still have remans in and they run well. But I don't expect to get high mileage out of them. I'm okay with that because I plan on building the other engine for more HP etc and will put New sticks in that one. Maybe I'm wrong but I bet sending a new stick in under warranty will yield better results than sending in a reman.

Just my opinion.

 

those videos mean nothing. what are the names of the shops??


so you claim you had a bad experience, but will not name who it was with.
this reinforces what i said before.