A word about Atsco/Auto Zone power steering pumps

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I replaced the power steering pump on my Dakota a few weeks ago because it was leaking. I had a very hard time bleeding the air from the system but I did eventually get it bled so I had power steering again. Last week I started having trouble with my PS again. I had nearly no assist when driving slow or doing parking lot type maneuvers. It got progressively worse until this past Thursday when I lost all power steering assist. The ps pump was also very loud and squalled like a banshee at the slightest turn of the steering wheel.

I read up on it and reasoned the pump had to be the problem. I had no problems with the rack or intermediate shafts/steering u-joints prior to replacing the pump. The replacement pump I bought was an Atsco reman pump from Auto Zone. A new OEM pump is $351.00 plus a $15.00 core at the dealer, or I could have bought OEM from online Mopar sites for around $250.00. Those prices were out of my budget so I went with AZ.

The first AZ pump came in a plain white box that said "Atsco Remanufactured PS Pump" and "Remanufactured in the USA" on it. It also has some of the black paint flaked off of it around the filler neck. I installed it and that was the pump that failed on me this past week. Last night I bought another ps pump at AZ and also paid the core charge. I did it that way to save myself a trip to AZ and back. Otherwise I would have had to go to AZ, rent the ps pump pulley puller tool, come home, remove the pump and pulley, drive back to AZ and exchange the pump. I returned the first pump in the second pump's box today and just got a refund on my credit card. It made things easier and I did not have to interrupt the job driving back to AZ to exchange the original defective pump.

The reason for this long-winded post is to point out that the first pump came in a plain white box with black writing on it. I think that pump was either not rebuilt correctly from the start or possibly was a defective pump that never got rebuilt to begin with and was erroneously shipped out for sale when it should not have been. The pump that I bought last night works great. I installed it today, bled the system with the front wheels off the ground, key on, engine off, had very few air bubbles in the ps reservoir, then started the truck and bled it again by turning the wheels lock to lock about 20 times. All air bubbles in the reservoir disappeared and the truck drives perfectly and the power steering is back to normal specs again. I can once again turn the wheel easily with one hand.

I am not trying to start a "this brand part is better than that brand" or "OEM is better than aftermarket" war here. I just wanted to point out that the second ps pump that I bought yesterday and installed today had the AZ Duralast blue and red label on the box. The Duralast label also said "Remanufactured in USA" and "Exported to Mexico" on it. The defective pump did not have AZ's label anywhere on its box. So I am just trying to point out, if any of us here buys a reman ps pump at AZ, make sure it has the AZ Duralast label on the box. It might save you the headache and hassle of doing the job twice.
 
I put an Atsco steering box in my Wrangler. The original box lost a bearing and was dumping out 2 qts of fluid on my 6 mile commute.

I went with Atsco because I will not knowingly use any A1Cardon remf parts. So I went with Atsco.

The first box lasted about a year. Then something happened to the valving I guess. It became too hard to try to keep in my lane. A slight touch on the steering wheel would send me flying out of my lane.

Took it back and the replacement has been fine. Thankfully changing a PS box on my Jeep takes only 20 minutes.
 
Quality control is far from what it should be today on everything.Its a shame,but I try to buy OEM vintage parts whenever possible.Seems things were far better back in the 80s than they are today.And we all didnt even realize how good we had it back then...
 
Well..here's a bit of an update. That Duralast ps pump I put on my truck today had a sticker on it that reads "3F - Fluid, Flush and Filter". A Google search on the sticker comes back with a hit on the Cardone web site:

http://www.cardone.com/tech-help/steering/how-it-works-best-practices/3f-fluid-flush-filter

A guy on another forum I visit works in commercial parts sales at AZ. Tonight he posted that AZ is phasing out the Atsco pumps and the Duralast branded pumps are going to be remanned by a different company, but he did not mention which company got the nod. Looks like the new company is Cardone. Incidentally, I checked with Carquest about my pump, their ps pumps are also remanned by Cardone, and the CQ price was about $75.00 with a $50.00 core, IIRC. My ps pump was $49.95 with a $38.00 core at AZ.
 
When the pump on my 4 Runner started weeping last year, I priced out a Toyota pump (nearly $400), a reman (over $200) and a Toyota rebuild kit (about $40).

The rebuilt pump works great...
 
I frequently deal with rebuilt parts that have cheap paint that is already flaking away.

I always say "If they can't get something as simple as that correct, imagine what they can't do with what is complex?"

I usually say this when explaining discount steering and suspension parts where the zerk fitting does not properly screw into the part.
 
I work in the automotive aftermarket field. Cardone is one of the better rebuilders and that isnt saying much. As with most places that do r and r's its all about fast and cheap, not to mention the person doing the rebuild and inspect probably doesnt care too much. I see stuff overlooked everyday that blows my mind and it just goes to show that basic quality control is very loose anymore. When American jobs are going over seas like they are theres only us to blame. We demand vacations, raises and benefits and dont do our jobs. Were a joke.
 
I worked at a national auto parts retailer when I was in college and can say first-hand how poor many of the "rebuilt" parts were. We carried ACDelco rebuilt alternators and starters, and those were good. And we had a "Worldwide" brand of rebuilt alternators that were okay-to-good. But our house brand was terrible. Sure, it had a lifetime warranty, but what good is that if you have to replace the part every year? The Delco stuff had a 1-year warranty, and was 1.5x the cost, so we didn't sell much of it. But you never had to replace it.

I sold countless units of A-1 Cardone stuff. PS pumps, racks, alternators, starters, etc. Only to see much of it come back. The shops in town wouldn't buy it, because probably half of the parts would come back within the warranty period and they'd have to do the job over again.
 
I think the whole quality or lack of quality issue in auto parts is ignored these days causing lots of comebacks.
wonder if any distributers of parts do any quality inspections of their own or monitor parts quality in any way, or does some 28 year old mba just change sourcing each year to the newest lower bid chinese vendor?
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: edwardh1
I think the whole quality or lack of quality issue in auto parts is ignored these days causing lots of comebacks.
wonder if any distributers of parts do any quality inspections of their own or monitor parts quality in any way, or does some 28 year old mba just change sourcing each year to the newest lower bid chinese vendor?


They do whatever they think will maximize profit. At least in the past, and likely still today, they've believed that a low price point and high volume of sales overcomes a poor perception of quality and/or comebacks. And I'd say that their business decisions have been *mostly* correct so far...these companies are still in business, likely making healthy amounts of profit.

In a lot of industries, there's money to be made at both ends of the market. You can make money at the bottom of the market, with cheap entry-level products, and you can make money at the very top of the market, with premium-priced products. Is there a market for *premium* rebuilt parts? It doesn't appear that there is. Or if there is, it doesn't seem to have been exploited yet.
 
yep at my shop we hate when a customer refuses a better part for a cheap cardone. Prefer to go with worldpac or the dealers parts counter for a replacement.
 
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