Are remanufactured parts junk? Stranded again

[swalve]

If it's *actually* remanufactured, with testing and quality control, a part could better than factory. For example, if there is some kind of design flaw in the original design, the reman could contain strengthened/updated parts.

But that almost never happens. They sand blast it, change what's obviously damaged and throw it a box. For alternators, for example, they just change the burnt components and leave the other ones alone.

I have had surprisingly good luck from Autozone's Duracraft line, however. Seems of a better quality than the usual remans.

 

[Donald]

What a local alt. rebuild shop told me is that the cheap reman places solder new diodes into the bridge, where he replaces the bridge if any are gone. When he gets in a cheap reman as a core, he tosses it into a crate that gets sold by the ton to out of the country reman. places.

 

[NYEngineer]

My 98 Yukon lost it's original water pump at 63,000 miles. I replaced it with one from Auto Barn, 18 dollars, I think. I replaced that one at 201,000 miles only because I was doing the timing chain.
My original alternator failed at 65,000. I replaced it with a rebuilt from a small, private shop and that one ran until 200,000. I bought another from the same guy.
I replaced the original starter when I did the timing chain.

I actually need a distributor and I think I'll only be comfortable installing a factory part.

 

[euhysh]

Thanks for the help guys. I checked out Distributor King and ordering one now. They seem to be pretty good quality based on the reviews. The dealer local to me quoted $700 for the distributor. Online it's $400. Looks like mixed reviews here on remanufactured parts. Pretty much a gamble then?

 

[mechtech2]

Bosch rebuilds are generally high quality.
Auto parts store rebuild of their own are very iffy.
Starters, alternators, and distributors may have a good warranty, but you may go through a bunch, at your time and grief.

 

[RH+G]

Its probably just the ignitor that failed. If you know a honda then you would know to carry a spare with u. Those things go bad reman or OEM.

 

[AcuraTech]

Originally Posted By: RH+G
Its probably just the ignitor that failed. If you know a honda then you would know to carry a spare with u. Those things go bad reman or OEM.


+1

Common failure on older Honda distributors. No need to replace the whole assembly. Buy an OEM igniter and drive it for another 100K.

 

[Tornado Red]

I bought a remanufactured heavy-duty alternator from NAPA that came with a printout of the bench test and the employee number of the guy who rebuilt it. I was impressed, as I've never seen that before.

 

[artificialist]

I had a service writer who told me that he never buys reman starters or alternators UNLESS they come from NAPA, that is how high the standards are at NAPA.

Sounds like a good idea to me, I have seen far too many cars where the Autozone or Advance Auto reman lasts less than 1/2 as long as the factory part.

However, some cars are just torturous to alternators. My mom's 1985 Nissan Maxima went through several. So did my Grandma's 1993 Buick Roadmaster.

Then again, it seems that some OEMs choose better alternators than others. I rarely ever see a dead Denso before the car is 10 years old. Bosch alternators are often good, which suprises me because they also make the worst windshield wipers. Visteon and Denso/Delphi alternators however, never seem to last.

 

[Tornado Red]

Originally Posted By: artificialist
I had a service writer who told me that he never buys reman starters or alternators UNLESS they come from NAPA, that is how high the standards are at NAPA.
(snip) Bosch alternators are often good, which suprises me because they also make the worst windshield wipers.

Bosch is a great company, the main problem with their alternators for the TDI is the one-way pulley, they don't really last and the labor to replace them is the same as replacing the alternator itself. Bosch is top-notch in fuel injection systems.

If you're curious, do a Wikipedia search for Robert Bosch -- a great man and founder of a great company.