Rock Auto Ultra Power Fuel Pump

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Drew7a

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I took a gamble a replaced a fuel assembly using the Rock Auto Ultra power brand. I read somewhere that they are closeouts from major tier 1 suppliers.

The fuel pump I got definetly makes more noise than the oem did but seems to work fine and good fit and finish. I could not find any branding or stamping on the unit though.

Any one have experience with the ultra power brand? Rock auto had the “heart symbol“ next to it as a customer favorite. It was 1/4 the price of the remanufactured and had a better warranty.
 
Ultra Power is all closeouts. They buy huge amounts of random inventory and sell it in their boxes. You may get an OE Bosch, you may get a spectra. They're the "Hotwire Hot Rate" of car parts.

I've ordered suspension parts from them for beaters, and they've been fine. Tie rods are usually greasable and the like. Over all, you're probably safe. Did you have to drop the tank, or was there an access panel?
 
Their stuff varies I put some of their wheel bearings in my friends car and they didn’t last extremely long I think about 1 year and 20,000 miles not too bad but not the best.
 
14Accent said:
Ultra Power is all closeouts. They buy huge amounts of random inventory and sell it in their boxes. You may get an OE Bosch, you may get a spectra. They're the "Hotwire Hot Rate" of car parts.

I've ordered suspension parts from them for beaters, and they've been fine. Tie rods are usually greasable and the like. Over all, you're probably safe. Did you have to drop the tank, or was there an access panel?
Click to expand...
Access panel so not too bad.
 
I just started using Ultra Power here and there. Been very satisfied with what I tried. I actually started using their intake gaskets on all LS motors because they are excellent quality but no name on them as mentioned. I do a lot of GM truck intakes for knock sensors, oil sensors etc and I can save $30 using them over FelPro. I do admit, I don't use them for sensitive parts that either take long to replace or require perfection but I did use a fuel pump last year that seems to still be ok. I have used their suspension parts on beater cars and seemed no better or worse than a typical white box part from AZ.
 
Ultra Power fuel pump on my Ranger caused a perplexing problem:

Ranger fails to restart after hard braking

Vehicle: 1997 Ford Ranger, 2.3L "Lima", manual transmission. 265k miles, no CEL, runs fine. My son has had two incidents driving this truck. Both times, he stopped suddenly when a light turned yellow in order not to run the red. The engine died (my guess is that it died because he was braking...
bobistheoilguy.com
 
Well less than 10 days later and 200 miles the Ultra-Power fuel pump died. Kid stopped for a fill up and vehicle it did not want to start, when I checked it out, pump is getting power and could hear pump click when ignition was turned but did not prime. Luckily, it was right around the corner so did need wrecker to bring it home.

Going to order an OEM from dealer.
 
Drew7a said:
Well less than 10 days later and 200 miles the Ultra-Power fuel pump died. Kid stopped for a fill up and vehicle it did not want to start, when I checked it out, pump is getting power and could hear pump click when ignition was turned but did not prime. Luckily, it was right around the corner so did need wrecker to bring it home.

Going to order an OEM from dealer.
Click to expand...

Live and learn. Unless it is a legit closeout of a good brand cheap parts are crap parts.
 
Drew7a said:
Well less than 10 days later and 200 miles the Ultra-Power fuel pump died. Kid stopped for a fill up and vehicle it did not want to start, when I checked it out, pump is getting power and could hear pump click when ignition was turned but did not prime. Luckily, it was right around the corner so did need wrecker to bring it home.

Going to order an OEM from dealer.
Click to expand...

What kind of car is it? :)
 
AutoMechanic said:
Their stuff varies I put some of their wheel bearings in my friends car and they didn’t last extremely long I think about 1 year and 20,000 miles not too bad but not the best.
Click to expand...
Wheel bearings and suspension parts are one of those things you never wanna cheap out on. The fact he got 20k out of them is amazing by itself. Usually lucky to get 5, maybe 10k out of them. I'd only ever consider those for a car that's due for the wrecker but just need it to move a little bit longer. Getting Ultra-Power is like playing Secret Santa, but sure won't be finding a SKF or Timken is that box.

On the other hand, I just picked up an Ultra-Power ABS sensor for a Ford. Local stores wanted $200 but RA had it for $15. But a basic part like that is kinda hard to screw up and wasn't really a concern. So a MAP sensor is probably fine, a MAF - no way.

And as for ACDelco, I wouldn't even trust them anymore either. They sub-contract out all their parts so quality is hit or miss with them too. Recently replace a ICM on an older GM, lasted maybe 2 weeks before it started stalling out. Looked closer at the reviews after and it was far from an isolated incident. Put an OEM GM part in next time and never had another complaint. I found their ball joints/tie rods wear out prematurely too. Again, only lasting ~ a year or 10k miles.
 
Just put an Ultra-Power SB127B1H on my Roadmaster Wagon. Started right up but a problem right out the gate - the rheostat contacts for the fuel level must be poorly designed. It is doing a lot of fluctuating when starting and braking, though at idle and still, seems fine, and driving constant speed it is fine.

The other issue during the install was that the supply, return, and vent pipes are a little shorter than OEM, meaning that the hoses cannot be clamped to the underneath of the body. It might be a little thing, but keeping those fuel hoses out of harm's way is important. The metal the pipes are made of appears almost 'chromed', unlike my old failed Delphi unit.

One last thing - The part number is SB127B1H, which is identical to the Spectrum's part number for my car. Does this mean Spectrum made the part?
 
Interesting, I didn't know Ultra Power was closeouts. I don't think they're exclusively closeouts, though:

For years RA has sold a 4R70/5 pan (with drain plug) as 265813. This is also a Dorman part, RA just deletes all dashes, periods and spaces (265-813)

I was also just shopping for a harmonic balancer for a 5.9 Magnum and the Ultra Power part # was again identical to Dorman (interesting side note: I wound up finding a Dorman on Amazon Warehouse Deals for $17 and took the gamble....we'll see :) )

Years ago RA and Dorman had a falling out, they even had a "press release" of sorts about it at the time. I always kinda figured Ultra Power was their way to kinda-sorta get around that, at least on some products.

Basically, it doesn't look like they're selling Dorman.....but they're selling Dorman. Maybe I'm wrong (shrug)
 
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