Standard Motor Products?

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Standard use to be the bee's knees. But like everyone else, I've heard they have outsourced and cheapened their parts. I'd still take Standard over a few other companies out there. I wouldn't be concerned unless the part you receive turns out to be a cheesy Chinese-made part.

That said, if you need one and it's the only game in town, a new cheap one is still better than a bad OEM one.
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Have you tried cleaning the old one? They get pretty dirty. Trav recently sent me a video on how to clean. It's on another model but should be similar to your car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy2xqS1lfz8


I've taken the stock one off the car and thoroughly cleaned it; that made it better, but when it's very cold, it still idles low.
 
Standard Motor Products is good stuff in my experience. A lot of the ignition parts for Dad's Corvair engine are SMP. The plug wires and cap were actually AC Delco parts in an SMP box, for barely 1/2 the price of "genuine" AC Delco.

The distributor drive gear and misc parts on the old van are SMP.
 
I have used them in the past. I want to say it was a cap and rotor for an 88 pathfinder. Worked fine when I junked it 80k later.
 
Years ago when I first started they were best of the best even better than OE in most cases, their Blue Streak point, condenser, rotor and caps were head and shoulders above almost anything else on the market. The Red box were top quality USA made parts but not in the Blue Streak class.
Today the Red box means little, it can have a USA made or Chinese part in it, the Green T series box is almost sure to have a Chinese or something else in it.

Still, they are one of the better quality aftermarket producers. If you can find BWD or Intermotor its the same part in another box usually for less money, BWD/Intermotor is owned by Standard. From what I understand they still sell Blue Streak branded parts in Canada but they are just rebranded/reboxed blue colored regular SMP.
 
RA had a bunch of their older stuff on clearance for about 60% off.

Clearly it was old, but it was all US made. Good stuff IMO.
 
Standard and Wells box some parts for Motorcraft, AC delco.

Things like window switches and such.

I don't know about ignition parts, but I heard very good things about standard. If an oem wasn't available I would use them. Years ago I bought a Wells distributor for a Ford V8 and the center lug came off with the wire. Always bought oem after that.

Also, as we know, even if they make the part for ford the quality and cost point may be different from what they brand.
 
Standard parts are good, as long as they aren't in the T-series line (The IAC valve above isn't). Standard T-series products are made in China with questionable quality. A T-series crankshaft position sensor lasted me less than a year.

I would purchase that IAC valve through Amazon Warehouse Deals for $136. The description says it's in "like new" condition, which is usually just a torn box. I've scored some great deals this way over the years.
 
I've used Standard parts for over 30 years. BUT, I tried one of their replacement starter solenoids for my Bronco and nearly burned down the Costco Gas Island. Welded the contacts and burnt the cables and killed the starter. So for high current parts, I'm now OEM only ...
 
May be biased (Dad retired from SMP) but they were one of the best aftermarket. Not sure how much carries on today though.

They would take OEM designs and figure out the weak points and make them better. I remember him having GM company cars and they would send out new versions of the HEI modules to test. And they made one of the few Ford TFI's that actually lasted.

So yeah I'd use their parts without reservation.
 
alchargo said:
Standard parts are good, as long as they aren't in the T-series line (The IAC valve above isn't). Standard T-series products are made in China with questionable quality. A T-series crankshaft position sensor lasted me less than a year.

quote]


Exactly. I've use SMP parts a lot and like them, except the T-series which is spotty. BWD is a good alternative. You can sometimes get DENSO parts on Rockauto for the same price and it is usually a better part so shop around.
Click to expand...
 
I used Standard Ignition parts for years with few problems...even in applications where regular failures were expected. (Like, a truck that regularly goes through mud and water.) That was then...I suspect most of it is now Chinesium.
frown.gif
 
I've used Standard and BWD-boxed ignition parts on a friend's Tahoe, the cap was made in the US(!) while the knock sensor was made in Mexico. So far, no CEL lights.

For imports, it's all from China from what I've seen - the local parts house had an Intermotor and T-Series coil on hold for me, and they were the same thing. I decided to buy the OEM Denso piece instead.
 
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