Quality/or lack thereof on new parts!

[Roverguy]

As you guys know I have been doing some TLC on my 02.

 

First order was the Weber which had seen better days; I ordered a EMPI rebuild kit for $45; didn't even contain most of the parts that should have been replaced; but I gave it a try anyway.

 

Car still ran like crap.

 

I don't have a good cleaner to soak it in and it was really cruddy, so ordered anew 32/36 from Steve at Bluntech; he was great on the phone, very helpful.

 

Paid for expedited delivery because I had company coming; my cousin who was an ex 02 owner and wanted the car running.

 

Carb shows up Friday afternoon as promised, had the old one off, 1/2 hour instal and went to fire it up, but couldn't get the car running.  Few spritzes of ether and it would start and die.  Clear fuel filter was full, pulled hose and it was pissing like a race horse into a bottle.  Pulled the fuel nipple, clean straight through; then I looked into the fuel line input.  Weber never drilled out the fricking blank!

 

So, on the horn to Weber and he acknowledged that guess they didn't drill it at the factory and they would never have known.  Said they could send a new one, when I don;t know, or I could drill it out.  I drilled it and it obviously started right up.

 

The guy at Weber was really not very apologetic.  Called Steve, not blaming him, but said he should let them know that issue is not acceptable; not sure where that went.  That was about 2 hours of screwing around and pulling the top off and drilling..

 

Next issue; my started gear was worn and causing it to skip on the flywheel.  Again, needed to get that settled ASAP.  Called O'Reilly and they had it next day.  Under $70, "limited lifetime Warranty"

Installed and would start without jumping a tooth; but as soon as the car started it sounded like marbles for 10-15 seconds.  The gear was not retracting all the way and was catching on the ring gear..

 

Pulled that out and it took 5 days for them to get a new one from mid west warehouse,  Another 1-1/2 hours of my time last night and replacement was in and working fine. Hope it lasts.  I think I'll do what I should have originally; bring my orig to my local re builder to have as a spare.

 

Thirdly; I ordered a new Bosch cap & rotor from Bavarian as they are 15 minutes from me.  Replaced the rev limited rotor with standard one and exact same part no for the cap.

 

Turns out the cap does not have the correct mold that has a nub that locks into the top of the cap to prevent rotation.  I spoke to Bavarian and he said that's the cap as listed; no kidding; they obviously decided to change the mold.  I also noted that the new cap had a half moon cut into the bottom that looked like it would line up with a half moon that would project from the top of the distributor.  I told him that the only thing that stopped the cap from rotating would be the clips and they still allowed a few degrees of rotation when I spun it by hand.  He didn't think that was a big deal..  Any of you have the same issue with the new Bosch caps; does it seem to work OK.

 

So; that at least 2 out of 3 bad parts/rebuilds.  This is unfortunately what we have going on in today's society; who would have paid my mechanic for 4-5 hours of his time?  Certainly not the mfg; it would have been me.  They certainly aren't doing me right.  Weber should have at least credited me for let's say the manual choke kit I ordered; but no offer. 

 

Don't want to make this a bitch session, just voicing my frustration.

 

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On a positive note, I have a tip for removing the starter; not sure if this has been posted.  Instead of removing the dipstick and battery I was able to remove the temp sensor on the bottom of the intake manifold which allowed me to slide the starter back enough towards the radiator to clear the nose piece from the bell housing and turn it up and lift it past the brake master. It helps to remove some of the hoses and smog harness if you still have it; helps to unhook the throttle linkage also.  Doing that it's 20 minutes as long as you can finagle the starter nuts off. Yes, you'll loose some coolant, but I didn't care because I'm still running water since I just replaced my radiator and will be adding coolant soon.

 

Best of luck on your next part purchase.

 

[02Pilot]

New parts too often suck - sadly, it's where things are at the moment.

 

If it were me, I'd take a Dremel and notch that distributor cap to keep it in place. Just match it up with the old one, mark, and cut.

[Roverguy]

Agree, actually it's that I need a boss, or projection that fits into the notch on the distributor; I would have to "add"  a small piece of plastic.

 

Anyone have the same issue; any problems?

[Roverguy]

We went though this about 15-20 years ago in the British Car hobby.  A lot of catalogs were having parts manufactured in India and it was a problem. Looking back those parts were't so bad compared to some of the Chinese knockoffs that are around now. Thing is there were 3-4 major suppliers and some had better QC, so you knew who to buy from. Then again it seems as though there are a lot more British care collectors doing restorations than 2002's.

[TobyB]

Quote

Turns out the cap does not have the correct mold that has a nub that locks into the top of the cap to prevent rotation

You have the wrong cap- that's the early cap, and you need one for a later car.

You do not list the year of your car, but if it's an early car, you have a later distributor.

Or an aftermarket.

 

Order one for a 1975, that will work.  

 

Empi parts are known to be of low quality.

 

Royze made a decent carb kit, last I used it, that was a while ago.

 

I would not expect an out- of- the box Weber to be jetted correctly for a 2002.

I WOULD expect the fuel inlet to be drilled.

I also would NOT expect the rest of the carb to be drilled correctly, altho
that problem's gotten better in the last 5 years...

 

Quote

This is unfortunately what we have going on in today's society; 

 

Capitalism at its finest.  Outsourcing as the cure to all ills.  

 

Caveat emptor, as usual...

 

t

 

[Roverguy]

I have a 74, non vacuum distributor, not sure if it's a replacement; but the part number on the new cap is the same as the one that's on the car.

 

I'm probably going to order a jet kit for the carb and do some tweaking, although it's not bad as is.

 

 

[irdave]

Yep, I've had similar experiences with 'specialty' 2002 places with parts they've made.

 

Think of it this way, it encourages self reliance...

[Simeon]

Distributor parts are always a problem to order as there are a few variations or, as Toby points out, you have a different one fitted to the car. I always order those from Blunt and give him the actual distributor number. 

 

 

[Vicleonardo1]

Outsourcing.

Most parts  these days is made in China and  come off the same assembly line and relabeled. The quality assurance is under the perview of whose name is on the label. I ask myself this when buying a critical part for my car...What company will my wife be able to sue and collect money from when the part fails and I die in a fiery crash. 

Bosch or an EBay vendor du jour like”Happy face fast car speed friend”?

 

on much less critical components I will occasionally gamble on the cheapies and either curse myself for being doltish or praise myself for finding a solid bargain...

 

 

[Roverguy]

 

@Vicleonardo1, I agree about making the choice, when you can.

 

It's like Harbor Fright, if I'm not under one of their tools I don't worry so much, but, if I am I buy twice the require load rating just to be safe!

 

That would apply to say brakes, or steering parts also.

 

So, how do you have a choice when you a looking, for say a Weber?

[wkohler]

"Happy face fast car speed friend" has been serving the community for many years and I've found they really stand behind what they sell.

 

On a serious note, this has been the case with a lot of things for a few years.  Most everything has a 2 year warranty at a minimum and I've been finding parts that made it 25-30 years while still being serviceable have been replaced with parts that will last until you're just outside the 2 year window.  Much of it might have to do with country of origin or in the case of many factory parts, the fact that the original manufacturer isn't necessarily the manufacturer of the new part and in the cases where they are, the W. German fuel pump you remove might be made in the Czech Republic, China or Mexico now.  BMW Classic puts numbers out for bid and buys from the lowest bidder.  At a certain point you almost want them to not bother so you don't get your hopes up.

[Tommy]

I just got the new trunk seal to replace one that doesn't seal. It's even worse! The lip that should point upwards to the lid points actually down. On the old one it's about horizontal. Both are probably aftermarket though.

[jgerock]

1 hour ago, Tommy said:

I just got the new trunk seal to replace one that doesn't seal. It's even worse! The lip that should point upwards to the lid points actually down. On the old one it's about horizontal. Both are probably aftermarket though.

The only trunk seal that I was able to fit was a genuine BMW seal.  

 

There are many counterfeit auto parts out there.  The companies who produce/distribute them are very crafty.  The legitimate companies loose lots of business and try to have the counterfeit shipments confiscated, but that takes time and money.  I learned some good background from an article published in a company magazine (Mann+Hummel).

 

 

[Stevenc22]

Yeah ive had some hit and miss items. Couple water pumps failed in less then 3 months but after doing this 5 years now ive kind of learnt when to go cheap and when to oem.

[Roverguy]

4 hours ago, wkohler said:

"Happy face fast car speed friend" has been serving the community for many years and I've found they really stand behind what they sell.

 

Help me with Happy face fast car speed friend", are they a supplier?