Bad rebuilt starter from NAPA

[mike42]

Tub ……..

I had a similar problem several years ago with a new starter I bought with the updated drive. No one told me I had to grind away the bell housing to make it fit. After a long time working on that I finally got the starter to fit. Once installed it barely turned over. I burnt out 3 solenoids before I took the damn thing out and threw in the trash. Had the original rebuilt and worked perfect. When I called the supplier the guy told me…..oh yeah we’ve had that problem. Didn’t you get the flyer in the box ! What flyer ? Why would you sell something that you knew wouldn’t work ?

Mike

[38coop]

Back in the 70's , i worked in a parts house and we sold new and rebuilt starters. Of course we sold more rebuilt than new because of the price difference. I f a customer brought back a part and said it would not work we would replace it and send the bad one back to our supplier. Now if the customer brought the second back then we would question them.

[tubman]

I have learned my lesson. No more rebuilt starters for me; I'll do 'em myself from now on. When this debacle is finally over, I'll have a good spare and NAPA will have theirs back.

It's ironic; I did it this way to save some time on labor and will end up having changed the starter twice and rebuilt two starters.

I was kinda amazed at how many cores I have accumulated over the years.

[Tim Ayers]

My take is different and I agree with 38coop. Think of the thousands of starters that get rebuilt or remanufactured. Sadly, you got a bad one. It happens in ever form of manufacturing.

I would simply take it back, ask for a replacement and go from there. To say Napa is putting out crappy stuff is being too critical over getting one bad unit without letting them make it right. Napa is a good company and I'd be surprised if they don't exchange it.

[tubman]

I have no doubt I'll be able to get my money back, as I have all of the paperwork and am easily within their required time frame. I don't need another, and if I did, it wouldn't be from them. I want to emphasize the fact that there was a filled in Test Certificate that came in the box with the starter stating it was fine.

That tells me that the quality control at the rebuilder they use sucks. It is my belief that something has changed at NAPA, and it's not for the better.

[Mart]

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You have places you can go and buy flathead starters?
You're lucky.

[19Fordy]

Lots of starters for sale on Ebay.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...arter&_sacat=0

[deuce_roadster]

The hardest thing for me to get used to when trouble shooting something is that "NEW DOES NOT = GOOD". I believe there is NO QC on anything anymore as it is far cheaper to just give the poor customer another unit. Sad state of affairs but probably has to do with the "global economy" and manufacturing plants who knows where.

[Jack E/NJ]

>>>I would simply take it back, ask for a replacement and go from there. To say Napa is putting out crappy stuff>>>


I'd do the same. Sorta proves they sold me some crappy stuff. 8^)

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by Jack E/NJ

>>>I would simply take it back, ask for a replacement and go from there. To say Napa is putting out crappy stuff>>>


I'd do the same. Sorta proves they sold me some crappy stuff. 8^)

Ask any busy mechanical shop if they've ever gotten a poor quality remanufactured item. If they say no, they aren't busy.

[Jeff/Illinois]

I worked as the Parts Manager at the local Ford dealership in the mid 70's.

We sourced a TON of Rebuilt Ford parts from the Ford rebuilder in Peoria, Illinois. I think they were called 'Universal' or something like that. Their parts came in a box marked 'Ford Rebuilt----' whatever it happened to be.

We never ever had a single problem with anything we got from them. Water pumps, alternators, starters, fuel pumps you name it. They did engines and transmissions too. Excellent quality excellent work, our customers appreciated the prices. The parts were warrantied the same as the new parts were.

Man I miss the 70's when you could still get good parts, unlike today. Today it's a crap shoot you have no idea what you are getting. And if it is coming from off-shore it will no doubt be garbage.

[mike42]

Amen Jeff .....!!!

['36 5W]

Yep, it's a different world today. I would bet most, if not all of the parts house suppliers, sell cheaper, imported hard parts, especially
starters and alternators. The cores are shipped over by the boat
load, and come back full of Chinezium, but "at very competitive
prices".

Caveat-Emptor(sp?) applies here too. Read the fine print, ask the
counter-guy if they are imported, and plan on spending almost
twice the price for a QUALITY REMANUFACTURED part, preferably
sourced in the U.S. You get what you pay for.....!!

['36 5W]

Re..

[tubman]

You're probably right, but it's still a shame to see NAPA go down the same dusty trail as
Autozone, O'Reilly's, Auto Value and the rest of the chains. We used to be able to depend on them as "for the pro's" and not just a place for a do-it-yourselfer to get cheap parts.

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by tubman

You're probably right, but it's still a shame to see NAPA go down the same dusty trail as
Autozone, O'Reilly's, Auto Value and the rest of the chains. We used to be able to depend on them as "for the pro's" and not just a place for a do-it-yourselfer to get cheap parts.

If it helps you reconcile this, I believe NAPA is trying.

For example: I doubt the other vendors you mentioned above are still supplying caps for the old Mallory dizzys like in the thread we had going a few weeks ago.

I feel NAPA is one of the good ones left. Even the best have a few missteps. It's how they deal with those missteps is what keeps them on top.

Just my two cents.

[russcc]

Sorry to hear that about NAPA. If you folks lived in the Southeastern MA area I would recommend you call or visit Dennis at LH Boulanger in New Bedford MA. Small father & son automotive electric shop that rebuilds starters, solenoids, generators and alternators. They have been in business for years, and do a a lot of heavy equipment and marine as well as automotive. Another good old time rebuilding shop is Yankee Auto Electric in Pawtucket RI, (Near Providence), in business 55 years.

[fortyonerag]

Originally Posted by Mart

You have places you can go and buy flathead starters?
You're lucky.

Luuxuury!!!!

[5851a]

Originally Posted by Jeff/Illinois

I worked as the Parts Manager at the local Ford dealership in the mid 70's.

We sourced a TON of Rebuilt Ford parts from the Ford rebuilder in Peoria, Illinois. I think they were called 'Universal' or something like that. Their parts came in a box marked 'Ford Rebuilt----' whatever it happened to be.

We never ever had a single problem with anything we got from them. Water pumps, alternators, starters, fuel pumps you name it. They did engines and transmissions too. Excellent quality excellent work, our customers appreciated the prices. The parts were warrantied the same as the new parts were.

Man I miss the 70's when you could still get good parts, unlike today. Today it's a crap shoot you have no idea what you are getting. And if it is coming from off-shore it will no doubt be garbage.

Yes Universal was it, they had almost everything right over the Ford counter, one of my cars has a Universal rebuilt started I bought in 1973.

[Crankster]

"Krylon rebuilds", eh? Always been a problem for DIYers. It's one reason shop fees & labor charges are what they are, they have to incorporate defective replacement parts into their business model or whatever. They probably aren't gonna come out ahead on that deal plus the customer is mad. One thing that would probably weed out a lot of bum starters is a current draw check but without some sort of test jig it would first have to be installed on the engine.

One thing most people pick up on when they start to do their own repairs & rebuilds or machine work, not too many outfits have much attention to detail or excellence in their work. Or to be fair, not too many want to pay for it.