Are all Checker parts bad?
is this some sort of brand? if it is, then ive never heard of them and ive been spending all of my summers working at napa, autozone, oreillys, and many muffler shops
Checker/Schucks/Kragen do not make parts. They sell parts. They sell parts from many quality manufacturers ie: Bosch, AC Delco, Borg Warner, etc…
If you are contacting them and purchasing “cheap” parts you are probably getting just that. They are no different then any other parts store they carry multiple grades of auto parts that are priced accordingly.
~Michael
The car shop got the part for us since the timing belt had just broke. We werent given a choice in parts. This is rural ID (Blackfoot) so unless the part comes in from IF / Poky or SLC; you dont have alot of choices in car part stores. This is also the holiday weekend and most shops are not open on the weekend in ID normally.
The part starts with an A and its a water pump so does that mean anything?
What type of car are we talking about?
~Michael
99 rav 4; had 115000 miles on her when the timing belt broke and there is another 11000 miles on her now.
can the tech people combine the 2 posts ? sorry we messed this up.
Checker may only be in the Western USA.
CSK shows this to be a new ASC water pump. ASC has been building waterpumps for automotive aplications since 1976. They make a good part at a economical price ($34.98). Parts sometimes are defective but so is installation. At this point you need to verify it is in fact the water pump. If it is determined that the pump is leaking the mechanic should be able to tell you if it is a faulty pump or faulty installation. If it turns out the installation was faulty contact the mechanic in Idaho. If the pump is bad get a new one under warranty and live with the fact that you had to pay twice. It happens but it is not the parts stores fault they didn’t build it.
~Michael
OK this may be a stupid question but we are going to ask anywho. How could it be faulty mechanical work when the part was fine for 11000 miles? There is alot of heavy duty driving and then the part (we think) fails about a mile or less from where we live and it fails bad.
Had other work done at another shop in IF as the car needed other repairs when we were still in ID and those parts are all still working so we are just wondering what is going on.
By the way; OK4450; none of the Jiffy Lubes in CO / ID that we know of do anything other then change the oil and for any kind of major repairs we ask locals who to take it too or we get an approved list from AAA on where to take her too. We cant afford to fool around with this car since we use her for work.
jmfay:
It is not a stupid question. Just because the waterpump didn’t leak immediately does not mean it was installed correctly. The engine and the parts on it are subject to many stresses from heat, expansion and contraction. If the water pump bolts were not torqued properly they could have backed off, or they could have been to tight and broke of during expansion. If the timingbelt tensioner and idler pulleys were not checked they could be applying to much pressure on the water pump causing premature failure of the front seal. The gasket surface may not have been preped properly and is now leaking from that area. The water pump could have been dropped before installation damaging the front seal and bearing. As you can see there are multiple reasons for early failure besides a poor quality part.
~Michael
This thread is a bit disjointed due to the site layout, but Dartman is exactly right again.
It’s entirely possible for a faulty installation to show up much later.
I’ve seen car problems in the past that were traced back to things improperly done YEARS before.
That is exactly why installation techniques are so critical.
Ok; we will let you know tomorrow as to what went wrong with the car.
Just find it very hard to believe right now that a part with only 11000 miles on it could be bad and it had nothing to do with the mechanic (presuming again).
Thanks Michael.
jmfay:
Just as a side note about the part failing at 11,000 miles. Myself as well as OK4450 and many other posters have spent many years in the automotive industry. I know that OK4450 and myself have worked for dealerships and worked on many cars that have failures under 11,000 miles. Defects in parts can occur at low mileage even when they come from a quality manufacturer. The chances of failurer are low but it does occur.
Please keep us informed of what the problem turns out to be.
~Michael