My experience with 1:1 "remanufactured" parts

[TsgtRet]

My 06 Grand Marquis developed a common FoMoCo ailment: the wipers gained a will of their own. Driving down the road, didn't touch the switch and suddenly they were running. Moving the switch changed the speed but it had no relationship to the correct setting. Ford puts the "brain" for the wipers on the bottom of the motor case and over time water can seep in and corrode the board. Knowing this I took my wipers apart (about 2 1/2 hours the first time) and tore down the motor...cleaned all the corrosion I could find, coated the plugs with dialectric grease and sealed the case with silicone. Reassembled, feeling very self-satisfied, after all it's DC electronics, how hard can it be? Repair lasted 2 days :cry: So I broke down and called Autozone (everyone sells the same remans AZ's warranty seemed the best). Went to pick it up the next day....it never even made it out of the store; had a sheared off bolt in the drive hub. I go back the next day and pick up the replacement....looks good, everything there so I take it home and tear down the wiper system again (1 1/2 hours this time) and replace the faulty motor with the new one. Reassemble and test.....yes, it works but :doh: I only have 4 speeds instead of the 7 it should have. Well, at least it works, so I button it up and call AZ the next morning and tell them the situation. I picked up the "newer" replacement yesterday and installed it this morning (40 minutes start to finish :clap: ) and it works on all 7 speeds! :banana-rock: Will it continue, only time will tell. On the plus side AZ never gave me a hassle and went out of their way to make sure it was right.
Oh, if a pit crew somewhere needs a speedy wiper motor replacer, I'm their guy! :shifty:

[Florida_Slotter]

You have made a 110 minute improvement in replacement time. Outstanding!

Do you expect to drop below 30 minutes on the next one?

[dreinecke]

You should try reproduction muscle car parts...those are typically horrid. Trim doesn't fit, less real chrome, bad electrical stuff, very thin sheet metal...the list goes on.

Glad you got it going!

[2FER SLOTS]

:D :whistle:
'nother day at the office.

[DAVE]

I quit buying rebuilt parts long ago. When so much of it started being done in Mexico and the
quality went south as well, I gave up. I've had carbs that squirted gas all over, alternators with
bad bearings, water pumps with leaky seals, even a brake master cylinder that had the piston
cups in backwards. You just can't save money with this stuff. If I can't rebuild it myself, I buy
new from a trusted distributor, or at worst from the dealer.

[TsgtRet]

Dave I agree with your reading on the reman parts. Couldn't go the dealer price so had to go reman. At least AZ gives me a lifetime warranty on the part.
As an added extra, an AZ district rep called me today and they want to send a $25.00 gift card for all my trouble. Hmmm don't suppose Dickie or Bruce would honor an Autozone gift card? :think:

[DAVE]

I'm not sure you saved any money over the dealer price. Your time is worth money. If you consider
your time is worth $25/hour, and I am sure it is actually worth much more, you spent the difference
in price doing the job over. The bottom line though is that the company that did the rebuild should
be more quality conscious. And the wholesalers should drop any supplier when customer complaints
become too regular. Also, the rebuilder falls under the same ISO regulations as the OEM manufacturer.
Wholesalers, and actually retailers as well, should refuse to do business with any company not ISO registered,
and subject to periodic ISO audits.