Author Topic: EBAY -Hook or Crook or Both? (Read 4813 times)

Lee · « **on:** May 21, 2012, 07:37:08 PM »

Against my better judgement, I ordered a water pump from a guy on Ebay...the one linked below. Shipping was nearly as much as the pump, but was still cheaper than I could find it anywhere else (and maybe for a good reason). He has ~ 8000 positive ratings.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170834804209?item=170834804209&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME:X:RTQ:MOTORS:1123&vxp=mtr

Here's what I got today. Boy was I pissed. Contacted seller and he asked me to send him a pic. I REALLY regret not ordering this from Summit in the first place.

http://s112.photobucket.com/albums/n170/Leeohio/?action=view&current=433E75E3-AA24-4D6D-A7B5-70F6D3A4C74B.jpg

Brad Johnson · « **Reply #1 on:** May 21, 2012, 07:39:26 PM »

Typical of some overseas reman'd parts. They don't have any protectant coating so they get surface rust on the way over. Salt air and unprotected metal, blah, blah, blah...

Brad

Balog · « **Reply #2 on:** May 21, 2012, 07:40:16 PM »

Ebay is horrifically biased towards the buyer. If you complain they almost always will take your side. Which is why I shop on ebay, but never sell there. :)

Lee · « **Reply #3 on:** May 21, 2012, 07:42:27 PM »

It's the wrong pump also....no place to bolt on alternator and power steering (see EBAY ad or Summit ad). I think it's off a 6 cyl.

Also, you probably can't tell from these scaled down pics, but it came off a car, not from a broken box. Has washer marks, scrapes, and sealant on it.

Hawkmoon · « **Reply #4 on:** May 21, 2012, 09:56:52 PM »

It ain't called "ePrey" and "fleaBay" for nothing ...

Jim147 · « **Reply #5 on:** May 21, 2012, 10:11:13 PM »

In the pic it does look used.

See if you can get your money back.

What part stores do you have in town? I'll see if I can get you a part number for something local.

I noticed that one said it was a high volume. Don't get hung up on that. The thermostat and radiator are made to restrict flow to a certain point. If you move the water through the radiator too fast the motor will actually run hotter.

jim

Boomhauer · « **Reply #6 on:** May 21, 2012, 10:15:44 PM »

Um, it's a water pump for a small block Chevy. How much is one at Autozone?

Because I don't recall a water pump for Chevys ever breaking the bank at a reputable parts store. Plus if you buy one at Autozone you get a LIFETIME WARRENTY so when it wears out you aren't out a bit of money.

RoadKingLarry · « **Reply #7 on:** May 21, 2012, 10:49:45 PM »

Quote from: Lee on May 21, 2012, 07:42:27 PM

It's the wrong pump also....no place to bolt on alternator and power steering (see EBAY ad or Summit ad). I think it's off a 6 cyl.

Also, you probably can't tell from these scaled down pics, but it came off a car, not from a broken box. Has washer marks, scrapes, and sealant on it.

That pump would fit my '92 6 cyl. Cherokee. I've had to change it 4 times in the 10 years I've owned the thing.

Lee · « **Reply #8 on:** May 21, 2012, 11:14:21 PM »

I'm feeling a little better. The seller contacted me and apologized for an employee sending me "a turd" - his words. Said he'd handpicked the right one and would get it out to me first thing.
We'll see. He didn't mention sending the other one back...we'll see bout that also.
Jim, thanks for the offer...I'll let you know if I need any help. The car does have an aluminum radiator, and I'm installing a high flow thermostat as well...so hope it doesn't run any hotter.
We have just about every auto parts store in town, Autozone, Jeggs, Advance and Pep Boys. I haven't been able to get past not being able to give them a year, make and model.
Autozone 'guessed' that it would run ~ $120 if they could get one. I went through a ten minute comedy routine with the kid there, trying to tell him it was a 350 small block in a Jeep Wrangler. Pep Boys couldn't even match up the old radiator hoses I brought in. There is a Napa here, but it's across town (local one closed a couple of years ago). I'll get there eventually. I'm sure it would help if I could get to those stores on a weekday before 5 - the week night and week end help seems to be lacking in experience.
Have to say, I miss driving the thing BAD. It's quite a stress reliever for me.

charby · « **Reply #9 on:** May 21, 2012, 11:35:44 PM »

I get a lot of my NOS parts for my vintage outboards on ebay, if I take my time and be paient I can usually get parts really cheap. Never had a bad part yet, but I try to buy from American sellers.

zahc · « **Reply #10 on:** May 22, 2012, 12:05:52 AM »

eBay does not exist to me anymore. Their policies have long since surpassed what I consider acceptable, from pretty much any angle.

French G. · « **Reply #11 on:** May 22, 2012, 02:08:34 AM »

Still usable for some things I think, I've only ever bought maybe twice. I got tired of my FiL whining about his old tractor, couldn't find a re-build kit for his carb, guy wanted $400 for a carb, etc. Bear in mind that his retail experience is rooted in the idyllic 50s where it may have been acceptable to wnader into a random store and annoy the guy and the guy might actually know something. Him no internet. 5 minutes on Fleabay, I had him the exact replacement sans cracked cast iron floatbowl that his had. Plenty of closeup pictures, $70 bucks, on the tractor, zero trouble.

Cliffh · « **Reply #12 on:** May 22, 2012, 10:19:25 AM »

Something that's worked for me when buying small block Chevy parts is to just give them any old year & model. Research the part to make sure it was used in numerous vehicles throughout a range of years and pick one, any one. If the part you're looking for was used on a 1963 Corvette, well, give them that year and model.

Tallpine · « **Reply #13 on:** May 22, 2012, 11:13:53 AM »

Parts stores can be terribly annoying, especially in the city. Small farm/ranch town parts stores are more often pretty good.

A couple stories:

Back about 25 years ago, during one of my sentences of living in the city, I went into a random parts store to get replacement defroster hose for my 1965 stepside. Young female clerk maintained that such a thing was never ever manufactured, that it was all molded plastic. I guess she didn't know that they made pickups before 1980

Another time and place, I was doing some major work on my GMC V-6. There is a very short piece of hose that (IIRC) connects the engine to the water pump. The only way to replace it was to at a minumum remove the water pump, so I thought that I would buy a short length of the correct diameter hose, cut it to length, and replace it while I had everything apart. But the clerk (again female) couldn't find that "part" listed in their books and accused me of "jury-rigging" (I guess she didn't know GM very well

). I said just sell me the shortest X" diameter radiator hose that you have and I will cut it to length - but no, she wouldn't even do that.

Hawkmoon · « **Reply #14 on:** May 22, 2012, 07:41:22 PM »

Computers have completely ruined auto parts buying.

"I need a taillight bulb for an '88 Jeep Cherokee."

"Is that a 4-cylinder or a 6-cylinder? Automatic or manual? Power steering and power brakes? Does it have air conditioning?"

And they literally can't look up anything for your vehicle unless you answer ALL those questions that have nothing to do with the part you hope to find.

Brad Johnson · « **Reply #15 on:** May 22, 2012, 10:31:20 PM »

I've gotten to where I get most things from RockAuto.com. You can pick what you want, anything from a low-end no name reman up to a top-shelf unit.

Brad

Jim147 · « **Reply #16 on:** May 22, 2012, 10:59:29 PM »

Rockauto works pretty good. Sometimes they can beat my Napa account by enough that I can wait on the part.

I don't think they have a Jehevy section to help Lee look up parts for his. But you can search by part numbers if you know them.

jim

zahc · « **Reply #17 on:** May 23, 2012, 07:58:53 AM »

Rockauto had new headlight assemblies (including new bulbs) for my '96 Tahoe for $30 each. New headlights beats the heck out of those headlight polishing kits.

CNYCacher · « **Reply #18 on:** May 23, 2012, 08:08:07 AM »

Quote from: Hawkmoon on May 22, 2012, 07:41:22 PM

Computers have completely ruined auto parts buying.

"I need a taillight bulb for an '88 Jeep Cherokee."

"Is that a 4-cylinder or a 6-cylinder? Automatic or manual? Power steering and power brakes? Does it have air conditioning?"

And they literally can't look up anything for your vehicle unless you answer ALL those questions that have nothing to do with the part you hope to find.

That's not computers in general, that's sloppy programming.

Fitz · « **Reply #19 on:** May 23, 2012, 08:26:38 AM »

I use ebay, and have a few sellers added to my "favs" after great experiences.

It's heavily buyer-biased, as was mentioned.

the problem isn't eBay, per se. It's individual sellers. And, *expletive deleted*it happens. If the seller makes it right, i'd say it was a positive experience.

Lee · « **Reply #20 on:** May 23, 2012, 08:13:27 PM »

Quote

That's not computers in general, that's sloppy programming.

True...but it's the norm...and true about most things computer related. Sadly, that seems to be the case whether I try to look something up at home, or drive to Autowahtever and have them look it up. That was also one of the reasons I didn't have much success with random best guesses on year, make and model. That, and because there is usually one employee, and several customers waiting...so I felt kind of stupid holding everyone up while we played the guessing game.

Lee · « **Reply #21 on:** May 24, 2012, 10:34:57 PM »

I got the replacement pump in the mail today....looks good. I installed the pump, and started to re-install the power steering and alternator. One little snag - how in the heck do you get the nut on the back of the lower power steering mounting bolt (the lowest bolt that runs through the hole in the pump). There is a little space between the back of the water pump and the the block that I can barely get a finger in. I'm pretty tired tonight, so will look at it with a fresh view tomorrow, but if you have a tip, I'll gladly take it.

Tallpine · « **Reply #22 on:** May 26, 2012, 10:42:58 AM »

Quote from: Lee on May 24, 2012, 10:34:57 PM

I got the replacement pump in the mail today....looks good. I installed the pump, and started to re-install the power steering and alternator. One little snag - how in the heck do you get the nut on the back of the lower power steering mounting bolt (the lowest bolt that runs through the hole in the pump). There is a little space between the back of the water pump and the the block that I can barely get a finger in. I'm pretty tired tonight, so will look at it with a fresh view tomorrow, but if you have a tip, I'll gladly take it.

Needle nose pliers maybe, holding the nut and turning the bolt into the nut rather than turning the nut

I don't remember ever having that problem

Lee · « **Reply #23 on:** May 26, 2012, 11:33:13 AM »

Maybe because it's in a Jeep with 4" lift? I did figure it out ( a rested brain and daylight helped). I used a pair of needles nosed vice grips to hold the nut in place. It's just hard to reach up there from the bottom side with all the stuff in the way. It's also tough to get a hand on the bolt and nut at the same time -even with long wrench and ratchet handle, my arms aren't long enough. Now I have to figure out how to tighten the belt and all the bolts by myself - or get a spare set of hands to do one of those things.

Lee · « **Reply #24 on:** May 26, 2012, 08:26:22 PM »

Mission Complete!! I guess an old dog can learn a new trick. The old dog is tired though. I have to add, that the guys at Autozone have been great the last couple of days. Lot's of helpful tips on many things.
I think the old Jeep appreciates the attention - seems to perform better in every area, shifts better, steers better, even sounds better (in addition to the absence of the water pump sounds). I might have a "Christine" on my hands. Maybe she'll start shedding rust and start regrowing her skin.

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Author Topic: EBAY -Hook or Crook or Both? (Read 4813 times)