Which brand fuel pump should I buy?

[Kestas]

My 71 Cutlass needs a new fuel pump. I have the following choices:
$35 ACDelco
$21 Airtex
$15 Spectra

I typically opt for quality and reliability over lowest price. I know Consumer Reports wouldn't have anything on this, so I'm turning to you guys. Is ACDelco the best choice?

 

[Merkava_4]

I'm thinking ACDelco would definitely be the best choice yes.

 

[mrsilv04]

How many times do you want to replace it?

If the answer is once, then I'd go with the ACDelco.

 

[29662]

Get the AC Delco, the Spectra and Airtex are junk. I sell parts for a living, mostly to shops and dealerships so I have a lot more experience with this than the vast majority of people. The first two posters are correct.

 

[Rolla07]

Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
How many times do you want to replace it?

If the answer is once, then I'd go with the ACDelco.


+1

 

[zrxkawboy]

Another vote for Delco.

 

[dlundblad]

+1 for OEM.

 

[artificialist]

An OEM fuel pump is almost always better than any aftermarket fuel pump.

I would recommend the ACDelco pump, but over the last several years there have been other parts with ACDelco written on them. I hope your fuel pump isn't one of them.

 

[michaelluscher]

For that money, definitely OEM it

 

[Trav]

+4 AC Delco

 

[NHGUY]

AC Delco isn't the GM AC Delco you knew and loved years ago.Its probably China sourced.That said,the Airtex and Spectra I believe have lifetime warranties now,but of those two,the Spectra would be my last choice.Seemingly,Parts Plus/Auto Value and a lot of chains think Spectra is their first choice.I guess their coverage and price overrules everything else.

 

[Kruse]

Several years ago, I needed a fuel pump for my Dodge Dakota. I went into O'Reillys and ask for a fuel pump and they had two choices, their house brand or ACDelco. The ACDelco had a one year warranty and was higher priced than their house-branded pump that had a lifetime warranty. The counter boy then told me this: For this application, the pumps were exactly the same. He even got both pumps out of the box and they both said: "Made by Carter" on them. Perhaps the internals were different, but at least on the outside they looked exactly the same.
I guess what I'm saying is that the ACDelco name is not what it used to be. Especially on a slow-moving fuel pump for a 1971 car. However, given the choices, I'd probably buy an ACDelco fuel pump also.

 

[Kestas]

Thanks for the verifications from all. With China in the equation, it now becomes the "lesser of evils" instead of what we used to get.

msilv04, to answer your question, I only want to change it every 43 years. Not a bad run for an original pump.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: NHGUY
AC Delco isn't the GM AC Delco you knew and loved years ago.Its probably China sourced.That said,the Airtex and Spectra I believe have lifetime warranties now,but of those two,the Spectra would be my last choice.Seemingly,Parts Plus/Auto Value and a lot of chains think Spectra is their first choice.I guess their coverage and price overrules everything else.

True, but a lot of the AC Delco stuff i buy for the old GM cars is NOS.
Seeing as there isn't a lot of demand for 40 year old car fuel i sort of doubt if they would produce them in China as long as there were some NOS available.

Maybe all the old stuff got trashed at some point but who knows. I just bought a original OEM NOS Modine brass and copper radiator for a 69 Chevell SS.

 

[dailydriver]

The only other brand I would think about putting in that car, IF it were available is Delphi (which at least used to make a lot of the stuff which comes in AC Delco labelled boxes anyway).

 

[Trav]

+1 Delphi made good stuff

 

[Virtuoso]

We have four years and 56k miles on an Airtex fuel pump in our Windstar.

But at the time $$$ was a big factor, and there was much more than a $14 difference between brands.

For that money, if you are driving it more than a year or two, go with the Delco.