Parts made in China on my 03 Honda CRV

[Kool1]

I had some parts made in China that have failed me and I thought I would rant about what has and what has not worked out for me.

I had a made in China Cardone water pump that was on for about 20,000 miles. The seal was great but the bearing started making a roaring noise under acceleration.

My Honda OEM axles developed a feeling as though my wheels were going to fall off so I put on O'reilly auto new made in China axles. I developed a vibration and thought I would switch brands. I installed Cardone new axles and I had a vibration at a different speed. I then installed remanufactured Honda axles and all problems are gone.

I've had motor mounts made in Taiwan (a republic of China) from Beck/Arnley and they tore in less than 10,000 miles. Replaced with OEM Honda and the mounts have over 30,000 miles on them and look great.

I will say that the ignition switch from O'reilly Auto called Import Direct is made in Taiwan is holding up well. I've had the switch for about 2 years with no problems.

I also have a blower motor resistor (Duralast) from Autozone that is made in Taiwan which has worked well for the past 5 years.

Sorry, but I must also rant about India. I had strut mounts, Moog and Kyb, that were made in India and both of them had rubber pieces flake off them; in addition, they developed a ringing noise going over bumps that took me a long time to troubleshoot. I replaced them with OEM Honda mounts and bearings and the noise is gone.

 

[OVERKILL]

I'm more surprised that you've had so many things fail on your CRV!

How many miles are on it?

 

[Kool1]

I currently have a little over 180,000 miles.

Some items never failed but I replaced them as I was working in the area and thought it would be prudent to replace it before it failed.

I installed Bilstein struts so I changed the strut mounts and bearings.

The water pump was changed as I had 100,000 miles and was going on a long trip so I replaced it as a maintenance item.

 

[zach1900]

Rubber and metal items like motor mounts/harmonic balancer I would go with OEM. I don't have much experience with water pumps.

 

[CT8]

I find it hard to believe that the majority of mass consumers do not realize the low, low low quality of made in China products.

 

[zach1900]

You replaced a water pump as a maintenance item? I've put well over 200,000 each on 2 different Nissans and neither one had a failed w/p.

 

[zach1900]

Sounds like your Honda likes OEM, just pay it so you don't have to obsess about failing China parts.

 

[zach1900]

Originally Posted By: CT8
I find it hard to believe that the majority of mass consumers do not realize the low, low low quality of made in China products.

So not true, hey the iPhone is made in China, it just depends on what the parent company specs/price point.

 

[danthaman1980]

FYI, Taiwan isn't 'a republic of China'... Taiwan, aka Republic of China is not the same as mainland China, aka People's Republic of China. Taiwan/ROC has their own government that is independent from mainland China/PRC. Primarily, Taiwan/ROC is not a communist state. Although PRC believes the government of ROC is illegitimate, PRC does not govern ROC in any way. Taiwan/ROC had their own seat/membership at the UN until China/PRC forced them out. There is a lot of tension between PRC and ROC... PRC would love to annex ROC but there would be military and economic consequences if they did so.

From my perspective, Taiwan is more similar to Japan than China from a manufacturing quality and economic similarity standpoint. The quality of stuff we get out of Taiwan has long been better, on average, than the stuff coming out of mainland China.

I still prefer buying U.S.A-made whenever possible but when that is unavailable, Taiwan>China.

 

[Kool1]

Yup I changed the water pump twice and it's very difficult to access it on this vehicle. The water pump is almost wedged in near the fenderwell. You must work from both the top and bottom of the vehicle and have very small hands. Whoever engineered the placement of items on this vehicle must have been smoking something funny.

 

[NHGUY]

We have driven all these companies,ourselves,to source cheap from China.When we always expect a low price,we drive them to call up China for parts.Shareholders of these outfits also demand high returns on their investment dollars,and dividends pay out when they source cheap and sell at less than expensive.Its a vicious cycle that feeds on itself.One day,the crash will come when warranty costs nearly meet total sales dollars,and customers/shareholders alike will demand a change.

 

[Benito]

Originally Posted By: Kool1
Yup I changed the water pump twice and it's very difficult to access it on this vehicle. The water pump is almost wedged in near the fenderwell. You must work from both the top and bottom of the vehicle and have very small hands. Whoever engineered the placement of items on this vehicle must have been smoking something funny.


Or they have long arms and small hands.

 

[Trav]

A lot of aftermarket parts are causing a lot of problems. Long gone is the the when you went to the parts store and bought a part it was almost 100% sure it would be fine.
Even the go too brands like Standard, BW, Moog, Raybestos, TRW, Bendix, Walker, Monroe, AP, Timken, National, Modine, etc are either owned by someone else and just being used for the name or having their stuff made on the cheap in China, Mexico and India.

Rebuilt you can forget, its mostly all junk rebuilt with cheap Chinese parts, the brushes and bearings are horrible quality. Its to the point now where a new part may or may not fix the car, there is a good chance if its aftermarket it could be DOA or have a very short lifespan.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

In many cases it's possible to check the country of origin on eBay, if you now the brand and part number. Not all companies participate, but many do.

For example, the Aisin water pump for your CRV is made in Japan. Part number WPH060. Probably the OE part reboxed.

Another thing, many if most most CRV's of that generation were made in England, and some British parts aren't necessarily better than Chinese, especially their Lucas electrics.

 

[zach1900]

I'd rather purchase a good condition used OEM parts than a rebuilt one of unknown quality, is you can find them , especially electrical parts.

 

[zzyzzx]

Cardone stuff and aftermarket motor/transmission mounts have always been terrible.

 

[ag_ghost]

Originally Posted By: zach1900
Originally Posted By: CT8
I find it hard to believe that the majority of mass consumers do not realize the low, low low quality of made in China products.

So not true, hey the iPhone is made in China, it just depends on what the parent company specs/price point.

Bingo!

Kevin

 

[Vikas]

If you are doing any preventive maintenance, it makes ZERO sense to put anything but the new OEM part back in. Otherwise you are replacing a perfectly good working OEM part witha questionable quality aftermarket part i.e. you are unnecessarily inviting trouble.

 

[Ethan1]

Originally Posted By: zach1900
Originally Posted By: CT8
I find it hard to believe that the majority of mass consumers do not realize the low, low low quality of made in China products.

So not true, hey the iPhone is made in China, it just depends on what the parent company specs/price point.


+2

Nikon makes excellent cameras in Thailand. Maybe a better example is Harbor Freight's tools - they're all made in China, but the Pittsburg Pro stuff is 100x better than the regular Pittsburg tools. It happens to be that many of the companies that skimp on labor also skimp on materials and processes, but not always.

In regards to cheap Chinese auto parts: if it's difficult to install/replace, just buy OEM! If it could blow up your car when it fails, just buy OEM!

 

[Bluestream]

If you had so much trouble with the Chinese parts why did you keep buying them ?