I needed to replace the power steering pump in a Freightliner truck and a new one from Freightliner is $1300. Because of the cost I looked into rebuilt ones.
First shop rebuilt my old one for $400. I installed it and found it did not work. Took it off and took it back to the same shop. Got it back and it still did not work. This pump is not easy to get at, gear driven by the timing gear train, at the back of the timing gear case and tucked in between the engine and frame rail. I had to remove a few components just to get at the pump. The shop was an hours drive away, each way, for me.
Called another shop, they could supply a Bosch rebuilt unit, fully tested, for $800. Ok, I paid for it and the unit was delivered bare, not in a box, let alone a Bosch box. There is nothing on the pump indicating it was rebuilt by Bosch. Called the shop this morning and the owner said "but they said it was a Bosch rebuilt unit". From his reaction I am certain that it was not rebuilt by Bosch.
The good news is that the second one worked. The first shop was a good shop in the nineties when the dad was running it and I dealt with him. He has passed away and his two sons are running it. Nice guys, not dishonest or out to cheat anybody but the shop is a filthy mess and the the effort they are putting in is just not adequate to ensure a quality rebuild. They do not have a setup to test rebuilt pumps.
The second shop was just dishonest. When the owner quoted me $800 and I was questioning him on the quality of the rebuild, he assured me it was Bosch rebuilt just to make the sale, when he very well knew it was not.
I wasted an enormous amount of time on this pump and would have been ahead if I had just spent the $1300 for a new pump originally.
Moving onto the wider topic of rebuilt units sold by parts stores, I hear that they are of questionable quality. Cardone especially has a poor reputation. The rebuilding process has been humorously described as akin to dredging up old units from the bottom of a lake and then spraying a coat of paint on them.
The same shenanigans go in the auto repair business. I am glad I do my own work on my truck. It has never darkened the doors of the dealership since it rolled off their lot eleven years ago.
Lots of corners being cut. A honest days work seems foreign to a lot of folks.
First shop rebuilt my old one for $400. I installed it and found it did not work. Took it off and took it back to the same shop. Got it back and it still did not work. This pump is not easy to get at, gear driven by the timing gear train, at the back of the timing gear case and tucked in between the engine and frame rail. I had to remove a few components just to get at the pump. The shop was an hours drive away, each way, for me.
Called another shop, they could supply a Bosch rebuilt unit, fully tested, for $800. Ok, I paid for it and the unit was delivered bare, not in a box, let alone a Bosch box. There is nothing on the pump indicating it was rebuilt by Bosch. Called the shop this morning and the owner said "but they said it was a Bosch rebuilt unit". From his reaction I am certain that it was not rebuilt by Bosch.
The good news is that the second one worked. The first shop was a good shop in the nineties when the dad was running it and I dealt with him. He has passed away and his two sons are running it. Nice guys, not dishonest or out to cheat anybody but the shop is a filthy mess and the the effort they are putting in is just not adequate to ensure a quality rebuild. They do not have a setup to test rebuilt pumps.
The second shop was just dishonest. When the owner quoted me $800 and I was questioning him on the quality of the rebuild, he assured me it was Bosch rebuilt just to make the sale, when he very well knew it was not.
I wasted an enormous amount of time on this pump and would have been ahead if I had just spent the $1300 for a new pump originally.
Moving onto the wider topic of rebuilt units sold by parts stores, I hear that they are of questionable quality. Cardone especially has a poor reputation. The rebuilding process has been humorously described as akin to dredging up old units from the bottom of a lake and then spraying a coat of paint on them.
The same shenanigans go in the auto repair business. I am glad I do my own work on my truck. It has never darkened the doors of the dealership since it rolled off their lot eleven years ago.
Lots of corners being cut. A honest days work seems foreign to a lot of folks.