Best Aftermarket EFI Components?

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john keefe
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Best Aftermarket EFI Components?

Post by john keefe »

I'm a big fan of sticking with Motorsport components related to EEC-IV, and reusing "known good" before gambling on the auto-chains' versions. And, symptoms suddenly clearing up after swapping back to Motorcraft. But, with 30+ year old sensors, actuators, et al, this is getting really pricey; a new Motorcraft 5.0L TPS starts at $82 and goes up from there. Not like you should be troubleshooting by throwing parts at a problem until it's solved. But, its a natural law that new electrical components fail right out of the box, and most vendors have a "no return" policy on electrical components, that makes it tempting to try other brands at 1/3 the cost.

From experience working on Jeeps, you use OEM DCJ parts only. What other manufacturers do you trust, or had the best OEM-like results for EFI stuff? You expect Bosch to be quality, but pricey as well. Maybe NAPA (depending on their source), then the typical Standard Motor Products, Walker, Duralast, etc.. Are some of those the actual manufacturers for Ford, and its the same product but stamped and packaged with Motorcraft packaging? Just a crap shoot, so try the most affordable?
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andyofcolumbusmerkur
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Re: Best Aftermarket EFI Components?

Post by andyofcolumbusmerkur »

That guy Scotty on the youtube vids says how he likes to get starters/alternators etc. from the local auto parts store like autozone. He had good luck with them and if you do get a bad part it's easy to return it. He explained that if one of these big buyers starts getting lots of bad parts from a certain supplier they will change the suppler. They don't want to have an extraneous number of returns. Where if you get the cheapest alternator available on the internet you are taking a chance and it's more of a hassle to return it. But for sensors and stuff it just doesn't seem worth it to cheap out with anything not oem. Especially when you end up buying the oem part to replace the new non oem part anyway. How many of us have done that?
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john keefe
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Re: Best Aftermarket EFI Components?

Post by john keefe »

Unfortunately, if the local Autozone/Checkers/O'Reilly's/NAPA don't carry Motorcraft parts, then you're stuck paying over-blown prices on eBay or Amazon with (usually) no returns on electricals.
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Re: Best Aftermarket EFI Components?

Post by thesameguy »

IMO, that rule about OE applies everywhere. I can't think of a single car I have ever owned where someone has said "Oh, the Wells part is every bit as good." It's *insane* that's a problem, but it totally is. Just the other day someone posted they'd bought an aftermarket ECT for their Saab and found it was off several hundred ohms which caused low-temp drivability issues. Swapped it out with Bosch, problem solved. Even on the damn XR I pay the Motorcraft tax whenever I can.

Doesn't help with most Fords, but for other cars I end up buying from rockauto because I can usually get the OE - Denso or Bosch or NGK or whatever and avoid manufacturer prices, but Ford's OE is Motorcraft, so...... :D I figure if I am gonna spent $250 every five years on a VAM, TPS, & ECT sensor it's a small price to pay for reliability.

I avoid Standard, Wells, etc. like the plague except on the simplest of simple components. I have a Wells GNX fan switch in the XR, and a Standard fan switch in my Fiero. That's about as high-tech from those bozos as I trust. Dorman doesn't even get a mention here. I'll buy no-name Chinese stuff off Amazon before Dorman *anything*.

For complicated stuff, like coil packs and whatnot, I will often at least look at the "store brands" like NAPA Premium and Duralast. 40% of the time what's in the box is the legit OE part anyway, and then I get the long warranty too.

Agree with Andy - I almost always buy electro-mechanical stuff from Autozone *unless* I can get the real OE from rockauto at a competitive price. All those Cardone and whatnot rebuilds are garbage... if I'm gonna get a garbage part I want easy access and a lifetime warranty to go with it. These days it does seem like Duralast prices are inching up there with manufacturer prices... I bought an AC compressor for my Jeep a few months ago .. Chrysler wanted $800 and Autozone $350, I bought the actual OE Denso from rockauto for $220.

I know there was a simpler time when aftermarket suppliers could do as good for less, but the engineering that went into cars even 20 or 30 years ago really is exceptional. Even when I'm modifying crap I try to buy production parts... I converted that Jeep from a mechanical clutched fan to electric and it's not a Hayden or Spal... it's a BMW fan. :D
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Re: Best Aftermarket EFI Components?

Post by Ed Lijewski »

I call B.S.

Wells, e.g., was right for Henry Ford. And is right for me.

Same for Echlin, Standard Motor Products, and others.

"Company - Wells Vehicle Electronics" https://wellsve.com/company.html


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Re: Best Aftermarket EFI Components?

Post by thesameguy »

You can call BS all you want, but go ask literally anyone how long their their SMP MAF worked on literally any car.

Echlin isn't even a thing anymore. Standard bought them from Dana like 20 years ago. What comes in an Echlin box is *usually* a Standard Motor Products part. I agree, before that Echlin was generally a good part made to a high quality.

You're welcome to put that dubious crap on your car, but there's a reason it's always the budget brand. It costs less because it is less.

"Wells" isn't a thing anymore either. NGK bought them a few years ago (in a fire sale from UCI) and rebranded them WVE because the name had acquired a poor reputation. I think it's possible under NGK that WVE has improved, but it'll take more than an acquisition and a rebranding to earn my trust.
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Re: Best Aftermarket EFI Components?

Post by john keefe »

Sorry guys, didn't mean to be the instigator of any arguments.
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Re: Best Aftermarket EFI Components?

Post by Ed Lijewski »

On this site we're talking about parts for EEC-IV Scorpios and XRs, not MAFs for other later models. Even so, MAFs by any (US) manufacturer can have a defect; only the Japanese put into practice the tenets of quality manufacturing pioneered by the American W. Edwards Deming. "W. Edwards Deming - Wikipedia" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming

Rock Auto's close-outs could still include parts made by Wells, Echlin and/or other manufacturers, maybe less so today but still possible, by definition. And when/if any appear in close-outs I don't hesitate to buy them.

Wells, Echlin, Cardone inter alia never were the cheaper alternative. That label went to SMP and I've used and still will use SMP's products which haven't left me stranded as did Motorcraft's TFIs...which carry no warranty while IME some of the other manufacturer's parts do.

Wells's website has fantastic tech/learning resources, many on YouTube. See here e.g., and do scroll and expand the screen "Counterpoint" inter alia. Before YouTube became the place for sharing/learning, Wells produced pdf Counterpoints quarterly. Excellent technical library. (Those issues may still be available deep in Wells' site. I printed out and built a reference binder I keep in my garage.)

https://youtube.com/c/GoTechTraining

NGK's eyes were wide open in acquiring Wells as a quality manufacturer to fit into NGK's market growth plan.

"NGK agrees to buy Wells vehicle electronics business | 2015-05-08 | Auto Service Professional" https://www.autoserviceprofessional.com ... s-business

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Re: Best Aftermarket EFI Components?

Post by andyofcolumbusmerkur »

Sometimes you get lucky with those rockauto buys. I didn't want to buy super expensive nos toyota brake hoses for the work truck and got ones branded with some weird letters like api or whatever. One came in a box marked TRW made in UK, and the other auto specialty taiwan. I have also seen other reboxed stuff like that. If the real deal part is $175 and the "equivalent" part is $15 and you want to try the cheaper part to save money I can see that. Especially if you have used that brand in the past with some success. But say you are a mechanic working on someone else's car and the inferior part breaks. You may have to waste a lot of time diagnosing, returning, and replacing parts all while not being paid. That's why they usually will not use parts supplied by the customer, or parts that are not oem or at least from their regular trusted supplier.
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Re: Best Aftermarket EFI Components?

Post by andyofcolumbusmerkur »

john keefe wrote: Fri Feb 05, 2021 2:48 am I'm a big fan of sticking with Motorsport components related to EEC-IV, and reusing "known good" before gambling on the auto-chains' versions.
X2
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Re: Best Aftermarket EFI Components?

Post by john keefe »

Much as I'd want to be a purist, if you don't have the budget anymore for the getting-rare, inflated costs of real Motorcraft stuff, and there's still a chance if you did that you'd get a non-returnable dud right out of the box, then it's really tempting to look at aftermarket brands. For me, at least, gone are the days when the tech manuals troubleshooting tests don't get you answers, and you could "logically" work your way through it by swapping in $20 replacement parts. At least, if one of those wasn't the issue, you'd have a known-good backup for when needed.

I started the thread because I wondered if anyone had luck with any of the aftermarket TPS's and MAF sensors. Luckily, it turned out that the issue I was having was due to a dirty MAF sensor. If the aftermarket stuff is, by consensus, crap, then I'm going to have to hunt and hoard used known-good stuff to keep it running and smog-legal. Imagining the future costs to get parts 5, 10 years from now, if CA ever rolls their smog-exempt years into the '80s, it might be more economical to change to a stand-alone system then, and preserve the working stuff as an investment...

It could also make more sense to bite the bullet with a stand-alone now, and have the working stock stuff ready to swap back when its smog-test time. The age-old car enthusiast's dilemma of invest now, or later.
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Re: Best Aftermarket EFI Components?

Post by thesameguy »

MAFs for '80s Saabs have been NLA for a while now - I rely on rebuilders like Injection Labs to keep the original parts in good shape. TPSs are a problem though.
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Re: Best Aftermarket EFI Components?

Post by andyofcolumbusmerkur »

Ed Lijewski wrote: Fri Feb 05, 2021 6:24 pm I call B.S.

Wells, e.g., was right for Henry Ford. And is right for me.

Same for Echlin, Standard Motor Products, and others.

"Company - Wells Vehicle Electronics" https://wellsve.com/company.html


YMMV
Do you still feel this way Ed or have you changed your mind after messing around with the O2 sensor?
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Re: Best Aftermarket EFI Components?

Post by Ed Lijewski »

I'd certainly buy products by any of those. I've used their products on many cars and still do with confidence.

The Denso O2 sensor apparent failure was a surprise. I probably could disassemble its three wire from connector to sensor probe to test for an open or short to ground or even a mis-connection (heated wire soldered to incorrect probe lead e.g.). But my intellectual curiosity doesn't run that deep for that. Noah and I are still researching why so many new CV axles failed on my cars. I now have a couple of insights into that. We may post about this in that thread not too far off from now.

Re Denso, I'd need to know of confirmed other defective out-of-the-box products before throwing it under the bus. It would help to know where the unit I bought was manufactured but it came, sort if strangely now that I think about it, in a sealed transparent plastic pouch with only a part number label on it. The R.A. packing slip identified it as Denso, but...

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Re: Best Aftermarket EFI Components?

Post by brokencase »

I try to look for NOS stuff on ebay. Bargains often show up.
I found an original Bosch Oxygen sensor for the Scorpio for under $10 on ebay.

The problem with Standard Motor Products is they often have two versions of a product. A decent version and a junky version.

Case in point... Scorpio EGR.
EGV271T $39.79
EGV271 $45.79

The "T" version is junk. I don't understand why they even sell it.
EGV271 is comparable to the original Ford EGR.

The difference is the the good one has stainless steel parts inside. You need that...

New Delphi/Motorcraft ECT.s and ACTs are often available on ebay for reasonable prices. Many of the aftermarket versions of these are not acceptable. But then again you can often find these at the junkyards.
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