Spent $400 on a cheap injection pump rebuild kit and it bit me hard

Honestly, I tried saving money on my 7.3 Powerstroke last fall by grabbing a no-name rebuild kit from eBay for $400 instead of the $1200 OEM one. Got it all together, truck ran rough for about 2 weeks, then the pump started leaking bad from the seals. Took me another weekend to pull it all apart and put a quality kit in. Anyone else get burned trying to cheap out on fuel system parts?

4 comments

4 Comments

phoenix57313d ago

Nah I think the torque thing is a real factor but not the whole story. Cheap seals can be inconsistent too - different rubber compounds shrink or swell differently with diesel, and the spring tension inside the seal might not be right. I've seen counterfeit seals that looked perfect but were hard as a rock after a month of fuel exposure. So yeah, proper torque helps a ton, but if the seal material itself is garbage, it's gonna fail regardless of how careful you are.

lily_torres3114d ago

Did you actually use the right torque specs when you put it together the first time? I've run cheap seals for years without issues and honestly think most of these failures come down to installer error not the parts.

faith_shah8813d ago

Wait, you're saying you've run cheap seals for years without issues? That's honestly kind of blowing my mind right now. @wade250's story about being way off on torque kind of made me realize I might be in the same boat though. I always figured I had a good feel for it but now I'm questioning every job I've ever done.

wade25014d ago

Man, I used to be the exact opposite. I always figured torque specs were just manufacturer CYA stuff and not worth sweating over. Had a few cheap seals blow out on me over the years and just blamed the parts. Then a buddy made me torque one of my own jobs to spec, and it was way tighter than I would have done by hand. That convinced me I was the problem, not the seals. Now I'm meticulous about it, and my cheap stuff holds up fine too.