Motorcraft parts or after market?
- Thread starter oldpaddy
- Start date
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Trainmaster
Old School Member
Motorcraft.
Just can't find quality American aftermarket parts elsewhere anymore.
I have to buy Motorcraft on-line as the local dealers charge double the list price on parts.
Just can't find quality American aftermarket parts elsewhere anymore.
I have to buy Motorcraft on-line as the local dealers charge double the list price on parts.
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Give me some examples, please.
Where is everyone's serpentine belt diagram listed? I could've sworn it was in the engine bay, but I couldn't find mine. Wasn't on my door frame either. I ended up googling it. You'd think it would be an easy search, but it wasn't.
For me it depends on the parts. I have both an explorer and expedition. Someone above mentioned quality american. Recently the past few motorcraft parts I've used, the Ford/Motorcraft label on the package said "Contents made in China". I was kind of pissed. The explorer forum has had several comments about belt tensioners going bad before 100,000 miles. I recently replaced mine with a different brand better warranty. My rotors I recently replaced with motorcraft. So, definitely just depends with me, I'll consider price versus warranty etc..
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Off the top of my head
Spark plugs, oil, oil filter, transfer case fluid, sensors, batteries all Motorcraft.
Won’t buy Motorcraft for brakes or shocks. Brand I go with depends on application.
Went Bilstein for shocks and am still waffling between EBC and Baer for brakes.
Gear oil I prefer amsoil.
I like NAPA Gold for replacement air filters.
Belts I go with Goodyear Gatorback first or Continental.
Also depends on if looking for an upgrade or if factory quality is good enough.
Also the belt diagram should be in the owners manual.
Spark plugs, oil, oil filter, transfer case fluid, sensors, batteries all Motorcraft.
Won’t buy Motorcraft for brakes or shocks. Brand I go with depends on application.
Went Bilstein for shocks and am still waffling between EBC and Baer for brakes.
Gear oil I prefer amsoil.
I like NAPA Gold for replacement air filters.
Belts I go with Goodyear Gatorback first or Continental.
Also depends on if looking for an upgrade or if factory quality is good enough.
Also the belt diagram should be in the owners manual.
I saw Canada written on one package of pulleys. Not sure if it was the belt tensioner, belt or ridged pulley, but something had Germany written on the part itself.
I bought mine used and the manual was MIA. I'm pretty sure the first generation had the belt diagram in the engine bay. My '14 should too. Kind of a ******* move by Ford in my opinion.
I don't have the patience to watch a video on installing the belt. I Google image searched for my vehicle and almost all of the diagrams were for different vehicles or years. Took me a few minutes to find the right one and then my phone kept shutting off. Add in the kids running and screaming and the great Dane puppy barking at shadows, and it really made me wish I had that diagram in the bay like it's supposed to be.True. No diagram in my 14. Diagram in my 03 engine bay.
I wouldn't be able to do it with just a diagram anyway. Gotta have a YouTube video
ManUpOrShutUp
Full Access Members
It depends on the part, but it's worth noting that most of Motorcraft's parts are made by a third party anyway and you're often just paying for the MC name. The two most recent (within last couple years) MC epic failures I've encountered were their shocks and tstat. I've been satisfied with my MC brakes, but when it came time to replace the fronts I went another route as I didn't feel the MC stuff was worth the price premium. My plugs are MC though and when I've had to choose between MC/Dorman I've always gone MC, though I'm not always entirely sure Dorman didn't also make the MC part. 
Trainmaster
Old School Member
It's a real dilemma these days. As ManUp says, Motorcraft parts are usually made by others. I trust they are big names, like Delphi, Standard, etc. But more and more of them are coming from China too. It seems, at least around here that most available aftermarket suppliers are in a quest to sell their stuff at the cheapest possible price. So that's no good.
I think if you can find a top quality aftermarket supplier, you're just as good with them as with Ford and you can save by not paying for the Ford name. I just can't find them here, and I don't want to do the job twice. I don't mind paying extra to reduce my chance of a bum part.
I screw stuff up sometimes anyway, so I don't need crappy parts to help me do that.
I think if you can find a top quality aftermarket supplier, you're just as good with them as with Ford and you can save by not paying for the Ford name. I just can't find them here, and I don't want to do the job twice. I don't mind paying extra to reduce my chance of a bum part.
I screw stuff up sometimes anyway, so I don't need crappy parts to help me do that.
I work for a mechanic shop so I got my parts for what the local Ford dealership sells them to garages for, but I still paid about $200 for the belt, 3 pulleys and the tensioner. I think I saw napa selling a complete kit of those parts for about half that price. But I didn't want cheap shit from China.
Granted depends on application but I put a new tensioner and A/C compressor from NAPA in my Silverado last summer and they both were made in the US.
For standard replacement parts I did not list earlier.
NAPA is my go to. I don’t buy their lowest tier of parts but the higher tiers have been nothing but great parts.
ManUpOrShutUp
Full Access Members
I just avoid NAPA on principle now. I bought tons of parts from them over the years, but my local (corporate-owned) NAPA is awful. They're even worse than Rock Auto when it comes to customer service. Rock is so cheap on some parts that sometimes I still buy from anyway though and hope that there are no issues with it.
Most ford/motorcraft parts either were made in another country or the label says "majority content made in usa". That's why these days I'm not so concerned anymore going with strictly ford parts unless I have to. Not worth the extra money to me anyways.
Is corporate the problem what are the issues?
The reason I ask because my local NAPA is freaking top notch! It was just purchased by corporate and not independently owned anymore.
I have been twice since the buy out and one of my go to sales counter folks was there and had the same superior service.
My main guy went to a different independently owned NAPA but it is 35 miles away.
So hoping corporate doesn’t screw it up.
In my area Napa employees are a "special" breed. They know everything or at least they think they do, are better than every other parts place in the area, love to get you to spend more, talk bad about other places, and have terrible warranty service (if they even warranty a part).
The stores do have some stocking items like larger size oil resistant hose that other places don't stock but the people drive me away.
The stores do have some stocking items like larger size oil resistant hose that other places don't stock but the people drive me away.
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