Hey rx7club,

I'd like to know your experiences with using third party products as replacements on your FC, like the sort of remanufactured parts you can pick up from Autozone or O'Reillys. Is it worth it to go the extra mile and order OEM from Mazda or has the third party products held their ground?

I need to get a water pump and filler neck replaced, as most of the cooling system in my N/A rusted away. I live in Arizona, so it's critical that the car's cooling system doesn't ever fail.

(And also, I tried my best to see if there were other threads that covered this, but being a noob, I couldn't find anything. So, if there's another thread, please link me.)

 

Some parts like Alternators have let people down, but overall the aftermarket parts are alright. Just go with a reputable aftermarket company, not for the cheapest part if you have a few options.

In terms of cooling system, the part you want OEM, just to be safe, is the thermostat.

 

If the car is like "pristine" and you plan on keeping it under glass,then go ahead and get the OEM water pump at $350 bucks.
If you want to drive the car around get the one for $50 at Rock Auto.
Seriously some OEM parts should come with Vaseline and a Thank you..

 

in this case, with the water pumps, Mazda sells a reman, so you might as well go aftermarket, because they did...

the S4 is N326-15-100R-MC list is $67.70

the S5 pump is N350-15-100R-M0 list is $67.70

the $350 pump is the entire water pump and housing. in a catalog that is full of traps and gotchas, that is one of the classic ones. the giant price is Mazda's way of telling you you're looking up the wrong part.

 

jesus. i learned that the hard way. lol

 

That 350 was a slight exaggeration of course,but none the less they mark up the price so much you think that you own a damn Porsche!
Aftermarket stuff is usually made to tolerances that meet or exceed the OEM stuff so I can't see paying for OEM if the cheaper parts are capable of doing what the OEM parts are designed to do.
True,some OEM parts especially that Pesky thermostat YES...But every day replacement parts?..just go Jobber.

 

I actually do need to get the entire housing replaced. Hopefully the pictures do the damage justice. Do aftermarkets sell the whole housing or are the listed pumps just the half with the blades?

Also, thank you to everyone who replied. This insight should help the rebuild a lot.

 

thats because its the wrong part! you're supposed to look up the water pump, got $350 wtf i must have done something wrong, look it up again, and find the water pump and its $67...

notice please that if the dealership parts guy made the same mistake as you just did, you'd use words like "stealership" and "bad"...

 

Oh, also, what's everyone's opinion on aftermarket transmission/differential seals and wheel bearings?

 

As long as they're from a manufacturer I'm familiar with, I have no problem.

Avoid the assumption that "OEM" is also "best", makers buy for price just like you do (see the current GM ignition switch brouhaha for example) and even switch suppliers using the same part number (like current Mazda supplied thermostats that deleted the jiggle pin of the original).

 

$350 Canadian,Big Fella..
(works out to about 67 bucks US..lol!..now a days..doesn't it?).

I looked around local and got real stupid pricing on the pump.Napa was 2something..Another store was 160 or so.
I got one for 80 and that I say YES to,only because I needed it and didn't have to wait for Rock Auto to ship.

So you Guys got it made for parts and prices for sure.As soon as the parts come over the border ..BAM..Vaseline time.,Customs taxes..crap..

 

This. SKF, ***, NSK...go with a reputable brand in a box with their name. Especially for bearings and seals or other parts that are hard to get to or where their performance affects your safety.

Some 'no-name' parts are made by reputable companies, but I always worry about the quality tolerances they're made to, when the aim is to cut cost.

 

Would Timken be considered reputable? I'd rather not go Duralast and the locals have the Timkens in stock.

 

My rear wheel bearings are Timken, I think.

 

Timken makes bearings. Duralast purchase bearings that 'meet or exceed OEM specifications', most likely from china, and put their name on them.

For a S4NA water pump, there's no reason to not go with a Mazda one. Mine was ~$70 shipped from Malloy Mazda and I had it 3 days later. Seems kinda dumb to save $5 and buy a chinese "rebuilt" one, only to have to do the whole job again a few months later.

As for other parts, here's my short & simple breakdown of what works:
Alternator: Mazda or Ford
Starter: Mazda, parts store ones are garbage. I encountered two that puttered along at 70 RPM, both were "remanufactured" by Worldwide in China and Mexico respectively.
Relays: Mazda, Ford, Mitsubishi and Denso are all good
Clutch Hydraulics: Mazda works, but I have not personally used them for a comparison to aftermarket as of yet. The general consensus is to stick with Mazda parts here though.

Overall, the name on the box doesn't matter to me. It's the build quality that I look at. Mazda is equally capable of making a shitty part, the RX8's ignition come to mind here. But on the plus side, a substandard OEM part is also an opportunity for some clever individual to create a solution that works better. BHR's coil kit is a great example of this.

 

To be pedantic, Mazda isn't making most of the parts you describe, they spec 'em out or buy 'em in just like we do.
All the Japanese makers buy from the same suppliers, you see names like Niles, Denso, Nissan and Mitsubishi all over everything.

 

My point exactly. The name on the box doesn't matter, it's the engineering that goes into the part that we should be looking at. I believe I illustrated this with my starter comparison test. The starters from Autozone & Advance Auto were branded differently, Duralast and Worldwide respectively, but were "remanufactured" by the same company (Worldwide). Both failed abysmally, cranking at 40% of what a properly rebuilt Mazda starter did in a back to back test

Just like the GM Ignition Switch example you cited, anyone can do a shitty job and put a brand name on it. But at the same time, anyone can do a good job and put the same brand name on it too. This is the entire reason my car uses parts from different manufacturers, I've carefully selected those good parts at each step, so I ended up these parts for these reasons:

130A Taurus Alternator: Massive output on a part that's common as dirt and stupid cheap at any You Pull It junkyard
Taurus 2-speed fan: Moves a ridiculous amount of air, is cheap/common and easily found
VW Jetta Relay Panel: Uses one socket design for relays and one for ATO/ATC fuses, flexible open source design only changes the frame for different applications. MkIV Jetta has a LOT of openings in the frame for lots of flexibility.
S10 EGR Solenoids: Common, cheap, has 3 ports that are the same size (3/16") as the Mazda solenoids, and a proper sealed connector to prevent corrosion. Mine are official GM parts which were made in Canada, not imitation ones from China.
74 Subaru GL Fan Thermoswitch: Works just like a S5T2 thermoswitch, turns on at a slightly lower temperature of 203 degrees, same M16x1.5 threads and uses a common bullet connector. Not too shabby for $10 from Rock Auto
D585 coils: Easy to wire up with power, signal and two grounds, easily found on lots of GM trucks, and mine were $10/each with the stock brackets that got reused to secure the Front Harness. Plus, they're easier to find at a junkyard than LS1 or LS2 Corvette/Camaro/GTO coils around here and put out 3x the power too. Epic Win.

Bruce Lee would be proud

 

I got the oreilly water pump for like 40 bucks and was noticebly beefier than oem, well worth it imo

 

About that EGR solenoid...

I busted one of the solenoids on the emissions rack of a T2. Stupid plastic vacuum nipple broke off. Anyways, do the S10 EGR Solenoids apply to all of the emissions solenoids in an FC? If I remember correctly, the one I broke was part of the cluster of 4 buried under the throttle body, and is the only one with the air breather flipped on the other side. The Haynes manual calls it the Twin Scroll Turbocharger Solenoid Valve. I'll need to check when I have the parts in my hands, but I know it was on the end of 4-solenoid cluster. If not, it might have been the Pressure Regulator Solenoid Valve. Again, would the S10 units work for this application?

 

my MGB actually has a solenoid on it that looks a lot like the ones Mazda used in everything from 1981-199x (hint hint)

 

the OE is mostly Koyo, timken is fine though

the Rx8 coils are Denso. they do have a high failure rate, but that puts em on par with piston engines. the Ford coil on plugs go bad way more often than the Rx8 ones.

 

Pzr2, it will work just fine. It's just a matter of mounting it nice and clean.

 

Okay, I'll take your word for it. Any old junkyard unit should do, right? And which year range should I be looking for? Is this what it looks like?

Standard VS26 EGR Vacuum Solenoid | Auto Parts Warehouse

 

Yes, it will work just fine. That one isn't what I use, but it'll work fine with little fuss. If in doubt, ask for one at autozone to doublecheck the barb size. Wiring is the same, just use a couple spade lugs on the end of a junkyard pigtail for a quick & cheap adapter

 

I'll be using silicone vacuum hoses, so I don't think the barb ends will even be much of a problem thanks to their extreme pliancy.

I've also been meaning to ask, what's the difference between all of these emissions solenoids? Are they all just solenoids that open and close if the ECU tells it to? Do tube diameter and air flow have any effect on their operation? Are all of the RX7's solenoids interchangeable? There really is no difference in using these S10 solenoids?