theandies

I didn't know that was allowed.

DUB

NOT making light of this situation... BUT. I can say That I have installed these new wiper motors for a wiper door car and they worked and while the car was in the shop and ON THE DAY of delivery. it stopped working,. I was PISSED. But I knew it was new and I go it working by tapping on it and let it run with the wiper linkage off of it for some time and it has not left the owner not being able to use it.

BUT...not knowing if you use this wiper motor every time you wash your car or if it has not been used for the five months I can say...FROM EXPERIENCE...and directly coming from the guys who restores the originals for me. Dust can build up on the contact points inside the wiper moor and make it so it will not work. I know how to get to these points and clean them and in about 99% of the wiper motors I work on that do not wok. THAT fixes the problem due to so many people do not use the wipers and do not drive their car in the rain.

I do agree that so many parts are being made so poorly that I have to worry about what I buy and HOPE that it will works. Complaining often times falls on deaf ears and is pointless. So many vendors ( but not all of them )are happy with selling crap. because it is all about making money. And for this reason when you have people who own these cars who do not care about what they buy...they further feed the fire on these poorly made parts being available. If people buy them...then they will keep selling them. THAT is where the problem is. You nor I can get everyone to think the same way. Because when somebody can see they can save $10. They will do just that if they do not care. It is not the same as saving 50 cents on a can of Coco-Cola that you KNOW is the same. But yet they think it is when they buy an inferior
part..

The list of bad stuff can include weatherstrips, seat covers and interior parts, power steering hoses, new gauges and electric switches and many exterior parts, body parts and drive line/suspension parts.. So it is an never ending task to find the best and hope that it lasts.

DUB

naramlee

dat cheap weatherstriping...😡😡😡

vettebuyer6369

In 2011, the site started the Transaction Feedback section, where members can report facts of transactions, good or bad. That where such reports go when the post is about the transaction with a particular seller/buyer, not a "review" of the product. The OP of your thread sounded like it was about parts, but the last post mentioned displeasure with the particular vendor and where is might be located, so it sounds like you should report that vendor if you have an unresolved dispute that should be in the Transaction Feedback section.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...k-section.html

All members should check there from time to time for general information.

theandies

Dub,
You may or may not know my Vette is my daily driver right now and I've driven it in the rain many many times. My original motor died (the internal relay contact switch was in pieces and the motor winding did not ohm out) so I ordered the one I'm talking about in this thread. It worked flawlessly for 5 months then one day driving home in the rain it stopped mid stroke and cycling the switch did nothing. I got home and did a "technical tap) on the housing and the wipers started working. I checked all the wiring and power/grounds in the car and they are all working properly.
A few days later I was in the rain again but just a little drizzle which didn't require the wipers to be on all the time. In these conditions I over-ride the wiper door so I can run the wipers one or two cycles to clean the WS. This way I don't have to wait for the wiper door to open and also to keep the wiper door from cycling causing wear and tear. Anyway I wiped the WS a couple of times and let them park. The last time I tried to wipe the WS the wipers didn't move at all. Got home and did another technical tap but that did nothing and the motor was real hot to the touch. Took the motor off and bench tested it and it is dead.
I e-mailed ZIP but of course I've not heard anything from them. Not even a reply stating there is nothing they can do. After getting a crappy part and not hearing from the vendor is what's making my blood boil. I can't keep throwing $100 bills at this problem twice a year.
Dub - Please PM me and let me know where you get your WS wiper motors and if you had good luck with them.
- Thanks
John

I'd hate to be the guy that doesn't drive his car in the rain that often and be caught in the rain after replacing his WS wiper motor and have it fail years after installation.

DUB

Understood and will PM you tomorrow when I can get to my information due to it is at work....and I am at home right now.

DUB

theandies

I don't have a dispute yet. ZIP delivered the part on time but I do have a problem with the part as it failed after 5 months of use. I'm still waiting on a reply from my e-mail I sent. If I don't hear from them soon then I will have a dispute.

The13Bats

In the 80s by 88 89 i had 100k on my 81, dd,

The wiper motor still worked and wasnt replaced when the car was restored, lucky? I dont know,

In 2009 when i got my 69 it had problems it was after all a project car,
It would drain a full battery overnight,
I couldn't figure out why and just disconnected the battery as i had lots to work on.

One day i was in the engine bay rested my hand on the wiper motor ( which the wipers didnt ever work ) and it was just about hot enough to burn you,

I unplugged it and it fixed the battery drain,

I saved the motor, is rebuilding by me or a pro any practical option?

DUB

'theandies'

PM has been sent as per your request and if I were you I would wait and see what ZIP does due to would figure the warranty/guarantee on a new part should be a year without question. But nowadays...who knows.


YES..I have those rebuilt when needed and when they come back they look brand new....unless I can fix the problem in the point contacts at the shop my myself first.

DUB

Lakeside49

Unfortunately, we've all been in this frustrating boat with seemingly no harbor in sight. The Rock Auto stuff has not served me too well. I would rather call and talk to Tommy at Wilcox, at least you get a person who knows your vehicle. I doubt it will improve and will probably get worse as the world moves forward and our C3 parts volumes decrease. Here's the score - I was one of the 4 aftermarket parts product line manager at an American OEM, an assignment I had a few years back. Almost every global aftermarket parts supplier wanted to be your supplier. But, once you finally got comfortable with a component supplier you didn't want to change because their team was fully onstream and were doing a good job on 100% of the key performance metrics (meeting our proprietary testing and materials/specifications negligible failure rate, no back-orders, win-win competitive pricing, handling any issues immediately, responsive and fostering good relationships with our team, including our engineers, quality manager, Dealers and Distributors, et al.). Having 100 million units in operation in the US (including large fleets that took proper maintenance seriously on their high mileage vehicles) is what makes the economic case for this model and it all usually works well. But, whenever we do need to add or replace a supplier partner it is usually an endeavor. Again, everyone wants your component business because of your well-operating model and potential volumes. But, often when you progress to the point of reviewing your proprietary engineering and extensive testing specs with their engineering/production teams - even those who have past OEM experience - they will often abruptly excuse themselves from negotiations. They realize that their current product designs, manufacturing tolerances, and durability testing cycles common in the aftermarket will not make the grade. Usually, we politely part company. A couple of times a supplier CEO would stand up from our meeting table and acted personally insulted, claiming that our specs were unfair - but, ask ANY shop owner or Dealer or especially a inconvenienced customer and they are NOT too high. It was rare (Moog being our single only exception on my watch) that an aftermarket product would approach the half-way point on our strictly monitored durability tests. Btw, a wiper motor is considered a life & death safety item - if you can't see in the rain on a highway or rural road you and your family can die - and C3 wiper motors are very low on the scale of design & quality testing complexity so this one is without any excuses, trust me. But, without the distributor's oversight - and, they don't have the manpower, global interaction resource or volume carrots to accomplish this; also, the Chinese aftermarket parts manufacturers seem to try to do their best but desperately need experienced OEM guidance... which they are not going to receive in most cases especially with C3 components. And, when the US distributors work with them they quickly find out that China is 12 hours forward of the eastern US and our Sundays are their "Monday" - so, you are working late nights and often Sundays to interact with them on resolving an issue - so, there are no casual requests for tweaks or improvements - every interaction is an uphill battle with a Chinese supplier unless you have staff there - which is very expensive. If their warranty-return costs are high they will listen, but if the cost of the design improvement doesn't make economic sense, it probably won't happen.

Dave Mclellan (C3/C4 Corvette Chief Program Manager) says in his book, that during the last few years of the C3 they struggled to find parts suppliers because their volumes were too low because other GM platforms had discontinued using the formerly common components... and their longtime C3 suppliers wanted to focus on newer technologies to secure their futures with GM and their other OEM customers.

Bottom line, it comes down to economics and loss of GM parts legacy knowledge/experience, US distributor and supplier management oversight, combined with loss of tooling and influential US guidance. Our C3 volumes are relatively low and parts usage is forecasted to remain flat at best. So there is no economic leverage -- and there are no (zero) Asian suppliers who were around when the OEMs guided the C3 model's original parts quality strategies. Thankfully, there are still a few rapidly disappearing pockets of legacy expertise in the US (I.e. Federal-Mogul and Tenneco brands, Dana, SKF, and several others - but, they are not being approached to produce low volume legacy parts, even if they were to accept them - and, you would pay more for the quality.

I just thought someone might be interested in a glimpse at a behind the scenes look at the bigger picture from someone who used to be behind the scenes. One reason I took the time to share this is because of the above poster who seemed surprised that the original part still seemed more robust than the new replacement. Unfortunately, that is the case for the reasons I noted above... with no future chance of changing (sorry). Having an original component (i.e. wiper motor) rebuilt to the OE specs can often provide more certain quality if and when it is done properly - there is a whole story on reman parts, as well. Therefore, having our C3 parts suppliers in our court and battling their distributors/suppliers for us is always going to be key. We need the parts for our beloved C3 hobby and they want to sell them as badly - and, feel a little appreciated along the way. They do have a limited voice and in some cases are the only seat at the table that we all have. GM is never going to help us, they're focused on the C8 - and the limitations with managing the Asian supplier dynamic is a difficult reality on a good day with high volumes as a carrot. Since GM is never going to reactivate support for us, we don't have many alternatives in a lot (most?) of the component categories.
:thumbs up