Unbelievable frustraion at "No Auto Parts Available"

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67Dart273

67Dart273

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After getting the 98 Ranger back together, and it ran fine for a few weeks, suddenly it went to 'ell. Ordered a code reader, all it spit out is "lean on both banks."

Went to NAPA to get a simple, easy, everyday, been here for a hunnered years screw on tire valve schrader bicycle pump valve actuator depressor filler valve chuck filler deflator thing fitting adaptor gizmo.

Like these......

711143004.jpg



First thing "the kid" wants to know is "what size?"

So 10 minutes of bla bla bla and a few trips to................Google. No I ain't kiddin

One of the "men" tried to tell me "there is no such thing." You guys who "know me" will be surprised. I didn't say anything. I knew if I did things would explode. The car would explode. The store would explode, and so would the Google it was hooked to.

So I came home. Googled. "Hose of Hose" Spokane. THEY ARE OUT, but at least they stock 'em

http://spokanehose.com/product.php?id=1546
 
No offense brother, but I think that is just karma for driving a ford
 
When I was at Kragan, NAPA stood for Never Any Parts Available. If you cant find it in a EPC, it does not exist. EPC, Electronic Parts Catalog.
 
67Dart273 said:
I could be wrong, is Ferd the only company that uses a tire valve for EFI pressure?
Click to expand...

Ferd uses the small diameter Schrader valve type. Mopar and GM use the normal Schrader/ valve stem size.
 
toolmanmike said:
Ferd uses the small diameter Schrader valve type. Mopar and GM use the normal Schrader/ valve stem size.
Click to expand...

No this one is standard tire valve. Finally bought a gauge kit LOL at HF for 20 bucks
 
This came to mind!

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFWeoxrhbE8"]Ron Swanson "I know more than you" - YouTube[/ame]
 
67Dart273 said:
No this one is standard tire valve. Finally bought a gauge kit LOL at HF for 20 bucks
Click to expand...

Funny, that was going to be my suggestion.

As my old timer mopar loving friend says "a ranger ain't like a ford". Meaning its probably one of the better ones made. Other than the auto transmissions anyway.

The only thing i've bought at napa in the last 10ish years has been 85w-90 GL-4 because they are the only people that actually had it in stock. Other than that they aren't that helpful. If I have to wait 3 days, I'll just order it online at this point.
 
67Dart273 said:
I could be wrong, is Ferd the only company that uses a tire valve for EFI pressure?
Click to expand...

I really wouldn't know
I just saw your working on a ranger, so I figured id bug you a bit

seemed like the buddy thing to do?
 
I asked at Autozone for a 5/16 compression union because someone put a section of fuel line in one of the transmission cooler lines and the guy had no idea.
Probably it was easier to cut the line than to get to the fitting at some point for somebody.
I had to go find it myself, and when he asked what it was for (I knew better) I told him it was to connect two non flared ends of a steel transmission cooler line together.

Guess what he said, "transmission cooler lines are all one piece and don't come in sections"
Well, yea in a perfect world. :D


Then I asked for 2 packages of green plastigauge and got a deer in the headlights look.
I had to go to Napa for it.
 
It really IS pretty bad. I told a friend of mine, if I was "Mr Cleaver" or somebody I would never know the difference. I'd just go in there, and they'd say, "no such thing" er whatever, and I'd be like, "uh, oh, OK" and leave LMAO.

One time I was in the local "Ace" (or other) hardware, looking for some inexpensive throttle ball ends. They had had some, didn't seem to anymore. He told me "you will never find them in this town." I bet him 20 bucks.

Twenty minutes later I was back in there feeding two of 'em down his throat. Of course!!! I didn't collect the 20 bucks.

It IS infuriating knowing that "in a previous life" you KNEW stuff existed, in some cases who made it, (Milton, Tru-flate, etc) and that "you" stocked it.
 
I have some years of jobber parts experience. I hate buying parts these days. In my area NAPA is the best. Not because the others are that bad - this NAPA is really that good. but - they never have older stuff and charge shipping unless you wait a couple days. that's my only complaint but up until recently that was enough to only get my body and paint business. Since the Car Quest was bought by Advance the parts quality has gone down so I'll start driving three times the distance to hit NAPA.
 
I had a leaking oil pressure sender on my Nissan truck so since I could always hear the engine sound change at just before a quart low I was going to plug it off.

I got the "what's it for?" question and I told him it was just a brass metric pipe plug. (common as can be)
I made the mistake of not just walking out and told him what it was for and he refused to sell it to me, saying "I can't sell you that because doing what you want to do with it will endanger the engine".
I asked him if when he took the job did he have to take some sort of an oath of "Do No Harm" like a doctor does or what, and he got all shitty about it.
I left and got one at Ace Hardware.
 
In the old days, you could buy a king-pin for a Model T in any country store, and the ebay of the day was the Sears catalog. Of course, they didn't have so much stuff then, stuff cost much more, and it wasn't designed for obsolescence. Flip-side is that Ford's factories were inflexible and so locked into Model T production that he was late to come out with new designs and lost much market share. That did help the Dodge Bro's with their more modern car bodies.
 
I work in parts, mainly hydraulics, bearings, industrial and ag supply stuff. So I've been the guy on the other side of the counter. The one asking "what are you doing with it". And trust me, when I ask that I do need to know. Cause by that point I'll have a sneaking suspicion that what you are trying to do won't work with what you're asking for, or that I might have a better way of doing it. 9/10 times a guy says "doesn't matter I just need this" I'll go grab it, sell it to him. And see him two days later saying "It didn't work". The other time? He probably went to someone else cause he was too embarrassed to see me.

But I run on old school way of doing things. You got a number? Great. You don't? I'll look at it and figure out what it is. You wanna do what? Ok lets figure out how to make this do that. I run off actual information and knowledge. And trust me, for every shitty counter guy, there's a hundred customers who have no idea what they want. Like a guy comes in says:

"I need a bearing"

"Ok, what size?"

"About like this" Holds his hand up, index and thumb together in a circle.

Or my best yet? Was specing out a hydraulic motor for a guy. It was a **** show from the start. He had no idea how much pressure or GPM he was putting to this motor. So I told him unless I knew that I couldn't give him a reliable number as to what the motor would spin, or what torque it would create. So he pulls a couple numbers out of his *** and says run with those. Turns out its 411 rpm. What does buddy do?

Starts spinning his hand in a circle, real fast like and says "That's about 411 rpm right? That should work" I just nodded and sold him the motor. I wasn't going to argue for another 20 minutes with someone who wouldn't listen. Never mind that he was using this hydraulic motor to reel in a mile of hose, and that at 411 rpm with the reel he had that hose would whip along the ground like you couldn't believe. There was just no talking to him.

But I've been on the customers side of the counter, shaking my head while the guy at crappy tire tries to figure out the incredible rocket science of "5/16ths 2 inch long carb studs". That's a whole nother story.
 
The world is changing much too fast for us old guy's to keep up. I had used the local Carquest store for years and was very happy with the quality of their parts, My store sold out to NAPA in a different location and then within two or three months became Carquest, But alas not the CarQuest I had known. I can't trust the parts I buy there to be the quality I had come to trust.
So that being the only parts store within reasonable driving distance, and the internet not being a good choice when doing customer work,(because of the time delay mostly) What is a guy to do? I'm holding my breath waiting for the parts failures to overwhelm me. I can't tell by looking whether they are any good or not. If price is my guide then good stuff isn't available. only cheap junk (not to be confused with inexpensive junk)
 
Dr dan said:
The world is changing much too fast.............. If price is my guide then good stuff isn't available. only cheap junk (not to be confused with inexpensive junk)
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I bought a dimmer switch for the Dart at NAPA about three years ago and I don't think it went 20 "dims." I don't drive much at night anymore.
 
TrailBeast said:
I had a leaking oil pressure sender on my Nissan truck so since I could always hear the engine sound change at just before a quart low I was going to plug it off.

I got the "what's it for?" question and I told him it was just a brass metric pipe plug. (common as can be)
I made the mistake of not just walking out and told him what it was for and he refused to sell it to me, saying "I can't sell you that because doing what you want to do with it will endanger the engine".
I asked him if when he took the job did he have to take some sort of an oath of "Do No Harm" like a doctor does or what, and he got all shitty about it.
I left and got one at Ace Hardware.
Click to expand...

Welcome to my world,being out of the parts business ... Between idiotic bean counter management, the computer makes anyone a " parts person", and reduced income : Makes it impossible, to do your job properly as a knowledgeable parts person...
 
Lustle said:
I work in parts, mainly hydraulics, bearings, industrial and ag supply stuff. So I've been the guy on the other side of the counter.
Click to expand...

I've got a little hydraulics experience - mainly municipal plows & sanders, plus some trailer experience in my background... In addition to owning a small farm.

The two worst customers: farmers, and Chevy guys.
Farmers because they never want to tell you what they're actually doing and most seem to think they know if it's "right by the way it feels in my feet when I stand on it". (yes - I heard that...)

Chevy guys because of the assertion that just because "it's a Chevy..." doesn't mean "they are all the same."

:violent1:
 
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