autozone parts suck!

[BLK95TA]

so i bought an oil sender unit from AZ to change out the one that the tranny shop put in last year that when the air temp is over 80 or so, the gauge will sometimes trip the check gauges light while stopped at a light for more than a min or so...

so we got the new one in today and it appeared to be fine until the car warmed up and then every single time i let off the gas or stopped the car, it would drop to 0 and throw the check gauge light :frustrated:

i know the car has oil pressure because if it didn't, i'd have blown the motor months ago (i seem to recall back in september going to the indy bash and being in line to get on the track having my oil pressure constantly drop to the CG light...

is there some sort of electrical issue here or am i getting shitty gauge senders? i'm gonna try to return the one to AZ after i take it out and put the old one back in tomorrow morning...i was gonna try to do it tonight btu the damn engine is still warm after sitting for ~ 30 mins or so

i hope they will take their POS sender unit back and i might even try to return the tools i used to install it (which i had to buy because i didnt have a socket for that sender, and no one had a 6 inch extension or 1/2 to 1 adaptor so i spent $20 in tools for this job, lol)

[AChotrod]

AZ parts do suck for the most part. Bummer. Some parts are fine for years other just suck from the start.

[Fastbird]

Bite yer tongues! I work for AutoZone part time. Stay away from the Valucrap.....I mean Valucraft stuff. That's the low end of the deal. Most of our sensors we sell are Wells pieces and are actually quite reliable.

I'd inspect the wiring for your oil sending unit and if anything put a mechanical gauge on the car to verify what's going on. Might surprise you.

[BLK95TA]

FWIW this was a duralaast part

[rebuilt]

I don't shop at Autozone or Pepboys for any parts. To many bad parts and bad experiances with the employees (not an attack Fastbird). Around here they only seem to hire the kids straight outa highschool or the guy that dropped out of the mechanical votech program. I have better luck with Oreillys or Napa.

[Fastbird]

No worries. Agreed that there's a LOT of unknowing people working these stores. It's really hit or miss. Around here, the idiots are pretty spread evenly.

OP -- Double check your pressure with a mechanical gauge. This will 100% determine whether there's a gauge/sender issue or not.

[BLK95TA]

so i put the old osu back in and no CG light right now (drove it for a good 25 mins)

i think i'm gonna go return that POS defective AZ unit

[Blubird]

yeah i got a "new" starter from them, had to take it back 2 days later

[Camaro_94]

I mainly go to auto zone for detailing products. I dont really get too much else from there.

- Mike

[LJM97Z]

If it acts up again, you best put a mech. guage on it to rule the pump out. As for the goobers just working for AZ isn't all true, these clowns are at O'Rielly's too, run into them all the time, its hit & miss, just find one or more that seem knowledgeable enough to work with you & stick with them.

[IronOutlaw]

I also bought a faulty starter from them one time. They built an oreillys about 4 minutes away from my house and i go to them all the time. They seem to have good parts and the people working there actually know there stuff (surprisingly).

[YZF]

I don't get it. At work, we deal with NAPA and Orielly's 95% of the time. We do most of our part orders online but from time to time we have to call them for certain parts not listed on the online program. And when we call them, they seem to be smart people who know what they're doing and about 95% of the time, the parts that come in are correct. But if I were to walk into the store in street clothes(not my uniform) they would probably come off to me as complete idiots. Like if I were to go in and tell them I needed to purchase an optispark for a 96 Z28... and they come at me with a "is that the V6 or V8?"I don't ever buy parts straight from the store just because I can get them at cost at work. So it saves me the hassle of dealing with them in person.

[BLK95TA]

I'm pretty sure the one they sold me was used... it had some white marks on it that i dont think were caused by the wrench (they looked at me funny when i told them it was only in there a day, but i showed them the receipt and the threadlocker that was still on the threads) i have not seen a single check gauges light since i put the other one back in, it does read down near the red at idle when warm, but not low enough to throw the light since its been cooler out lately (although it was 75ish today so i thought it might trip the light)

[YZF]

My gauge reads pretty low with the stock t-stat in it. But with the 160 in it... it stays a little higher. Maybe you could try that...?

[KissMyWhtSS]

I don't get it. At work, we deal with NAPA and Orielly's 95% of the time. We do most of our part orders online but from time to time we have to call them for certain parts not listed on the online program. And when we call them, they seem to be smart people who know what they're doing and about 95% of the time, the parts that come in are correct. But if I were to walk into the store in street clothes(not my uniform) they would probably come off to me as complete idiots. Like if I were to go in and tell them I needed to purchase an optispark for a 96 Z28... and they come at me with a "is that the V6 or V8?"I don't ever buy parts straight from the store just because I can get them at cost at work. So it saves me the hassle of dealing with them in person.
Well, I'd refer to it as a distributor because the people working in those minimum wage jobs are idiots and it will be database'd as a distributor.

[Cyanydem28]

at the autozone out where i live, they will hire anyone, i was jsut in ther today and they have 2 "special" kids working there, special meaning retarded and tahts a understatement

[Cyanydem28]

andi mostly go there to get those little air freshiners that u hang on the rear mirror, i dont trust them with parts

[BLOWNDFIZ]

Shop at NAPA please! Keeps food on my table. Most of our stores are independently owned so it is not some corporate "cost savings" strategy with less than capable counterpeople in our stores. Many NAPA Counterpeople have been in the stores for years, and will retire from that store. OK enough adverertising from me....

[AChotrod]

Napa parts have never let me down.
I bought a jack from AZ it broke 2 days later, bought some hub/bearing assembly's for my truck one went out within a week, bearing seal was shot. Blower motor was loud as hell.I just have not had very many good parts from them. Pep boy parts are not much better. But price is better.

[Ninety5PoloZ]

HAHA this post is kinda funny. Do you guys think that autozone or any other parts store manufactures all of thier own parts? I'd be willing to bet that 90% of the parts that autozone carries are the exact same as the parts store down the road but just in a different box. Look at the rotor boxes, they don't even have any markings on them so they can be sold to a bunch of different stores and not have to have a certain box to please the customer.

You can blame the store and say that you will never go there again, but in reality when you go down the street and go to a different store you are still buying the same part. I don't know this for a fact, but I'd put money on it that if someone did some research and saw who the vendor for the parts was they would probably be the same for the most part.

But to the OP if the stock sender was reading funny and you put in a different one and it was reading funny rather than blaming the supplier of the part, mabye there is something fishy with your car. Mabye a piece of something is blocking the passage way and not letting the sender do its job.

Just my .02 and I'm not trying to start a war :D

[sdmws6]

Shop at NAPA please! Keeps food on my table. Most of our stores are independently owned so it is not some corporate "cost savings" strategy with less than capable counterpeople in our stores. Many NAPA Counterpeople have been in the stores for years, and will retire from that store. OK enough adverertising from me....


It feeds me, as well! We have one guy that's been at our NAPA for 40 yrs, and another guy for 10 yrs. And two guys just retired who actually started the NAPA store with their father, 45 years ago! I've been there for 3.5 yrs and I can tell you that most CORPORATELY owned NAPA stores have pretty strict application requirements (experience/knowledge). I know Advance Auto Parts supplies many of the same parts we do (Wagner exhaust, Echlin electrical, Bosch O2s, Monroe shocks, etc.). However, the guys at Advance don't always know what they're doing when it comes to technical terms. But, Ninety5PoloZ is right when his comment. Many stores supply the same parts in different boxes, so even the most experienced employees from anywhere can look bad at times when they sell a faulty part. Instead of blindly buying new parts, you're better off correctly diagnosing the problem first.

[BLOWNDFIZ]

HAHA this post is kinda funny. Do you guys think that autozone or any other parts store manufactures all of thier own parts? I'd be willing to bet that 90% of the parts that autozone carries are the exact same as the parts store down the road but just in a different box. Look at the rotor boxes, they don't even have any markings on them so they can be sold to a bunch of different stores and not have to have a certain box to please the customer.

You can blame the store and say that you will never go there again, but in reality when you go down the street and go to a different store you are still buying the same part. I don't know this for a fact, but I'd put money on it that if someone did some research and saw who the vendor for the parts was they would probably be the same for the most part.

But to the OP if the stock sender was reading funny and you put in a different one and it was reading funny rather than blaming the supplier of the part, mabye there is something fishy with your car. Mabye a piece of something is blocking the passage way and not letting the sender do its job.

Just my .02 and I'm not trying to start a war :D

You are right that some of the parts that NAPA, Zone, Pep, Advance, O'Reilly sells are the same however it is not 90%. NAPA for example remanufactures their own starters and alternators by Rayloc. Rayloc is owned by Genuine Parts Company who owns NAPA. They have to meet higher standards, which are way higher than others out there. NAPA Batteries are manufactured by Exide. Brakes are Raybestos. NAPA oil is packagd by Valvoline. I can go on, but it is safe to say that NAPA does not choose their suppliers by price, whereas some of the competition does.

OK there I go advertising again...:D

[landstuhltaylor]

Speaking of which, is the oil level sensor easy to change out? I can't really tell from shbox pictures. :offtopic:

[Fixxer99TA]

Pie.

[BLK95TA]

Speaking of which, is the oil level sensor easy to change out? I can't really tell from shbox pictures. :offtopic:

its simple if......













your engine isn't in your car :laugh:


for the rest of us, well, it kind of sucks... you need a 6 inch extension, a ratchet, and a special socket from autozone. its pretty easy to get out once you figure out where it is, but putting it back can be a PITA if you are having trouble finding the whole.

oh and DON'T attempt this if your engine isn't stone cold.

(this is for 95-97 cars only, the 93-94's it's under the car near the oil filter and supposedly easy to change other than having to jack up the car)


as for the gauge reading funny... yes i'll admit the original one randomly would read too low, but the autozone one as soon as the car warmed up out of the open loop mode would read at dead 0 unless i had my foot on the gas revving it or was moving. i know for a fact that isnt right. i put the other one back in and it stopped doing this. with the original one it seems like its temperature related.. as long as the air temp is below 80 or so it never throws a CG light, but when it warms up over 80 it will when the engine is warm. is it possible that i'm running too thin of an oil? (5W30 valvoline non synthetic)

[94zgreenmachine]

its simple if......













your engine isn't in your car :laugh:


for the rest of us, well, it kind of sucks... you need a 6 inch extension, a ratchet, and a special socket from autozone. its pretty easy to get out once you figure out where it is, but putting it back can be a PITA if you are having trouble finding the whole.

oh and DON'T attempt this if your engine isn't stone cold.

(this is for 95-97 cars only, the 93-94's it's under the car near the oil filter and supposedly easy to change other than having to jack up the car)


as for the gauge reading funny... yes i'll admit the original one randomly would read too low, but the autozone one as soon as the car warmed up out of the open loop mode would read at dead 0 unless i had my foot on the gas revving it or was moving. i know for a fact that isnt right. i put the other one back in and it stopped doing this. with the original one it seems like its temperature related.. as long as the air temp is below 80 or so it never throws a CG light, but when it warms up over 80 it will when the engine is warm. is it possible that i'm running too thin of an oil? (5W30 valvoline non synthetic)
Can't really tell if you are being sarcastic or not... but the procedure you described is for the oil pressure sensor. A switch was made in its location for mounting in mid 94. It moved from the oil filter area to the top of the intake valley rail. The off topic poster said oil level sensor which is in the oil pan.