First off, I am a big AutoZone fan, even so far as driving past an Advance Auto Parts on the way to the A-Z.

I ordered a new master cylinder cap from them, and when it came in, it was way too small. In doing some checking with the manager, we discoverd that the AZ computers do not make any distiction between gasser and diesel 3500 DRW as far as the brake systems go.

Due the Hydroboost, the master cylinders are different than on a gasser. The manager said he will call it in to the zone office, but I would pay close attention when getting master cylinder parts from them.

Tim

You must have better Auto Zones by you than what I have by me. I'm not a fan of them. Reason is every time I go there they try to sell parts for a S-10 blazer not a full size Blazer with a 6.5TD. Then when I'll tell it a full size they tell me Chevy stopped make them in 93 and now there called Tahoe's. OK fine then give me the part for 94 Tahoe TD, Then of all things they say Chevy didn't make a Tahoe in 94. This as happened twice haven't been back and won't go back. Ok I'm done sorry for the RANT but just coundn't help myself.

I have much better luck with napa in finding someone with a clue. Ever ask for a uper and lower radiator hose for a 71 super bettle? Thats good times right there.

My AZ manager is worth his weight in gold. When I raced, I would go in there needing the most obscure part, and he would always find it. I once needed a non-power brake master cylinder that fit on a power brake booster, as due to rules, you had to have the booster, wether or not you actually used it. He thought about it for maybe 10 seconds and says, '68 GTO. And sure enough, he even had one on the shelf.

Some of the younger kids are lost without computer guidance, though. Imagine explaning that your truck is a 94 but has a 97 water pump but needs a 93 serpentine belt! It takes a bit of patience, though. I try to search out the guys that like their coffee black, not some half-caf, double whip latte with a shot of butterscotch.

Tim

I have much better luck with napa in finding someone with a clue. Ever ask for a uper and lower radiator hose for a 71 super bettle? Thats good times right there.

You're evil, rat! :D Not the heart-stopping kind, but he warm fuzzy kind!
I never thought of that one. NAPA is good, but my local one is a bit pricey. They are usually my second stop if AZ dont have what I need

T

The beetle one is too obvious Rat....For real fun, ask for a radiator for a 1963 corvair.... ):h

The AZ you go to will depend on whos working. I used to work at an AZ a few years back and I know what you mean about less then helpfull, I had to work with those types. As for now, I have a good relationship with all the stores here in town and use them more then I use Napa lately. Its the person your dealing with, not the sign on the door that makes the difference

Its the person your dealing with, not the sign on the door that makes the difference


Very true, the person helping makes all the difference in the world.I go to O'Reilly (Hi/Lo) now and love, besides the 2 guy's I talk to both own diesels 1-6.5TD , and 1 furd PS-:t so it really make's it easier to get the right part.

i dont bother with az anymore. half the stuff they sell are factory seconds and probably worse than the ten year old part that i want to replace. last year i had a caliper that froze up on me, and it was a sunday, late in the day, and all that was open at that time was a az. so i go and get a new caliper, brake pads and brake fluid and come home to put them on. i changed the caliper and put the new pads on and to my surprise the caliper fit into place very easy, maybe too easy.so i put everything back together and go for a ride. when i hit my first bump in the road it sounded as if my truck was falling apart. get home, take off the wheels and check it out and i find out the caliper is a quarter inch smaller than the one that came off my truck. next day do it over again and when i go to az and tell the idiot behind the counter about it he says to me you know you have to put some heat in those pads and do a lot of hard braking to build the heat up in the caliper, so it can expand and fit in nice and snug. i knew where i was going with this idiot who also happens to be the manager, so i told him i was'nt satisfied with the part and to give me my money back. went to napa and havent been to az since

i dont bother with az anymore. half the stuff they sell are factory seconds and probably worse than the ten year old part that i want to replace. last year i had a caliper that froze up on me, and it was a sunday, late in the day, and all that was open at that time was a az. so i go and get a new caliper, brake pads and brake fluid and come home to put them on. i changed the caliper and put the new pads on and to my surprise the caliper fit into place very easy, maybe too easy.so i put everything back together and go for a ride. when i hit my first bump in the road it sounded as if my truck was falling apart. get home, take off the wheels and check it out and i find out the caliper is a quarter inch smaller than the one that came off my truck. next day do it over again and when i go to az and tell the idiot behind the counter about it he says to me you know you have to put some heat in those pads and do a lot of hard braking to build the heat up in the caliper, so it can expand and fit in nice and snug. i knew where i was going with this idiot who also happens to be the manager, so i told him i was'nt satisfied with the part and to give me my money back. went to napa and havent been to az since

OK so here's another casey where it's the Person and not the company's fault. I don't use AZ much myself BUT I sold parts for almost 10 years, although never at AZ, and I use the 2 stores here where I use to work casue I have accounts and good pricing from them. AZ sells alot ofthe same name brand parts as NAPA, I did work for NAPA for a couple years, and alot of NAPA parts are made by others and renumbers for NAPA. Mistakes happen and often are not done locally but when a store buys out another and rebox the stock. This happens at warehouse level mostly and you would be shocked at what you are getting from anyone when you think you are buying something else. Been there, done that, SEEN IT.

No, ask for a starter for a 1983 Corvette with a 350ci at any auto-parts place. Reason being is there is only one in existance out of 44 or so produced that year;) and actually they were never sold so techically there is non. I used to work at an autoparts store and that was the one we always got asked by a vette-freak. The dumb ones are like "Can I get one spark plug for my 1988 6.9 L ford F-350?" I would reach across the counter and smack the people who asked that question.

Autozone, wouldn't set foot in there, if they were right beside me when I broke down, i would walk to someplace else.
wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire, if you understand.
Autozone is ruining the parts industry, and the repair industry, single handedly.
I see those guys doing the 'scan tool testing' for free. when in reality they are 'reading codes' no testing going on.
then selling parts out the wazoo while the uninformed consumer tries to save money doing it themselves.
I get people in the shop that say, i already had it checked at Autozone, i am not paying your $65 diagnostic fee, so just put the parts on it they said are bad.
OK, the customer is right. But i make sure they realize that may not (most likely not) fix the problem.
man, what a bunch of jokers.
Autozone rep came in here, wanted me to open a Commercial account with them.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, he couldn;t get out of here fast enough when I let loose on him.
NEVER EVER WILL I SHOP THERE, EVER!

Blalley,
sounds like you've been to the same AZ I've gone into.

I like my local AZ's. They seem to be helpful, and try. There are good stores and bad stores.

My problem is they don't have my vechicle in their system. I say it's a Savana Van, but you have it as a G3500HD. Oh, sorry, I can't buy your fuel filter either, because it's not the right one either. I've seen too many parts that weren't right because of "diesel." They enter it in the system as a problem, and I don't know if anyone ever does anything with it or not.

P.S. my hat's off to ANYONE who has the patience and the tolerance to do retail autoparts. That has got to be the most demanding line to work in. I used to work in refrigeration wholesale, it was funny to see what "profesionals" would do. Let alone someone come in off the street and want to put compression unions on a brake line. Sad, and very scary. Hope they never drive around me.

Doesn't anyone else get stuff from Advance Auto Parts (aka Western Auto, then something else). I've always had great experience with them and they honor their warranty no problem anywhere. I was driving from NY (Army) to TX and got stuck in Tenessee with a bad alternator that I had just bought in NY, no reciept on me and they still gave me a new one!

Since I've lived in Canada, I still haven't figured out where the 'good' parts houses are. It definitely ain't Canadian (Crappy) Tire. Those guys can't even look up headlights.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, he couldn;t get out of here fast enough when I let loose on him.
NEVER EVER WILL I SHOP THERE, EVER!


Don't hold back blalley tell us how you REALLY feel :lol:

The kids go nuts when I ask for a carburetor kit! "What's a carburetor?????

I get most all of my parts from the GM dealership here in town. We have a Sturdevants and used to have a Napa, but I get dealer pricing on the parts from the dealership. So I can't get them cheaper any place else, and you can't beat the quality.

Or, like our local store that is now out of business....I went in and ordered a double roller timing chain and rectangular port intake gaskets for a big block chevy. Now, understand this is a small town and everyone knows everyone else and their vehicles. I paid top dollar for these parts too. When I got the box, like a dummy I didn't look. I got to work on the cam swap and when I went to put the timing set on it was a generic POS that I have a hard time beleiving would even stand up to a late model 454 in a p/u, let alone a hi performance 454 with solid lifters! Then I opened the box with the intake gaskets they were the oval port type. Well, needless to say..I lost it.:rippedhan So, off to the parts store I go with the crap they sold me. When I get there, I remain calm and explain to the manager that they got me the wrong parts. I started with the timing set. We went back and forth arguing about the quality of the set and he finally replied with "I don't know what your problem with it is...It's for a 454." OK, now I am getting heated. So I addressed the intake gaskets and he said "Oh, well when I was making the order I thought that those were pretty rare so I ordered the more common oval port ones." I said "Well, I don't know about you but exactly how common are these LS7 454's? Don't you think that if a customer orders something specific that maybe you should order what he asks for?" And anyways it went on from there. So, needless to say it wasn't a suprise when they closed up shop. Thanks for letting me vent.:rant: :lol:

Doesn't anyone else get stuff from Advance Auto Parts (aka Western Auto, then something else). I've always had great experience with them and they honor their warranty no problem anywhere. I was driving from NY (Army) to TX and got stuck in Tenessee with a bad alternator that I had just bought in NY, no reciept on me and they still gave me a new one!

Since I've lived in Canada, I still haven't figured out where the 'good' parts houses are. It definitely ain't Canadian (Crappy) Tire. Those guys can't even look up headlights.

we used to have a western auto here in town, closedup.
That is wierd about the Canadian tire, lots of guys who fourwheel that are on mailing list I am on are from canadia, and they use them.
never heard them say anything bad about that place.
brian.

Isn't if most interesting how the AP's rant about needing "make, year and model" info. After you give it to them, usually including VIN and other questions, ("with or without cornering lamps, Sir?", .....but, I wanted a water pump...) etc., they give you just whatever they think will work. Usually, accompanied by "Try this, maybe it'll fit!"

It's just like any other job Fred....Some guys really know what they are doing and take pride in what they do...Others, well..To them, it's just a paycheck....They put their time in and leave....Asking the right questions and actually giving a damn aren't on their agenda...

Autozone, wouldn't set foot in there, if they were right beside me when I broke down, i would walk to someplace else.
wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire, if you understand.
Autozone is ruining the parts industry, and the repair industry, single handedly.
I see those guys doing the 'scan tool testing' for free. when in reality they are 'reading codes' no testing going on.
then selling parts out the wazoo while the uninformed consumer tries to save money doing it themselves.
I get people in the shop that say, i already had it checked at Autozone, i am not paying your $65 diagnostic fee, so just put the parts on it they said are bad.
OK, the customer is right. But i make sure they realize that may not (most likely not) fix the problem.
man, what a bunch of jokers.
Autozone rep came in here, wanted me to open a Commercial account with them.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, he couldn;t get out of here fast enough when I let loose on him.
NEVER EVER WILL I SHOP THERE, EVER!


(channeling Yoda)

Much anger in this one...


I really didnt mean to get into a indictment of the auto parts industry as a whole, or how AutoZone is leading our country down the path of ruin. I just wanted to let you all know that IF you use Autozone and IF you have a diesel dually and IF you need master cylinder parts, there may be a problem getting the right stuff.

Bllaley, you know, there are many brands of decaf that are just as rich and flavorfull as regular. :D

Tim

All are same, some good some bad even GM dealers, had one dealer counter guy tell me never was a 6.5 TD either only DMAX diesels, summer intern kid. As said before many 9-5ers out there collecting a check, someone mentioned carb kit earlier, ask a question on dwell and point gap setting if you want some really blank stares.

If you own a Diesel, I think it is even more incumbent upon you to be as knowledgable as you can be; as there aren't many Diesel experts in any part store, minimal gasser aptitude in many stores, word Diesel sets them in panic mode.

Newbie here with my 2 cents,
I used to sell parts at Pepboys in high school. A moron with "H.A.T.E" tattooed accross his knuckles came in asking for a valve cover gasket for 1967 Pinto. What a dummy.

BTW- I wasn't one of those kids who got glassy eyeed when a customer asked for a carb kit, however I was just as underpaid.

I think it is a problem in the whole industry. The group I work for has got a approval rate of around 60% turnover. It is also very bad when you can have numbers of parts and still can't get them thru your warehouses. I have had many issues trying to get parts for myself and friends thru the place I work. Best thing was the helicoil I had to put in the deck of my engine, guy at the main call center wanted the application after I had given him the thread pitch and diameter of the bolt. Had to get it from the competitor down the road.

Birdman, you hit on the magic word. Underpaid. That leads into a discussion of NAFTA, unions, etc. Big in our world. It's simple, if you want to suceed in business, offer the right stuff, good service at fair prices and pay your staff enough to provide this level of service.

One enterprising man told me, "To be successful, you have to do something that is so terribly expensive that no one else can afford to do it or do something that is so terribly complicated that no one else can do it." He has the largest diesel fuel system, I.P. specialty shop in the Portland area! He figured it out! His service is excellent, prices very fair and the techs are top notch. I've never gotten a bad pump from them.

Since I've lived in Canada, I still haven't figured out where the 'good' parts houses are. It definitely ain't Canadian (Crappy) Tire. Those guys can't even look up headlights.

but the headlights are easy to get if you just need the bulbs... you either go in with a bulb number or look through their book to find the part # you need... i used CT's premium brake pads once on my tahoe, put them on freshly machined rotors and went for a drive and nearly went through the first stop sign [lots of dust, next to no stopping power]... premium my arse... those pads went down to the wear bar in one week flat.. went to napa and got their best pads, and when i went to install them, they were the ones for the HD :( but with a little grinding of the locating dowels and the steel backer, i made them work and they worked great until i changed the pads and rotors when i sold her.. canadian tire wasn't so pleased when i returned the premium lifetime warrenty pads that were completely worn down a week later along with the recept showing when i purchased them... they refused to do anything to reimburse me for my trouble, so their service bay doors were open and i pitched them somewhere in there and left...

hard to get good service anywhere now [napa still seems to be the best around me, and the brake pad thing i think was just boxed wrong]