2005 alternative to Motorcraft products?

[biddle]

If you have ever seen a side by side comparison of Motorcraft or OEM parts to off-shore components, you would never use a non-Ford part.

Your post implies that Ford OEM parts are not offshore. Some parts are made at Denso in Maryville, TN and other places, however, many, if not most OEM parts are made outside the USA. Obviously, Ford has people that oversee the factories.

Many cases over the years where OEM parts were faulty and fail such as O2 sensors. It's not like Ford makes the components for the car themselves. The microchips etc all are "offshore".

I've bought Non-OEM parts such as alternators for cars and had great luck. Recently I bought an Oil Pressure Sending unit for our Jeep and bought OEM because it's a known fact the aftermarket part fails and has inaccurate reading. I think the results vary and it's effectively stereotyping to say all OEM parts are superior.

One last point, there are cases where one Motorcraft Alternator costs as much as 3 aftermarket ones, many of which have a good build quality and good reviews and longevity.

Just my 2 cents.

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[Ron W.]

Just going back the last 20 years or so Ford has made 5 different coolants. The oldest was GREEN which ended around 2001. Followed by GOLD which was great stuff. Deisgned for the newer aluminum blocks and probably what our Tbirds were shipped with. Then came SPECIALTY GREEN only lasted a couple of years. ORANGE followed that and was not very good. It had protection problems and is no longer made. Today they use YELLOW know as a P-OAT formula. Phosphate Organic Acid Technology. The great thing about this formula is it does all the good things you want in a coolant. It has good heat transfer properties, works well in the cold, works well protecting the new aluminum and old cast iron engines and best of all it is backward compatible so it can be mixed with older formulas. It is considered the longest lasting with a claim of 10 years or 200,000 miles. Of course you would need a drain and flush to have that type of life. The one negative I am aware of is you can't just add tap water in radiator. You need to use distilled water because the Phosphate part of the formula reacts negatively with the minerals in regular tap water. Hope this helps.

Thanks very much for your insight. I have never used tap water in my coolant always a preblended 50/50. Is the Orange you speak of Motorcraft? and is it already 50/50 or does it need diluted? Thanks.

 

[neuron]

Your post implies that Ford OEM parts are not offshore. Some parts are made at Denso in Maryville, TN and other places, however, many, if not most OEM parts are made outside the USA. Obviously, Ford has people that oversee the factories.

Many cases over the years where OEM parts were faulty and fail such as O2 sensors. It's not like Ford makes the components for the car themselves. The microchips etc all are "offshore".

I've bought Non-OEM parts such as alternators for cars and had great luck. Recently I bought an Oil Pressure Sending unit for our Jeep and bought OEM because it's a known fact the aftermarket part fails and has inaccurate reading. I think the results vary and it's effectively stereotyping to say all OEM parts are superior.

One last point, there are cases where one Motorcraft Alternator costs as much as 3 aftermarket ones, many of which have a good build quality and good reviews and longevity.

Just my 2 cents.

True, the rotors for my Cobra Mustang were Ford and made in China, worked great though. I have bought NGK COPS for a fraction of the price of Motorcraft and the quality is a least as good. The parts are out there, just finding them can be daunting some times, and I hate getting stranded. Rock Auto has been good to me.

 

[biddle]

Rock Auto has been good to me.

Yeah, Rock Auto is fine until you have a problem with your order. Thousands of complaints online

Rock Auto Reviews Warning RockAuto.com

Read the Trustpilot reviews before buying from Rock Auto! Everything is fine unless you have a problem with your order! Here is my story which pales in comparison to some of the ones on TrustPilot! I've been buying parts from Rock Auto and not had a problem with the order until recently. As I...

forums.fordthunderbirdforum.com

 

[neuron]

Yeah, Rock Auto is fine until you have a problem with your order. Thousands of complaints online

Rock Auto Reviews Warning RockAuto.com

Read the Trustpilot reviews before buying from Rock Auto! Everything is fine unless you have a problem with your order! Here is my story which pales in comparison to some of the ones on TrustPilot! I've been buying parts from Rock Auto and not had a problem with the order until recently. As I...

forums.fordthunderbirdforum.com

Sorry to hear that, I try to use Amazon as much as possible, never had a problem with returns that they either/or supply/ship. Of course I never had a problem with returns to Rock Auto in the past.

 

[biddle]

Of course I never had a problem with returns to Rock Auto in the past.

There are thousands of Rock Auto complaints online for Rock Auto. They don't care if you are unhappy. Amazon on the other hand gladly accepts returns and communicates with the customer.

 

[neuron]

There are thousands of Rock Auto complaints online for Rock Auto. They don't care if you are unhappy. Amazon on the other hand gladly accepts returns and communicates with the customer.

Plus their prices are hard to beat and you get your parts usually quite quickly, but Rock Auto is still a backup for me.

 

[marvinlee]

Thanks for the advice. One thing I have read here is that people tend to experience a burnt oil smell with a full synthetic. Unfortunately the oil change has already taken place so I could try the mobile on my next change. have it written down ( with a hundred other notes from the forum) 🙂

 

[marvinlee]

I've used all-synthetic oil , mostly Mobil, in a variety of cars over a 40+ year span. Despite having sensitive odor detection (I don't smoke) I've never been aware of any odor from using the synthetic.

 

[neuron]

No smell ever for me. I remeber seeing a video where they put some regular oil and synthetic in a pan and heated both side by side and the regular oil started discoloring and smoking while the synthetic did nothing. Of course at some temperature it will. I have smelled burnt tranny, engine and rear end oil but not synthetic. Not sure I would want to though lol.