HELP: Can we use AC Delco parts?

I am asking this on behalf of a friend who owns a Honda mini van and he is
about to change his timing belt and thought he might as well change the
water pump and other stuff accessible when they work on his vehicle. He
wants to know if it was ok to use non Honda parts like AC Delco?
Any contribution will be appreciated.
Thank you
Winston

 

No way. OEM, and nothing but.

 

One has to research like mad to find out what companies make
the different OEM parts for Honda. E.g. I know the oxygen
sensor for my 91 Civic (among other Hondas) is made by Denso
(formerly Nippon Denso). I know a company that sells the
Denso ones.

For timing belt parts, I think the best bet are OEM Honda
online parts sites such as:

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/jsp/mws/PartsSearch.jsp
Great drawings; Rhode Island.
http://www.slhonda.com Click on "Parts and Service," then
"Buy Parts Online." Great drawings; OEM Part numbers;
California.
http://www.cheapesthondaparts.com Colorado.

I have used all three, though I've found the Colorado store
needs a little watching. Still, they're great on the phone,
and for orders over $50, they beat others for shippings
costs.

Increasingly Honda dealership parts departments seem willing
to ship nationwide. I just communicated with a Florida
dealership this morning for trailing arm bushings, on a tip
from another Honda forum. The Florida dealer in fact beat
the Colorado online store for total costs.

 

Sure is. You'll just be replacing them a lot more often than you would
using OEM

 

In the end, it will cost you more. In the 24 years I have owned Honda cars,
I tried aftermarket rotors, pads, etc. etc. and everytime I ended up NOT
getting the mileage out of the aftermarket parts.

If you want to save money, buy OEM from someone like Majestic Honda (google
it). They are not the cheapest if you need one inexpensive item (minimum
shipping), but if you need a complete package of items for maintenance, they
can save you quite a bit.

G-Man

 

Carefull use of aftermarket parts is not a bad idea, but I would stay
away from AC-Delco for Hondas. AC-Delco is GM's aftermarket brand, and
they don't make any of the parts. They simply buy them on the world
market, and you never know what you are getting.

John

 

i cant understand why anyone would whant to use a 1 size fit

Like Elle stated you need to research the vendor and the manufacture.
ACDelco Timing belts (and other premium timing belt manufactures) are not a
one size fits all belt, that's just a ludicrous statement. Gates/Unitta is
the OEM & OES supplier for Honda and Acura. Look at the timing belt and you
will see either one of the names or both. Guess who supplies ACDelco with
Timing belts? Gates! They also supply to NAPA and half of Good Years timing
belt line is Gates. Bet you didn't know that. They also supply to
O'Reilly's, some for Beck Arnley and at one point in time, CARQUEST. There
are others also, do a search.

Educate yourself and get the facts straight. Here's a start.
http://www.gatesunitta.com/index.php

 

I happen to have a new timing belt sitting in a closet here
(long story; it goes in next summer). Among other things, it
does indeed have "Unitta" printed on it.

I was curious about the Gates part. The www.gates.com site
has a nice history of the very old Gates company. The site
Scott gave explains Gates's relationship to Unitta:

"In 2002, the Gates Rubber Company (USA) and Nitta
Corporation (Japan), partners in Asia for over 30 years,
formed an all new organisation, Gates Unitta Asia Company to
manage and co-ordinate all our existing power transmission
business activities in Asia."
http://www.gatesunitta.com/about.php

Here and at my Honda web site, I have been referencing the
Gates's site for timing belt change intervals, not knowing
whether they made Honda's timing belts or not. Now I know.
Bravo, Scott!