Duralast = 6 months

Bought an ICM (ignition control module) from AutoZone (is it one word or two? Whatever) six months ago while on a trip to south florida after the one in the truck (1991 C1500 2WD) died twice on I-75 while towing a 6 X 12 Uhaul enclosed trailer. It was the closest auto parts store to the interstate that was open. Cut to 6 month later (to the day), i'm towing a 5 X 8 enclosed trailer up to my sister's house, and my "new" ICM starts dying in the hinterlands of south Georgia, almost getting me in deep doo-doo while trying to pass a fellow motorist in a Nissan Versa with a King-Sized mattress strapped to the roof. My engine cut off in mid-pass with an F-250 right on my tail. No, i'm not making this up. Luckily there was enough room on the left hand shoulder for me to get out of the way. Since i'm not going to trust the thing to make it to wherever the nearest AutoZone is, i stop at the next auto parts store I find to get a replacement. $45 bucks to the friendly O'Reilly's counter man and 15 minutes later i'm back on the road again. So, to make a long story short. Once I arrive home, I make a trip to my local AutoZone to see if the piece of crap ICM I was sold 6 months ago is stil under warranty, and of course it is, but the one i bought is not in stock and to get the upgrade I have to pay the difference. Well, I tell them I already bought one from their competitor but I figure it's a good idea to pick up a spare. The counter guy knows me pretty well so he suggests seeing the manager once he's back in the store to see if I can get store credit. Since the lifespan of Duralast parts seems to be 3 to 6 months in my experience, I figure this may be a good idea. Any suggestions? Definitely no electronic parts from AutoZone in my future, so those are automatically ruled out, it will probably be about 35 - 40 bucks with tax if they allow me to go that route, maybe some brake pads since i need a set of those for the not-so-heavy Chevy anyway.

In my experience, nobody can come close to OEM ignition parts quality. Had a hell of a time diagnosing poor running issues with my Mustang. PO put a remanned distributor along with a cheap parts store TFI module. Bought a Motorcraft TFI and like magic, it fixed the issues.

So yeah, I never trust parts store brand ignition parts. I always try to buy OEM...

Well, I am dealing with unknown quantities in this truck. I'm sure it's still running the original distributor, though the plugs and wires looked to be in good shape when I got the truck. There is either an OEM or a MSD distributor, among other things in this trucks near future. When i pulled the cap off to change out the ICM, the rotor button looked like crap. I replaced that when I bought the first ICM 6 months ago along with the cap, coil and ICM, since i figured all the stuff on the distributor was past it. Now I figure I need to replace all those parts again, in 6 months. AutoZone should change the name of their stuff to Duracrap. Even their batteries are awful now.

Go to the dealership and buy the part. Anything else is a waste of time and energy, and when it quits again, it might be in a worse spot. Aftermarket ignition parts are worse than a raging case of the clap. They are made to a quality level that might get half the units through warranty, and they hope the other half of the customers forget where they bought them. Junk, junk, junk. If I need an igniter that is no longer available from the dealer, I'll go to the junkyard and find one with 200,000 miles on it that has the OE insignia, and I'll use that one. When customers ask me to use a cheap part in their ignition, I take them hostage and slowly remove their fingernails until they bend to my wishes and buy a quality part. I've shot and buried salesmen in the back yard that tried to sell me aftermarket ignition components. I've then gone to their homes, and spraypainted blue ovals and bowties on the widows fences.

I hope I'm not being too pushy here...

i've gotten many tens of thousands of miles out of Wells ignition modules and magnetic pickups in GM HEI distributors.. i just put an Echelin module in my Camaro yesterday..

Cheap electronics=frequent failures.

I have yet to really see ANY electronic module from the fast food auto parts stores make the year they have as warranty, the stuff I have bought included.

I have used autozone ignition parts over the years with out issue. Just lucky I guess.

I've used aftermarket ignition parts without drama.

It may be cheeper to stop pulling trailers.

Yeah, but that's not gonna happen. The wife just got a 67 Datsun roadster for her birthday from her dad. It's inop at the moment so guess who gets to drag it home.. Not that i'm complaining though, i've got a 91 G-20 i have to fish out of my niece's yard too. Too bad only 1 will fit in the garage. Glad I don't have a homeowner's association to deal with.

Streetwiseguy wrote: Go to the dealership and buy the part. Anything else is a waste of time and energy, and when it quits again, it might be in a worse spot. Aftermarket ignition parts are worse than a raging case of the clap.

You owe me a new keyboard because it's now covered in strawberry Powerade LOL

The PO of my Mustang replaced the original distributor because the shaft bushing were really worn. Worn to the point where if you revved above 4k RPMs, the rotor button would break off, and you'd be dead in the road. I question the quality of the remanned distributor because he was, for the lack of a better word, a cheap@ss. But, he sprang for a nice expensive MSD cap and rotor that is getting replaced with a genuine Motorcraft part.

I've never had great luck with parts store ignition parts. Even plug wires that I could cut the insulation with my finger nail.

I try to avoid the clap because, well, it strikes at the most inopportune times...

I just always keep a spare ignition module (much easier with GM than ford) in the vehicle, usually one from a junkyard that I have tested. Perhaps that is why I've never had one go bad on me, lol.

I do have about 120k hard miles on an autozone alternator and that surprises me.

I went through 3 NAPA reman A/C compressors(bought the first one then replaced 2 under warranty) on the Trooper before I finally got pissed off and bought a new one.

On aftermarket ignition stuff, I have had very good success with Standard Ignition's Blue Streak stuff. NAPA/Echlin has been good as well. AutoVanceZone stuff, I have not used it myself but have heard a lot of complaints. It'll 'make it run' but who knows how long/how well.

NAPA/echlin IS Standard, so that jives.

their reman compressors are A1 Cardone, so that makes sense too.

i sell a few thousand dollars of NAPA/echlin ignition parts a week. i get one, two, maybe three things back a week. And at least half the time, i think they were throwing parts at a problem and didn't want to eat the incorrect diagnosis.

Went by the AutoZone. Talked to the manager, and told him what happened. He tested the ICM I bought from AutoZone 6 months ago, and of course it tested good, so no refund or warranty replacement. He said it sounds like the pick up coil is going out. That's another 20 bucks, and the distributor may have to come out to replace it if it's pinned in and not screwed on. I'm sort of inclined to call BS, as the truck hasn't had any problems since replacing the ICM. In any event, my next move will be to replace the entire distributor, instead of nickel-and-diming myself to death. I'm thinking either an ACCEL, MSD or Genuine GM part if I can find one.