Rant about "parts stores"

[rbattelle]

Okay, I've been to Pep Boys and Advance Auto looking for a -6AN fitting. Here's how the conversation went at both locations:



Me: "Do you guys carry AN fittings?"



Employee: ------------ (silence, accompanied by blank stare)--------

-----"AN?"



Me: "Yeah, sometimes they're also called 37 degree flare fittings"



Employee: --------(more silence, accompanied by blank stare)---"I've never heard of an 'AN' fitting before, what's it used for?" (at this point, employee is getting ready to enter my vehicle information in the computer )



Me: "Plumbing just about anything that carries a fluid. Commonly used to plumb fuel systems. What I need is a -6AN to 3/8 NPT fitting"



Employee: (ears perk up at the word "NPT") "Oh, we got NPT fittings!"



Of course, they don't have any AN fittings. To be honest, I didn't expect them to carry AN fittings, but I at least expected them to know what one is.



Okay, rant over. Thanks for letting me vent to someone who might understand.



-Ryan

 

[AMink]

Me- I need a (fill in the blank) for a '97 Dodge 2500 Cummins 4x4.

Them- Do you have the gas or diesel engine?

Me- I have to go now.

 

[Jeff Clark]

Do you know what it's like for me to go into a parts store and buy something for my street rod? It's part Ford, part Chevy and part homemade. Usually I just take what I need and make them let me go behind the counter and look for it myself.

 

[nickleinonen]

JIC is a more common name for a 37° flare fitting so try using that name... and next time try home depot... some have in their brass fittings section 37° flare fittings, but most are only the sae 45° flare fittings. .



edit... with jic fittings, the same -XX number is used most [if not all] of the time, so a -6 jic is the same as a -6an. . or that would be a 3/8" 37° flare i think??? [6/16=3/8"]



edit again...



mcmaster-carr will become your friend if you like mail order stuff...



that 3/8"npt to -6 jic is pn = 50695K164 @ $1. 34 from mcmaster...

 

[Paychk]

Employee: Dodge didn't make a 5. 9L six

Me: Your right, Cummins made the engine

Employee: Whats a Cummins?

Me:

 

[SVazquez]

Me- I need a (fill in the blank) for a '97 Dodge 2500 Cummins 4x4.

Them- Do you have the gas or diesel engine?

Me- I have to go now.

I feel your pain

 

[Turbo Tim 1]

I have the same problems at the Cummins Northeast!!



Me: I want these part numbers



Them: What is your ECN:



Me: I give them the number



Them: That thermostat is not for your engine sir



Me: I don't care just give it to me please



Took me a full hour to get 4 oil filters, 2 fuel filters, a 180 degree thermostat and an intake horn gasket. A cam position sensor took me 45 minutes because they swore up and down I had a crank position sensor and to make sure I had the right part. Oh and the stratopore filter wasn't listed for a 2001 either that was part of the first problem.

 

[Scot]

So I walk into Autozone:

I need a belt that crosses over from a Gates 7XXX.



We can't do that.



Yes you can, look in the cross reference book.



Book?



Yes



I have to look it up by application.



It is not a factory application



What does it fit?



A/C belt, 1955 Ford F100, 302



The computer does not show they used that engine in 1955



No kidding?



...



So I went to a real auto parts store and got it.

 

[BarryG]

I was just in the store looking for a spare belt for my RASP pump. I tell the guy it is not in the system under my truck info. You will have to cross reference it. He apparently didnt believe or wasnt listening after telling him 5 times. I did keep my cool and let him do all his typing and he says it doesnt show that belt for your truck. I know that is what I told you before we started this. He then started to look for it under different engine types for the truck still a no go he says. I asked if he could just look it up in a cross reference book again. No we dont have those anymore have to look everything up by vehicle. He did however let me go behind the counter and try to match it to what they had in stock. No luck with that either. So off to a better parts store I go. Just havent made it there yet.

 

[JoshPeters]

Ya know..... I almost hate to admit this... ... . I'll find stuff like that... . and INTENTIONALLY walk into parts stores and ask for that kind of stuff. Then when they tell me it doesn't exist... etc... . I mess with them.....



"sure it did... it was a limited run of 1500 cars/trucks. " Yadda yadda yadda... .



When they give you the blank stare... . just pull that one off.



Or start asking for parts for a 73 Nash or a Hudson or a... ... .



Josh

 

[lmills]

After dealing with the parts counter person for about 5 minutes, I requested to talk to the manager at a local Advanced Auto parts one time when I was looking for a specific fel-pro gasket that I was more than certain they stocked. I gave them him the part number for the Fel-Pro intake gasket (SBC intake) only to hear him say, "what year and vehicle?" I finally had enough and wallked out. It gets even more interesting when I got to the spark plugs for the AFR aluminum heads. Thank God they opened a real car parts store across the street from my house that I can go in and just ask for a generic starter solenioid and get one without them asking for a make and model.

 

[rbattelle]

So who are the "good" parts stores? Auto Value? Maybe Car Quest?



-Ryan

 

[Joe G.]

I've had good luck at the local NAPA store buying stuff by what it is instead of what year and model car it is supposed to be on. Of course, I shopped there before it was a chain store. Some of the guys who worked there when it was Humboldt Supply still work there. One of them kind of gets a resigned look on his face when I walk in the door. :-laf

 

[lmills]

I have had the best of luck with NAPA and Carquest. They seem to hire people with actual experience. My hat goes off to the others for supporting the employment system. However when I want a part, I want to talk to someone that has more experience than just clicking a mouse.

 

[wcaldwell]

Y'all already know how much fun it is to go into AutoZone and ask for spark plugs for a '98 (or whatever year) Dodge with the 5. 9L six cylinder..... :-laf :-laf :-laf



Wayne

 

[budctdca]

This stings all to well for me... I have worked (although not presently) at NAPA for like 4 years... I'd get a kick out of matching seals and bearings by style and size. . kinda wierd huh.

I once had a guy come in and ask for a temp sender for his ford and I turned around and walked to the shelf and pulled it out without using the computer and he almost freaked out... said he hadn't seen anybody do that since he was a kid.

The biggest problem (I think) with these new retail outfits is that they want to hire dumb kids and let the computer do the thinking, this way they can sell the parts for less... but independant stores like NAPA and Carquest actually hire people who work the counter for a full time living to support their families... thats when you get counterman who really know their stuff... they have to.

BTW if you get a chance, check out the NAPA in san luis obispo, ca. They really know their stuff, maybe in January when I am back at college, I might be working there again. But for now, I get to paid to make wine :-laf .

Luke

 

[nickleinonen]

But for now, I get to paid to make wine :-laf

do you get paid to test it too???



:-laf:-laf:-laf

 

[Bill Stockard]

Several months ago, I was upgrading an antique tractor ignition system to 12-volts from 6-volts. I needed a 12-volt Delco coil with a built-in resistor. I don't mess with the "kids" at my local O'Rielley store, but always wait for the "older parts guy" who works there. I asked for a 12-volt Delco coil with a built-in resistor like was used in the old Chebbys. He said, "Yep, we got 'em. ", went back to rear of the parts bins and came back with one in his hand!



Bill

 

[Torque King Jay]

Fitting identification

Link to identify fittings and adapters (they have lots of pictures for those of us who are technically challenged )



http://www.fittingsandadapters.com/

 

[AMink]

OOHH! That's good stuff, Jay. I usually know what I want, but don't necessarily know what it's called.