I had bought a car, a 92 Laser, that had been sitting a while and ended up having a bad fuel pump. No gas cap, 1-2 year old gas... So, I needed a new fuel pump.
I wanted to go as cheap as I could as I was already replacing a whole bunch of stuff on this car already. So, i went on ebay and ended up buying a fuel pump from TRE Performance. They had their own brand 255LPH Walbro clones, which they supposedly developed/manufacture in-house and are supposed to not have that Walbro whine. $80 shipped. That was the cheapest I could find and had all the features I wanted.
I buy it, isntall, and go drive the car and immediately stalled once I hit boost. Thought, hmmm, that's weird. Crank crank crank, and I get the car restarted. Drove fine after that. I'm driving the car for about a week, and then the car dies randomly. Crank crank crank... it eventually restarts. This goes on for a couple weeks. Then it started getting bad.
I live in the middle of Missouri. The closest large towns are 30 miles east or west on I-44. The fuel pump pretty much dies after 30 minutes on the interstate. It ws starting out where it'd taper down and I could feather the pedal and get to my destination... then a little later, it started just dying outright. It would take longer and longer to get it started each time.
I changed the filter twice, thinking that maybe it was clogged or something. The car finally died on the way home right outside my house. great! I can diagnose it properly now. I jumper the fuel pump in the engine bay and you could hear it spin... I go all the way to the back of the car, and the rubber fuel line coming out of the pump is soft. Fuel pump BAD.
SO, I contact TRE and get everything sorted out and send the fuel pump back. 1 week passes. I email them and inquire about thepump. They say to be patient and they deal with their fuel pumps when they can. 2 weeks, I call them up and ask how long is the turn around time for a fuel pump return. They tell me 5 business days. Well, it's already been 2x that. I email then a few days later and leave them a voice mail to call me back. No answer. No replies.
I needed my car and I wasnt gettign anywhere with TRE Performance. So, I go back to ebay, and buy a genuine Walbro from Speed Clinic. They were very communicative and helpful. It costs $20 shipped, and if you left positive feedback, they gave you $5 back! So, $95 for a fuel pump. Not much more to get the real thing. Oh, and it ws next day shipping too! I get the pump, install it. and something I didnt notice with the TRE pump, is that the nub for the check valve was cocked and never worked properly. It took forever to get the car started with the TRE pump. The Speed Clinic pump started right away all the time.
I've been running the speed clinic pump for about a month and have had no problems. A little whiny after a day of driving around, but that's to be expected... but quiet when it's cold.
What did I receive today?.. 6 weeks later? a replacement pump from TRE Performance. I now have a fuel pump I dont need and have no idea if it works right since I dont have a car that needs a fuel pump.
+1 for speed clinic... and somewhere between a neutral and a -1 for TRE Perforance. I'd buy from Speed Clinic again definately, but never from TRE Performance.
I posted the story so you can see what I went through and hope you dont have to go through the same.
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