China made Carbs

[smallribber]

Because of the recent slight issue (Now Fixed) I had with the Carb on my Tohatsu 9.8 2 stroke and reading somthing Fenlander wrote. I ordered a very good priced complete carb from Amazon and it arrived yesterday. It cost the princely sum of £27.24 delivered.

This is to be kept as a spare and left in the car so that with a 10mm spanner I could quickly replace the carb should I have an issue.

I have no idea how it will or wont perform but at that price I could not resist. Heck when I tried to buy a new O ring for the float bowl it was about £12.

The OEM Price for a carb seems to be around the £125 mark.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BLMTQM...roduct_details

On external looking the carb received looks just like the original.

Pics below

[User name]

I know there's a stigma associated with anything "made in China", but in reality there are a lot of good quality parts coming out too. The challenge is in knowing whether something is going to be good "made in China" or bad "made in China".

I'd install it and test before you pack it away as a spare though. You don't want to come to need it and only then discover its faulty or needs setting up. ��

[chipko]

Reckon test it first is good advice from User name.

I’m also hardly likely to condemn your purchase as we’ve put our faith in a complete motor from China!

Mind you we also have a genuine carb in reserve for our Tohatsu after an unexplained failure out at sea last year. Grateful for the little electric aux. which saved us a seriously long row back that day.

[smallribber]

Yup good plan to fit it first. Will do at some point

[spartacus]

Originally Posted by User name

I know there's a stigma associated with anything "made in China", but in reality there are a lot of good quality parts coming out too. The challenge is in knowing whether something is going to be good "made in China" or bad "made in China".

Genuine OE or pattern parts? I know lot of stuff is made in China, but it very much depends on the part and the price you are prepared to pay? Another angle is what price you put on reliability given it’s a critical item?

Tohatsu prices are pretty expensive and no different to the other outboard manufacturers, but they are excellent parts. That said, with original equipment you get what you pay for. A few years ago I opted for a pattern part on a fuel connector to the engine. That was a mistake, the ‘o’ ring dislodged, effectively cutting off the fuel supply and the engine stopped. Luckily it was a calm day and we were heading back to harbour, and after a bit of fault finding I discovered the cause. That part went in the bin and I’ve been sticking with OE kit since.

Genuine OE will be quality tested, so the individual components that make the part are stringently tested. The original Tohatsu fuel connectors never rust as they are stainless, but the pattern part showed evidence of rust after a few weeks.

Anything critical, impellers, fuel pumps, and even carbs, then my thoughts are stick to original, even if you can buy second hand and rebuild with new carb kits. Just my tuppence worth.

[smallribber]

Originally Posted by spartacus

Genuine OE or pattern parts? I know lot of stuff is made in China, but it very much depends on the part and the price you are prepared to pay? Another angle is what price you put on reliability given it’s a critical item?

Tohatsu prices are pretty expensive and no different to the other outboard manufacturers, but they are excellent parts. That said, with original equipment you get what you pay for. A few years ago I opted for a pattern part on a fuel connector to the engine. That was a mistake, the ‘o’ ring dislodged, effectively cutting off the fuel supply and the engine stopped. Luckily it was a calm day and we were heading back to harbour, and after a bit of fault finding I discovered the cause. That part went in the bin and I’ve been sticking with OE kit since.

Genuine OE will be quality tested, so the individual components that make the part are stringently tested. The original Tohatsu fuel connectors never rust as they are stainless, but the pattern part showed evidence of rust after a few weeks.

Anything critical, impellers, fuel pumps, and even carbs, then my thoughts are stick to original, even if you can buy second hand and rebuild with new carb kits. Just my tuppence worth.

And how do you know what are original parts and what are not. I know some ebay sellers who buy the £27 China part and sell it on for £90.

How do you even know that the official part is not made in China

Price is simply not a gauge of quality

[User name]

Originally Posted by spartacus

Genuine OE or pattern parts? I know lot of stuff is made in China, but it very much depends on the part and the price you are prepared to pay? Another angle is what price you put on reliability given it’s a critical item?

Tohatsu prices are pretty expensive and no different to the other outboard manufacturers, but they are excellent parts. That said, with original equipment you get what you pay for. A few years ago I opted for a pattern part on a fuel connector to the engine. That was a mistake, the ‘o’ ring dislodged, effectively cutting off the fuel supply and the engine stopped. Luckily it was a calm day and we were heading back to harbour, and after a bit of fault finding I discovered the cause. That part went in the bin and I’ve been sticking with OE kit since.

Genuine OE will be quality tested, so the individual components that make the part are stringently tested. The original Tohatsu fuel connectors never rust as they are stainless, but the pattern part showed evidence of rust after a few weeks.

Anything critical, impellers, fuel pumps, and even carbs, then my thoughts are stick to original, even if you can buy second hand and rebuild with new carb kits. Just my tuppence worth.

Sounds like we're essentially agreeing. There's good Chinese and bad Chinese and knowing the difference is the challenge.

OE parts fail too of course, and in some cases are revised/redesigned to account for inherent flaws that weren't identified in design and testing, so it's not always quite as simple as saying OE is king (it was once my job to oversee the implementation of recalls in the motor sector and you'd wonder how some of these cases ever made it past test-case #1).

Many pattern parts are indeed garbage, but many are actually as good/better than OE. In a lot of cases, what seems like a pattern/third party part can actually be from the same origin as the original branded part too.

[spartacus]

Originally Posted by User name

Sounds like we're essentially agreeing. There's good Chinese and bad Chinese and knowing the difference is the challenge.

Indeed, but I'm not convinced about the Chinese pattern parts at all. There has to be a saving somewhere, as the original equipment manufacturer won't put their name to something that will fail prematurely as reputation is everything, plus every time you buy an original part, you're paying for the research and development that has gone into producing it. As far as I know all genuine Tohatsu parts are produced in Japan, and that's important. That Chinese carburettor for £25 still has profit for the factory that produced it, so what's it actually worth, £10, less?

Look at cars, that industry is rife with pattern parts. It's knowing the difference between parts that saves money, but you can still have the same quality if you know the origin.

Changed the discs and pads all round on my wife's BMW i3 a couple of weeks ago. OE brake parts supplier is Textar, but if you opt for main dealer BMW parts which I did 3 years ago it was £500, that's parts only and I fitted them. Buy direct from Germany for the same parts but minus the BMW logo, then it's £300. The same quality and stringent QA, so I have absolutely no issues fitting. Textar is manufactured in Germany by TMD Friction Group.

I follow a few car forums and wings for Audi for example, especially cheap pattern parts either don't fit properly, or will rust within a few years. The advice is either buy direct from the main dealer, or buy a rust-free original version from a breaker and repaint, that way you know the steel is the correct gauge, it's galvanised and will probably last the life of the car if you waxoil the inside too.

Back to the carbs - I would consider a pattern part for say an older strimmer or chainsaw, what's the worst that can happen, it fails, okay, so you lose a day's work, plus a few choice swear words. I know - I looked at a new carburretor for an old 2-stroke Makita stimmer and they wanted £70, and they don't even make it - it's produced by Walbro, and there's a very good chance that's made in China or Mexico, but under a stricter guidelines than the carb here.

Outboards are a different ball game. The part is 3K9-03200-0 and is £120 plus shipping. I've found new for old stock under £100, but hey that's just me.

[Tommy c]

I bought a 3.5hp 2 stroke tohatsu a few years ago off eBay.
The seller couldn't keep it running without keep playing with the choke and said it was old fuel.
It was a cheap win so I bought it.
I stripped the carb down and noticed the float needle was damaged and after searching on eBay it was as cheap to buy a full Chinese carb as a genuine float needle.
No matter what I tried I couldn't get the engine to run properly with the Chinese carb so still ended up purchasing a genuine part and it ran perfect afterwards
Lesson learnt

[smallribber]

Originally Posted by Tommy c

I bought a 3.5hp 2 stroke tohatsu a few years ago off eBay.
The seller couldn't keep it running without keep playing with the choke and said it was old fuel.
It was a cheap win so I bought it.
I stripped the carb down and noticed the float needle was damaged and after searching on eBay it was as cheap to buy a full Chinese carb as a genuine float needle.
No matter what I tried I couldn't get the engine to run properly with the Chinese carb so still ended up purchasing a genuine part and it ran perfect afterwards
Lesson learnt

So on that occasion the Chinese carb did not work so you decide all others would be the same 💁

[Tommy c]

Pretty much yeah.
I now only purchase from bona fide UK dealers and always ask if said part is compatible with my engine quoting the model and serial number

[smallribber]

Originally Posted by Tommy c

Pretty much yeah.
I now only purchase from bona fide UK dealers and always ask if said part is compatible with my engine quoting the model and serial number

Well the carb I bought was only £27 so no real worries to be honest

[Dadeo]

This is a classic case of cost vs risk. How much is the downside risk of a malfunctioning low quality copycat part? If I am out on big water in my boat or 2,500 miles from home in my truck, I really don't want a breakdown, especially on a new, but defective, part.

For mechanical parts in my boats or cars I buy original OEM or aftermarket parts from reputable suppliers, like Sierra. I don't care so much where its made as I care who did the engineering and copying. l know that parts supplied thru NAPA, made by Sierra, or sold by United Auto Supply or Donahue Marine here in NY are high quality OEM or legit aftermarket parts that won't die at the wrong time.

Sure, I buy copycat stuff for things like the decals that go on the engine cover. But the carburetor? Nope! Not as long as I can get an OEM or legit aftermarket part.

[smallribber]

Originally Posted by Dadeo

This is a classic case of cost vs risk. How much is the downside risk of a malfunctioning low quality copycat part? If I am out on big water in my boat or 2,500 miles from home in my truck, I really don't want a breakdown, especially on a new, but defective, part.

For mechanical parts in my boats or cars I buy original OEM or aftermarket parts from reputable suppliers, like Sierra. I don't care so much where its made as I care who did the engineering and copying. l know that parts supplied thru NAPA, made by Sierra, or sold by United Auto Supply or Donahue Marine here in NY are high quality OEM or legit aftermarket parts that won't die at the wrong time.

Sure, I buy copycat stuff for things like the decals that go on the engine cover. But the carburetor? Nope! Not as long as I can get an OEM or legit aftermarket part.

Why do you assume the one I bought is low quality