Why parts so pricey???
 

I have a 1996 blazer love and hate it. My fuel pump went out, so went to a salvage yard hopeing to find one on a car. they had a [:-]few out their but when they lifted them in the air none of them had a tank on them...so I go to the auto store thinking..hey they cant be to expensive...then came the kick in the crotch 200$ for a fuel pump. not only that it was the weekend and I broke the vent valve at the other end of the tank when it dropped. so I figured all well I just get another one..then came the next kick in the tree branch went to 3 diffent stores and the closest would take a day to get their..and finally got that fixed..all well AND DONE. And know my alternator is knocking..so I figured ohh about 80 dollrs at the max......nope try like 100$ why so expensive ?[:@]

RE: Why parts so pricey???
 

nothings free. Those parts that you are replacing are some of the most critical parts to make a vehicle run! You won't get gas to the engine unless you have a fuel pump. Your engine wont run that long because you will end up draining your battery. You just have to realize what your replacing and if it's a critical part then most likely it's gonna cost some $$$$.

RE: Why parts so pricey???
 

S-series Blazer has many unique parts and the market demand for them is nearly non-existant. You are lucky if you find any parts for those vehicles at all. The parts retailers figure that you will pay what they ask since you will have trouble finding the parts anywhere else. Ifthe demand for anypart is low, the seller has to make all the profit he can get for every one of those parts he sells.

For example, NAPA has recently dropped all their rebuilt ABS brake parts for the S-series Blazers and light trucks. I managed to findone of the ten last 1990-1995 EHCU (Electronic-Hydraulic Control Units) for ABS brakesthat NAPA has in their Illionis warehouse. Autozone (Cardone) has quit rebuilding the 1990-1995 S-series 4WAL brake EHCUbecause Cardone says they are out of cores.When a EHCU goes out, the owner junks the Blazer rather than pay the expensive repair bill.A EHCU at NAPA (Raybestos) cost $800 plus $35 shipping withonly a $47 core refund so I did not buy it. Apparently Raybestos does not want the cores back. I found a Raybestos rebuilt EHCU at Rock Auto Supply for $769 less a $250 core refund plus $12 shipping.... I grabbed that one.

If your EHCU is bad you must replace it because it is not serviceable. Finding a independent repair shop orChevrolet dealership that knows how to bleed arebuiltECHU is virtuallyimpossible and the hard-headed mechanics will not let a customer tell them how to do it.I have never found a mechanic who evenhas the $6specialvalve stem depressor tools that is needed to bleed the EHCU.If you cannot find a rebuilt EHCU, you might as well junk your S-series Chevrolet no matter how beautiful it is or you can always convert it to off-road use only.

Thanks for letting me air my frustrations but I have never in my life ran into a car that is so difficult to work as aS-series Blazer and I have put a 352 CI Chrysler hemi in a 1955 Studebaker Commander coupe. You have to be a computer whiz to work onmodern cars even if you can find the parts.Junk yard parts is no help because salvage yards crush S-series Chevroletsas soon as they get them because the salvage yard figures they do not have any customers for the parts left onthose vehicles.

RE: Why parts so pricey???
 

I don't know about the crushing of all S-series, the local U-pull-it lot here has plenty of them.

I truly hope you got an AC Delco fuel pump and not an aftermarket one. If not, plan on doing the job in the not so near future. Sometimes, you truly do pay for what you get and this is one of those situations.

RE: Why parts so pricey???
 

The price of the fuel pump is irratating to say the least. GM uses the same pump in many of its cars and trucks. I bought one about 4 years ago and paid about 30 dollars for it. A couple of years pass and another one in another GM product goes bad, same pump as before except now its 80 dollars. Another year goes bad and I need another pump for a different Gm product and by now its gone up to 120 dollars. Right now I need one for a 91 S-10 and I dont even want to look at the price as I know its gone up again. All these pumps I have replaced have been in cars or trucks dating from 1985 to 1996. Each and every pump was excatly the same in everything but price.

RE: Why parts so pricey???
 

There was a thread a while back about a buick fuel pump that was the same except for a vent hose that was too long...and it went for less than $100...anyone else remember what it was?

RE: Why parts so pricey???
 

if the EHCU fails, could it be bypassed and then it would be just regular brakes?

RE: Why parts so pricey???
 

Fuel pump prices:
AC DelcoEP386........$55.79 (retailer price)
GM-25168719 ......... $49.49(dealership jobber price or good buddy price)
Spectra SP03B1H ......$80.79 (aftermarket assembly - includes pump, float, sender,strainer)

GM 25168719 .......... $95.17 (MSRP) dealership retail price(women only)