Features The sad tale of a little O ring…

I’m wondering if anybody has had something like this happen?

Today I needed 5 very small O rings to seal the bolts that hold the sending unit to my gas tank. ‘Went to my local O’Reilly parts place and wonder of wonders, they had them. I asked the counter guy how much.

He replied 99 cents apiece! With tax that’s over $6. for five. I almost freaked. That’s F$&@n’ outrageous for five little O rings. I told the guy he could keep’em at that price.

I drove a couple of miles to the local industrial supply house. There I was able to buy a dozen for one dollar, tax included. (I now have enough spares to last the rest of my life) It pays to shop around…O’Reilly auto parts…price gouging turds!

 

Did you make sure the orings from the industrial supply are gas resistant?

 

don't ever buy steel sheets/angle/tube from hardware stores either, they charge about 4x much as a steel yard does.

 

Yep, they are

 

I've wasted more than six dollars on more than one occasion.

 

Check your local hose shop, they have everything that goes through or on a hose. A lot are local owned.

 

I bought a coke at a gas station once...man that was expensive, I could have got a six pack at walmart for the same $$$.

 

Been there. McMaster-Carr has gotten me 50 to 100 of them suckers for what O’really!!! charges.

 

Im fitting one now and it has a rubber gasket the same size as the top of the sending unit with the bolt holes through it, not sure how O rings would work in my case, perhaps you have the same issue?

 

O'Reilley's has to be able to pay the hourly wage of the parts counter worker and all the other people responsible for getting those O-rings restocked onto the shelves in the stores, that is why they are so costly.

Halloween is just around the corner , and this post reminded me of a movie....

 

I have been buying parts for over sixty years! Sometimes large amounts , sometimes smaller, but when I was buying I got a huge discount! Now at O’Reilly’s I pay the same as anyone from the street! That is why I buy off the internet when possible, now!






Bones

 

I would not trust o rings under the screw heads to maintain sending unit gasket pressure unless the screws are built for them? I would have used a little RTV (I did) instead of the rings but my screws just used loc washers..

 

Yeah, the O-rings that came with my new tank and sender squeeze out easily.

 

Hilomar is what you need instead of silicone, its made as a sealant for gasoline, kinda pricey at 30 $ a tube, I've used it on the 32 Ford truck gas tanks under the seat with the guage assembly installed from the bottom of the tank, no leaks.

 

The only problem I see with driving somewhere else to get cheaper parts is how much fuel did you use to save $5?

 

So, how does the industrial supply place do it. I would think they have wages, etc to pay as well.......

 

I would be grateful if my local auto parts place stocked them. Most of the local places have closed, and are now Supercheap Autos or Autobarn. Good luck finding o-rings there (though they do a great range of air fresheners).

I pay a little more at my local Pep Boys (now GP Spares). They stock stuff, or can get it overnight. The lady behind the counter is a journeyman mechanic, and teaches my son when he asks for something stupid. They have patience when it takes me 3 goes to find the right belt for the weird engine I am putting together.

Sometimes that extra dollar is worth it.

cheers,
Harv

 

I had to rebuild my AFB carb..needed a kit........O'Reilly's hammered me for $53 after tax. None of the other parts stores had a book or computer that even showed an AFB even existed!

 

I rescued a bag of 10,000 from the trash at work years ago. I feel justified in my hoarder ways.
I recall using 2 of them. But is still feel justified.

 

I get the OP's complaint. I once drove 200 miles to get some BBC intake gaskets for 25 cents less than my local parts house. Wasn't going to let them sob's gouge me.....

 

I don't have one handy at the moment but the washers for a Holley bowl screw might work better there than a o-ring. As far as cost I just replaced some shitty Dorman o-rings on a GM 3800 coolant elbow that had only been on the motor 12 months. The local Chevy store had two sets of GM o-rings in stock ( 8 o-rings ) for $20 and some change and I was just bought all of them and was glad to get them.

 

I would use a copper washer under the screws. Most of the heavy duty trucks I work on use the washers.

 

but seriously, recently I had to find some washers for the sender screw heads on an old OT car. I went to Ace hardware and found some plastic washers in the hardware section, and some paper washers in the plumbing section. I don't remember which I ended up using...but they weren't O rings. The old Chevys had paper washers under those screw heads, iirc. But I could be wrong.

Good to see you found some O rings that worked out OK.

 

I purchase some items from our local OReilly's and yes they are a retail store. In their defense our local store has some knowledgeable counter men, a rare commodity today, the manager is a car guy, their warehouse has a great inventory, one day delivery to store so I can get something quick if necessary. I like many have noticed big increases in parts pricing, just changed oil in my daily drivers, a AC Delco filter, $9.58, Mobil 1 full synthetic $26.41 5 quart jug at Walmart the best buy for a walk in purchase for oil change materials, (OReillys $10.99 same AC filter, same Mobil 1, $33.95) I do shop around being retired I have more time than money, I Hope LOL. IMO, RockAuto, an excellent parts house for brand name parts. WE live in an interesting time, inflation makes us all a smarter shopper and us Old Timers have lived through this before.

 

Waxy paper, yes. Found the remnants of some under the cheese-head screws (know those are original) holding the sender unit in.
Rubber O-rings won't survive unless they have a cup to sit in to prevent them from spreading out. They'll split and the screws will loosen.
I would second copper washers over O-rings for that application. If you can't find them you can always make them from copper pipe; cut out with tin snips, drilled. It'll need to be annealed before you fit them to soften the metal.

 

I appreciate your humor, I hear tales from my fellow Old Timers of driving across town to save 5 cents per gallon on gas or to a nearby town for 10 cents per gallon. I used to have an DD SUV, 10 Mpg with or without trailer on it's best day, downhill with a tail wind, we live in a tourist town for years now, our local grocery store on tourist pricing/gouging year round, the local Walmart 15 miles away so 30 mile round trip, easy math, drive to Walmart, 3 gallons of gas, shop local for midweek items, then Walmart for weekly shopping, yet I have friends that make the trip always to Walmart, will not shop local because of pricing, granted they had a more economical DD than mine, no longer need that big SUV, now a midsize SUV serves us and wife has a sporty small car, very good on gas, her hobby/toy and shopping ride, amazing how much she packs in it. People and logic ? not like soup and sandwich.

 

When I was a kid coming home from church, my dad ran out of gas trying to make it to a gas station that was .03c cheaper than the 4 stations we drove past.

 

Ha...too good; the old spend a dollar to save a dime mentality, not to mention the time.

 

The price markup and gouging at the big chain auto parts stores is rampant. If I have time I never buy there, and if it's something I could find at my local hardware store, I buy there before the chain parts store. But most of what I need comes off the internet since I have no loyalty to any of the local auto parts stores, and I'd rather spend my money wisely.

 

Within the last year I closed down the auto electric rebuilding side of my business. I had an offer on the downtown building we occupied for 60 years that I couldn’t refuse. I had been battling the internet on price for our rebuild starters and alternators versus new imported units for along time and was tired of the battle. I was lucky because I owned the building, that made it an easier decision for me to take the money and shut down that side of the business and move the speedometer repair side to my home shop. People have to save money, I get that but my customers also lost the side of my business that catered to specialty rebuilding of starter and generators that were one of a kind and not found easily on line. The old Packard, Cord, Hupmobile or other off the wall stuff that needed to be converted 6v to 12v or just rebuilt. I have had customers call asking if I will still rebuild their one offs any I tell them no, there is no half way in the business you’re in, or all the way out.
I’m not complaining, I was lucky to be able to sell and put money away and still do speedometers in semi retirement. Guys please consider this some are not as lucky, if a parts store makes an effort to employ knowledgeable counter people and keep some non fast moving parts in stock it makes sense to support them if you can.
Even if it’s not a parts store and just say a national pet store chain. They still employ local folks. From the cleaning crew at night, the local uniform and laundry service, the guy that sweeps the parking lots and does snow removal after hours. There’s a long list of benefactors from that store staying open. If we all buy online and that store has to close down we all lose locally.
End of my rant, I have been blessed, so again not complaining. Just food for thought.