04 Dodge Ram 1500 Power Steering Pump--can I trust Re-man O'Reilly part?

I could smell it running rich as I tried to keep it alive, so I immediately started checking sensors.

After swapping the sensor and clearing the code, I had to give it a little throttle to keep it running long enough to burn off all that extra fuel, like 15-20 seconds, then back to purring like a kitten.

Insurance company said they will pay us back the $75 for the tow, and it won't affect our future rates.

 

My personal opinion is to buy genuine parts. Always. Refurb *can* be good, but that doesn't mean they *will* be. It's subjective. Who refurbished it? A parts assembly person, or a technician? There's a difference.

You do get what you pay for. Again, just my opinion. You also have to weigh out whether the investment in genuine parts is balanced with your personal perception of the vehicles value. For instance my Civic, is a commute car. I drive it to save gas, to try and smart travel (I drive about 50 miles a day). It's a 17 year old car. Many things dont work. It has close to 200K on it. Am I going to invest $500 on a single part? Probably not, if I can shove an aftermarket in there for a quarter the cost. Would I invest $500 on a single part for my truck that's newer, low mileage, ultra reliable? Sure.

Again, just my two cents.
Again, just m

 

I try to buy genuine. But sometimes it isn't worth it, as you stated above.

I have 240,000 miles on this truck, and a genuine steering pump will WAY outlive the truck. An aftermarket will last (hopefully) as long as the truck.

Luckily, it didn't need the pump. Based on my wife's description of how it acted (I was in Arizona scouring the desert for gold nuggets, while she was broke down in Houston) it sounded bad. Within seconds of starting the truck after I got home, I realized it was electrical, and not a mechanical issue.