INGENIOUS, NOT INFERIOR

Many green initiatives appear good for Mother Nature but come with the downside of performance and cost. With remanufactured car parts, the sceptical Rob Marshall is persuaded that garages and customers really can have it both ways.

Despite the motorcar having mud slung at it from every direction, it tends not to be realised that vehicles tend to be the most thoroughly recycled of all machines. While secondhand car parts have been available from various businesses for past decades, often on a cash-only basis and with a snarling Alsatian chained to the corner, salvaged parts' image is improving and are being viewed correctly as sustainable. With environmentally-friendly credentials to ful l on their company end-of-year reports, insurance companies and even the OEMs are taking an interest in salvaged components. Stellantis, the artist formally known as PSA and FCA, is one example of an OEM selling used parts as alternatives to new ones, through its B-Parts.com platform.

What are remanufactured parts?

Remanufacturing is a preferred de nition over 'reconditioning', or 'repaired' for instance. Associations that include the European Association of Automotive Suppliers and the Automotive Parts Remanufacturers Association Europe have agreed on a formal de nition, which is:

“Remanufacturing is a standardised industrial process, by which cores are returned to same-as-new, or better, condition and performance. The process is in line with speci c technical speci cations, including engineering, quality and testing standards. The process yields fully warranted products.”

The remanufacturing di erence

Despite being related, used parts are very di erent to those that have been remanufactured. Autoelectro explains that, for rotating electrics, the case, castings and everything that mounts to the vehicle are, indeed, reused. Yet, to remanufacture a part, the remanufacturer must have a comprehensive technical understanding of how a part, such as a starter motor or alternator, operates and why it fails. Autoelectro says that this is how it can support a workshop with technical information that would not be possible from a spurious source that imports new units.

Carwood asserts that, by retaining both the material and valueadded from the original product, remanufacturing is a lot more cost-e ective than new OE. Carwood, for instance, prices its parts to be at least 25% cheaper than a new OE part.

Shaftec reasons that remanufacturing is not just a coste ective nicety but a necessity. It says that remanufacturing is often the only aftermarket alternative to keep older vehicles on the road, especially as our car parc is ageing. Shaftec says that, should a customer supply a part for remanufacturing that the company does not hold in stock, it will remanufacture the same component, turning the job around within a few days.

Workshop tips

Returning your undamaged faulty parts is a vital technician contribution to ensure the circular economy's viability. Without the core parts to remanufacture, the process cannot work. Through lack of knowledge, or even carelessness, technicians can damage parts on removal, rendering them scrap. Therefore, Carwood and Shaftec recommend the following precautions:

• Always remove the part using the correct tools/ equipment and processes only. When removing a fuel injector, especially if it is seized, a removal tool designed speci cally for that application will damage neither the body, nor electrical connector.

• Separate ancillary components from the unit beforehand. With turbochargers, for example, remove unions, adapters, banjo bolts and sensors.

• The unit should be removed in one piece, as a complete unit – do not dismantle it.

• Once removed, the unit should be handled with the same care and attention as a new unit and should not be considered scrap.

• Ideally, any product drillings and threads should be capped, where appropriate, to prevent contamination during transit.

• Ensure any castings and mounts are neither cracked, nor broken

• Any threaded bolts (including brake bleed nipples) must not be snapped o .

Why choose remanufactured parts?

While many new copy parts are on the market, which undercut new OEM parts in price, Shaftec advises that they are not always the best option. While they can be more expensive than remanufactured parts, in quality terms, these parts do not have the integrity of using OE core to o er OE performance levels.

Furthermore, the remanufactured part may boast a superior warranty than not just the copy parts but also the new OEM replacement. Shaftec highlights that one of its remanufactured driveshafts, for instance, carries a ve-year, or 60,000 miles warranty.

The environmental argument is also a strong pull, because the remanufacturing is sustainable environmentally. Autoelectro says that it strives to save as much original material from the old core as possible and to reduce the use of raw materials, where feasible. Not only does this save wastage but it also means that the remanufacturing process consumes less energy.

Remanufacturing: Putting right past wrongs

Autoelectro reports that the remanufacturing process allows quality companies to address inherent defects within the original design. The rotating electrics exponent comments that identifying patterns with parts that fail for the same reason and having experienced and knowledgeable personnel allows it to do this.

Remanufacturing Mythbusting

"Remanufactured products are a poor substitute for new"

Products from an OE-approved remanufacturer are designed, engineered and remanufactured to meet, or even exceed the vehicle manufacturer’s original factory speci cation, so are as good as new, if not better.

"Remanufactured, reconditioned, rebuild and refurbished mean the same"

A remanufactured part has been returned to the original speci cation through a highly-engineered, regulated process, which includes core inspection, product disassembly, cleaning, re-inspection, replacement of all wearable parts with like-for-like OE, followed by assembly and test and calibration. In contrast, a reconditioned, or refurbished, part is dismantled and cleaned but worn/damaged parts only are replaced.

"Saying that a remanufactured product is better than the OE is marketing hype"

Quality remanufacturers bring the very latest technology changes to older remanufactured products. It can also engineer out any design defects. More often than not, the remanufactured part outperforms the original component on which it is based.

"All remanufactured parts are the same"

Not at all. Remanufacturing is a sophisticated process that requires signi cant investment in capital equipment, processes and skills. Not every remanufacturer has the same capability levels.

"Remanufacturing uses old parts"

While the base OE-quality castings are renewed (or improved in the event of a defect) all wearing ones are replaced. Yet, if any other part of the unit does not pass the many performance or functional inspections, it will not be reused.

"Remanufactured products do not come with a warranty"

After all the work is completed, every single part is reassembled and individually tested for compliance with the vehicle manufacturer’s original factory speci cation. All remanufactured parts come with a warranty, which is at least the same as the OE, sometimes better.

Thorough testing is also a priority for quality remanufacturers. Pictured is Shaftec's Electric Power Steering rack test rig.

Carwood agrees. For instance, it has reverse-engineered the fuel injector nozzle capsule for Land Rover TD5 engines to improve both torque and fuel consumption. Its turbocharger remanufacturing department discovered that the integrated turbine and exhaust manifold casting was prone to cracking so badly that the exhaust manifold ports could detach. To eliminate this issue, its engineers have introduced a newly redesigned casting for a ected models, which include the 2.0-litre versions of the Land Rover Freelancer 2/ Evoque and models using Ford's 2.0-litre Ecoboost engine. Other modi cations are less obvious but help to increase turbocharger life. A typical example is an improved thrust bearing, tted to certain 2.0-litre CDTi Vauxhall Astra J and Insignias, which is more wear-resistant, by increasing the surface retention of the oil, keeping it on the thrust bearing for longer. Furthermore, as certain seal plates are susceptible to failure around the compressor wheel diameter, Carwood engineers have introduced a new seal plate with strengthened ribs to reduce the failure rate.

Shaftec monitors wear and scrappage rates, too. It highlights that developments in oil seal technology, for instance, are incorporated within its remanufacturing process. It also enhances particular components where possible. For instance, Volkswagen Golf steering rack bars tend not to be suitable for remanufacturing, so Shaftec produces replacements.

With tools and equipment available that make the mobile workshop a more realistic proposition, it is worth considering your options