[el_charal]

"Go with Mopar" - Even though I agree with that statement, sometimes it's not necessary to go with factory parts. Especially when you only have aftermarket money. I found 2 Mopar cam tensioners for $78 each. Even though that's a good deal, I don't wanna pay $156 for 2 tensioners. I found 2 Cloyes tensioners for $16 a piece. Are they any good? Are "Melling" oil pumps any good?

[Daytrepper]

I havent heard anything bad about Cloyes, or Melling. Good stuff, IMO. Used many of their products without issue in my SB Chevy days.

My experience with modern engines and vehicles, especially our cars lately, however, has been you totally get what you pay for. Aftermarket has gotten much worse (cheap, chinese crap) as of late, so I would be careful.

I look at it this way. The original Mopar part lasted 9 years (your car is an 04). Do you plan to keep the car for another 9 years, or do you plan on selling in 2 years? If you plan to keep, Mopar all the way. Sell, not so much.

I swore off aftermarket stuff last year after a long battle with poor quality crap....has been nothing but a good decision, yes its a bit more pricey, but the quality, fit, feel, and reliability has been great. Pain in the ass factor down to zero. The shit fits, looks good, and works. Nothing worse than some aftermarket part failing within minutes of your completion of hours of work....or within a few miles of driving after.

[el_charal]

I plan on keeping the car. Would you put a Melling oil pump / Cloyes cam tensioners in your car?? Btw the tensioners and oil pump are still functional. I am almost done buying all the parts for the timing chain/water pump/etc replacement. Sine I'll be deep in there I figured I might as well replace the oil pump. Is it even NECESSARY to replace the cam tensioners? I've never heard of them failing.

[Daytrepper]

Absolutely not. If they are still in good shape and functioning, I would not mess with them at all. If I had to replace, I would put Mopar in, if it were mine. Likely you wont need either if you have no sludge issues anyways.

Old SB Chevy, heck yeah, i'd install Cloyes/Melling in a minute.

[Squilliam]

I trusted a Melling oil pump in my Buick whenever I dropped a new motor in it, still doing its job

[el_charal]

My bro's best friend has used Melling oil pumps in GMs but I guess no one knows if they would work in our cars.. Haven't heard of anyone here using Melling oil pumps or Cloyes cam tensioners.. I guess I'll buy Mopar. Didn't want to but better safe than sorry.

[Dirdy]

I bought a Melling oil pump for my 2.7 last year when I did the timing/water pump/everything overhaul on my 2.7. What can I say other than it fit nice and tight like the factory one and it works! I have around 15,000 miles on it so far.

When I got it, I cheaped out and used eBay. It was about $10-15 cheaper than a factory Mopar one I could have gotten.

[peva]

I agree with Dan. I don't recall reading of any problems with the secondary tensioners (maybe one?). These days, if confidence in an existing part is very high, don't risk swapping in a new part that could be defective or short-lived compared to the proven existing yet used part.

When I did my chain, water pump etc. at 207k miles, though I kept my original secondary tensioners, I did replace my oil pump (with OEM), but that was because mine is a '99, and they had upgraded the oil pump capacity during the '99 MY production after mine was made, and since I was upgrading the chain to the new design, I had to pull the crankshaft sprocket off anyway. At 255k+ miles, still running strong.

[paintballdude05]

I put a Melling oil pump in my '02 SXT with the 3.5 engine. I noticed the casting quality wasn't that great compared to factory, more burs and the markings on the pump weren't very clear. It's been working fine for about 5k km's without issues though. It was a fraction of the price of the Mopar unit.