parts crossreference?

Maybe...If you have a friend at a parts house who will give you some of their obsolete catalogs, that is a cheap way.

There are services like Hollanders that give a lot of crossouts, albeit expensive to subscribe for an individual.

|Can a car owner find out what vehicles use the same part as his car? |I know my Ford Festiva uses the same oil filtre as a Mazda 323 and the |distributor cap is use on GM cars.

Bill that information is out there, but not easily accessible. Salvage yards buy books that show that information, but they aren't cheap. A parts store can look up a part, then consult a buyers guide that will tell them what all else it fits. The information is not detailed as to exact model, only listing something like "C197 Distributor Cap - GM (various) 1975 - 1996, Checker 1975 - 1988, ....." Take a look at the Fram catalog next time your are at the Serve-yourself filter section in one of the retail stores. In the back of the Master Catalog is a buyers guide. Most catalogs don't have this, but they print a separate book. There are some electronic buyers guides just being introduced to the auto parts trade that have very accurate drill-down to exact models. These are just coming available (saw a demo last week) and won't be in the stores until probably late this year. Even then, few stores will spend the upcharge to get it.

So the short answer is: Not very easily. The best source for that kind of information is enthusiast forums for your car.

Rex in Fort Worth

Yes.

And you would find the rest of the parts interchangeability pretty much the same way you found this out.

|Me: Need points and condensor for a 64 chev 6 (size of engine here). |No nothing parts guy: what model of chevrolet is that? |Me: doesn't matter, they are all the same.

That last line will get you choked in any serious parts store ;) Rex in Fort Worth

No kidding. Parts drop-downs seldom have an "any" key.

not very much. the oil filter was in the book at the store. I know the car has a Mazda engine so I took a look under Mazda. I found out about the distributor cap when I bought a replacement and it came in a GM box.

I know some car parts didn't change for 20 years. They probably change faster now but it would be handy to know. I also know a lot of car parts are not made by the auto manufacturers any more. We have a big international parts and assemblies company called Magna here in Canada which makes parts for all makes and models of cars all over the world.

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Yup, you would get slapped all right....

I have yet to see a pull down automotive computer screen have any listing for 'all', like someone else mentioned.

You need a year, maker and size for the computer to be useful.

My AMC (all makers covered) Jeep can use parts from tons of different years and engines, but if they don't have a starter solenoid in stock and I just say 'any ' Ford one will do, the guy looks like he wants to slap me for sure.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

|Rex B wrote in rec.autos.tech | |>|Me: Need points and condensor for a 64 chev 6 (size of engine here). |>|No nothing parts guy: what model of chevrolet is that? |>|Me: doesn't matter, they are all the same. |> |> That last line will get you choked in any serious parts store ;) | |You are saying that the points for a 6 cyl chev are different for a |Belair and a Nova, given the engines are the same size? I can see |the difference on the V-8's, as there several different configurations |of each size, but the 6's were pretty much the same.

Yes and no. About that time Chevrolet was making a transition from 235s to 230s, two entirely different engines. Had you come in and said "Give me points for a

6-cylinder Chevrolet, they're all the same", I'd have probably just picked one and laid it on the counter. When you looked at it and said "That's not like mine!" I'd have said "Sure it is - it fits a 6-cylinder Chevrolet and you said they are all the same, so it has to fit". Then we'd find what what year and engine size you really had. Or that small-block Chevy V-8 water pump - they're all the same, right? So what if your particular model used the short variant, or needed the heater hose outlet? What if it is in a boat, with reverse rotation? I'd much rather the customer just tell me what they need, with some application information. Not all parts people are idiots, some of us are gearheads too.

And yes, I have the same problem My shop where I work on my race cars is far from my work or my house, so when I need something I often have to run down to the local independent, or the AZ or now an O'reilly has opened. The guys at AZ are surprisingly professional. One time I went in, a lady waited on my. Told he I wanted a 13113 Bosch O2 sensor. She whirled around, went right to the shelf and got it, made a cheerfulcomment about me knowing the number I needed, and rang it up without further ado. The next time I needed a set of plugs. Went to O'Reilly, since AZ doesn't carry NGK. A guy waited on me and we had to do the whole "Make, model, year etc" despite my giving him a piece of paper with BR8EQ-14 on it. In my experience it's the young kids that have grown up with their lives centered around a computer. All knowledge springs therefrom. Rex in Fort Worth