Quoting G:
The ones I found in japan are definitely Mitsu OEM spec'd. I have seen a lot of connectors from different japanese platforms and the ones I'm selling are very very high quality. Night and day difference compared to the $8.00 set. For the typical dsm'r the $8.00 a set type are fine.
What you have appears to be one of the aftermarket ones. Not that it's bad in this case. Look at where the wires exit on the original connector, and where they exit on yours. The original connector has a wire retainer that is red and flush with the back of the connector. Yours is white and sticks out a little bit.
I am pretty sure it is the exact same connector I was looking at a while back, and I will probably buy it in pieces to help make harnesses at some point. If it was the OEM connector from our cars, it would have the manufacturers logo on it. That other company seems like they do a decent job though.
Quoting GSTwithPSI:
I don't know if the $8 dollar set of connectors I linked to are made in China or not. I'd venture to say regardless of where you're shopping, 99% or the sh*t available is probably made in China to varying degrees of quality and fitment. In the absence of any technical data, you'd probably need to do some side-by-side comparisons to OEM stuff, or do some real world testing to really determine the degree of quality for each individual item. If you have examples of quality plugs, post a link or something when you have time.
It is likely made in China, and likely NOT made to OEM standards. As you said, both good and bad connectors come out of Asia. Most of it boils down to the specifications of the connector. OEMs make strict specs. Low end aftermarket just makes it so it should latch together. They don't check design tolerances so all of their connectors will plug into all of the mating connectors on the OE parts, etc. There are some high end aftermarket ones that do pay a bit more attention to details, and they cost a good bit more. I know at least SOME of them are made on the same molds etc as the OEM connectors(at the OEMs factories).
Anything that is $2 per pigtail, shipped, is almost certainly not the OEM parts. Is it possible that it's good? Maybe. But they even picked a bad connector to copy. Those gang seals on the wires will leak pretty quickly if the wire gets pulled on at all. That gang seal is the same reason I hate Deutsch DTM connectors that are popular with lots of aftermarket people.
As far as a good one, it all depends on what connector you are looking for. Bosch, Amp, TE, Molex, Delphi, Yazaki, Sumitomo, JAE, Mitsubishi, Furukawa, all make generally good stuff.
Quoting GSTwithPSI:
I have a set of repurposed OEM junkyard plugs I got from Chris, and they get the job done just fine IMO. I paid ~$10 bucks for the set, and only replaced them because I got tired of the junk ass little metal clips on the 1G version of the stock plug. If not wanting to spend $15 bucks on a plastic connector makes me a DSM'r, so be it. I'd rather wipe my ass with money and flush it down the toilet than spend it any of the ways G suggests.
HYPERTUNE bitches!!!!
They will probably last a while yet. OEM stuff is usually pretty good. Is that heatshrink you used at the injector connector really flexible? I hope so. I usually leave a bit of wire exposed there, so there is more room for the wire to freely bend in a large loop. If that heatshrink ISN'T very flexible, when you pull the connectors off, all the wire bending occurs right at that little spot of exposed wire. And the wire will break. Make sense?
