Bent water pump gasket, still good?

Ok, getting ready for the timing belt and water pump. Ordered the Asain kit from Amazon but the 1st gasket came damaged as they shipped the waterpump sitting on top of the gasket and it scored the rubber part. So, I ordered a replacement gasket from Ourisman Toyota, the toyota gasket is in the pics. The rubber looks fine but the metal is bent. Straighten it out, or have them replace it? Its a big Job and i dont want to do it again if it leaks.

 

I'd carefully straighten it out and run it.

Then I'd stop buying parts on scAmazon. I know this one wasn't from there, but just stop -- you're asking for trouble.

 

I’ll echo not buying scamazon parts. So many counterfeits out there. Buy from Rockauto or online dealer parts place. I wouldn't put that gasket on mine. Too much trouble getting in and out of there to fix it later.

 

I wouldn't run it. The gasket is designed to 'smash' down to provide a seal. That kink is already smashed down. I wouldn't risk the future leak.

Don't buy auto parts from Jeff.

 

I contacted the dealership, they are sending a new one. Are you all suggesting the Aisin store on Amazon is not legit? Or just dont like Jeff?

 

So many people on this forum and across the internet have gotten knockoff/counterfeit parts on scAmazon and fleaBay specifically that, frankly, you'd be stupid to order parts on there. And it's not just one thing, it's a myriad of stuff.

I posted a laundry list of "3M" products on here a week or two ago that I'd gotten whitebox/generic (i.e. fakes) on. I've gotten knockoff appliance parts, mower parts, and auto parts on there. I've caught people selling fake OBDLink products on scAmazon. Some members, like FirstGenVol, have gotten counterfeit spark plugs on there (he's one of a handful) that looked authentic as hell, but were faked, and failed catastrophically in his engine. One member from a newer-gen forum actually called in the lot# off his plugs with the manufacturer and they had no record of that lot number existing (i.e. FAKE).

This warning about scAmazon and fleaBay has been posted on here so many times I'm shocked you missed it. It's such a problem that, at the Congressional level, they've been actively passing legislation in an attempt to address the situation.

General rule of thumb, never buy from any online source that:

• Allows any random-ass 3rd party to sell through their storefront (i.e. Sears, WalMart, scAmazon, fleaBay, etc.)
• Doesn't adequately (or can't possibly) vet their inventory or check incoming inventory for authenticity
• Will suffer no harm and/or won't take responsibility and/or has no liability in the event you receive and/or incur damage from a counterfeit item

tl;dr - You're no longer ignorant on the topic of why you never buy auto parts from these sources. The parts you've purchased may very well be counterfeit

 

Yea, gonna ship back some other parts i got now.
How about partsgeek?

 

Have not used them; not sure how their operation works.