OEM vs. Aftermarket? No.... How about Quality vs Price?
I wrote this article and figured it fit well here also.
It's been as much of a debate in the boating public as Ford vs Chevy. Everyone has an opinion and we know where that leads to. But let’s dive in a bit on this debate and try to help you make the best decisions for the long term health of your investment.
What is OEM? Simply put it’s the “Original Equipment Manufacturer” of parts used in your boat. You’ll notice, if you read closely “manufacturer” there? It’s absolutely false that your engine manufacturer makes every single part in their engines. Just because the box or the part has the engine name on it, is not proof that they made the part. But for instance if you buy an impeller for your generator and it says Kohler or westerbeke, or some other manufacturer on the box? It “could have” been made by another company who actually made the pump itself.
Think of it this way. When you go to the store and to the milk aisle, there are several brands of the same Vitamin D whole milk right there in front of you. And then there is a “store brand” of the same milk as well. The store brand is almost always cheaper than the popular brands. Is it different? Is it better or worse than the others? It’s all Vitamin D whole milk right? Well maybe, and maybe not. But did the grocery store make that milk? Not in most cases. Instead they entered a contract to have their name labeled on the milk because it meets “their requirements” and represents their marketing strategy.
Back to parts. There are several things to consider when using parts on your boat. First and foremost. If your boat is under factory warranty you are obligated as part of the warranty terms to use ONLY OEM parts, and service intervals. We often ask this question when being contracted for service because some warranties require a servicing dealer perform and document the service interval. For instance, a Yamaha Outboard has specific service intervals and requirements and will void the engines warranty if those guidelines are not followed. We will turn away and refer the client to the nearest servicing dealer explaining this reason to them. For those engines that are not under any further warranty, we will gladly service with high quality parts and exceptional service and education.
Do we use aftermarket parts? In a lot of cases yes. But aftermarket is a technical term. As in the references above, and even on others. We use Impellers that are made by the pump manufacturer not the engine brand. An interesting thing happened one day regarding this story. The client requested “Volvo Penta OEM parts only be used on his boat. We will gladly do this for any client who requests it. When we went to pick up the Spark Plugs required for the job. We opened the sleeve labeled Volvo Penta with their part number and found eight AC Delco Plugs with part numbers available at any parts store. Want to guess what the price difference was? It was significant.... We had to take pictures to prove to the client we honored his request.
Now, When it comes to fluids and filters? It’s always prudent to use OEM as the oils and filters are the lifeblood of the engine. As one commercial used to say “You can pay me a little more now, or a lot more later.” Price should not be the determining factor for the parts we use. It is one equation but not THE equation. It's far more important to do your research if you don’t want to pay OEM prices. In some, not all cases, You’ll be able to find out who makes the filters for your engine. Now I’m not talking about a cross reference to other brands here. I’m talking specifically about what manufacturer MADE the OEM filter you have. One good general example of this not related to boats is Napa Gold Filters. Did you know they are not made by NAPA? No, they are made by WIX (which is actually Mann-Hummel Corp in Europe) see how many names just popped up there? M/H makes Wix which makes NAPA Gold (and only the GOLD) filters. Puts the NAPA name on it and ships it out. Another item, like the milk subject again? Store brand oil.... It’s all oil right? No, it’s not. Not even remotely close to the same. Years back by accident I learned from a counter guy that a specific store brand oil was actually made by Valvoline. A large supplier of many store brands. I don’t know if they still do or not, but it’s just another case of identity confusion. But I wonder who makes Volvo Penta brand oil? It’s a good question and I’m sure a well hidden secret.
Belts,Hoses,Manifolds and Risers,Plugs and Ignition parts, Water pumps, and the list goes on. Do you think West Marine makes their own batteries? No DEKA East Penn makes them and outs the West Label on them.
My point on all of this is simply wrapped up this way.
1) Take into account your warranty status and the terms.
2) Take into account and research who the real company behind the “curtain” is (the real manufacturer)
and 3) make sure the parts used meet all requirements of your engine manufacturer before saving a few dollars?
Or just stick with OEM if you’re not sure. That’s our policy at Glassic!
Personally, I rarely end up using OEM fluids and filters, but instead determine what I think will be most suitable for my application. For example, Mercruiser recommends straight 40 weight oil for my 454s. With modern oils, there's no reason for that, it's just an invitation for more startup wear and a harder to find oil. So instead, my engines get 15W-40 diesel oil (typically Delo or Rotella), which is perfectly suitable for their needs, easier to find, flows better at startup (especially in cool spring or fall weather), etc. And while many OEM oil filters are good, there's nothing magic about them compared to any good quality aftermarket filter. So for each engine, I typically pick a filter that's good quality and readily available and stick to that. For my engines, it's mostly been Wix filters as the options I'd like better (Fram Ultra or Purolator PureOne or Boss) don't produce a compatible filter (Purolator and Fram only produce the correct filter in their lower end lines that I don't want to use).
For parts, I'll sometimes go OEM, sometimes not. Unless I'm in a rush and need something right away, I tend to do some analysis on quality and determine if there's a more suitable option than OEM, or if there's something equivalent in quality to OEM but cheaper. When buying BMW parts, I've found cases where there's an aftermarket version made by the same company that makes the OE BMW part. And the only difference between them is the price tag (about 50%) and having the BMW logo ground off when the part comes out of the mold (for the ones they sell directly instead of sending to BMW). Other times, there is no good quality aftermarket alternative or there's not enough information out there, so the OEM part is the best choice.
For belts, I tend to go to Gates or Continental, as I know they reliably make good belts, and the appropriate belt from either tends to be far cheaper than the OEM belts of unknown origin.
Hoses are selected from any good hose supplier based on what hose is suitable for the application. The only time I'll spend the extra on an OEM hose is if there's something unique about it (such as a molded shape that's truly necessary for proper fit) that isn't available from an aftermarket supplier. Generally I buy hose from Gates, Continental, Trident, or Shields.
Of course, there's always the struggle for what the best option is when the OEM part is discontinued (such as the impellers for my Onan generator). In the case of that generator, there are 2 aftermarket impellers available. I've tried one and it was junk that broke apart just past the 1 year mark. I have yet to try the other, but I'm on my last NOS OEM impeller, so I might have to. Or, I may convert the unit to a different seawater pump setup to get away from the problem.