Parts described as OEM

[Kurt]

Do parts described as oem mean anything anymore? I have had injector studs stretch and snap far below the required torque. Same recently , and far more worrying , with swivel to axle bolts , Vented fuel cap with no ventilation the list goes on..... all described as oem???

[Pawl12]

The term has now been hi-jacked by various parts resellers to help their sales. 

With many resellers it now only means the manufacture has supplied something to the vehicle manufacturer as original equipment on some vehicle - not necessarily the part you want to buy or the vehicle you want it for.

It definitely used to mean the manufacturer was the original equipment manufacturer of the specific part on the specific vehicle.

Genuine is the nearest equivalent nowadays I think.

[Lightning]

So if l see an “all OEM” Defender service kit at £49 

Containing air filter, both oil filters and fuel filter, these are not Land Rover parts?

ln which case what make could they be? I recently bought an “Allmakes” rotor filter and the quality was so poor l put the old one back in and bought a LR one at five times the price.

 

 

[FridgeFreezer]

As above - if they once sold toilet roll to JLR someone'll claim their wheel bearings are OEM even if they're chinese shopping trolley grade.

Even real OEM is not the same as genuine, for example genuine LR starter motors have more seals etc. than the same unit from the same manufacturer bought aftermarket.

[dailysleaze]

OEM only means something if the part is from a known brand with a good reputation. Most parts described as "OEM" have an unknown brand, so it's still a shot in the dark like buying pattern parts.

[landroversforever]

27 minutes ago, dailysleaze said:

OEM only means something if the part is from a known brand with a good reputation. Most parts described as "OEM" have an unknown brand, so it's still a shot in the dark like buying pattern parts.

Even if it’s from the same manufacturer it’s not necessarily the same quality. Take UJs..... GKN make them for all sorts of things, some in the same dimensions as a LR one. But being different applications their loading/sealing can be totally different. SimonR did a test with a load of different ones a while back. Can’t find the post to quote at the moment. 

[dailysleaze]

4 minutes ago, landroversforever said:

Even if it’s from the same manufacturer it’s not necessarily the same quality. Take UJs..... GKN make them for all sorts of things, some in the same dimensions as a LR one. But being different applications their loading/sealing can be totally different. SimonR did a test with a load of different ones a while back. Can’t find the post to quote at the moment.  

I was trying to be optimistic 😁

But yes there is no way of truely knowing if any non-LR part is the same as the LR part with a different box. So you basically gamble with every part you buy. The "OEM" description relies on the supplier's insider knowledge of LR's relationships with OEMs.

[Maverik]

If the seller gives you the actually manufacturer behind the "OEM" claim and the part has that name somwhere on it then there's a fair chance you'll get a decent part - my rekoning is that if a company is willing to put its name on somthing then it will generally perform well - but as stated above there does seem to be quality differences from genuine LR parts to branded OEM stuff. I'm lucky enough to have had my truck for a fair bit of time now and the initial huge rebuild costs have now faded into long lost memory (I pretend it has at least...) - so where possible I generally try source Genuine LR boxed stuff, I'm just rebuilding a 300tdi era axle to go on the truck and you'd be suprised what genuine old stock stuff you can find in verious nooks and crannies.

[mmgemini]

17 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said:

As above - if they once sold toilet roll to JLR someone'll claim their wheel bearings are OEM even if they're chinese shopping trolley grade.

Even real OEM is not the same as genuine, for example genuine LR starter motors have more seals etc. than the same unit from the same manufacturer bought aftermarket.

A genuine LR starter motor made by who. Not Land Rover

 

[Bowie69]

No, but at least it *should* be made to LR spec. 

[TSD]

At the very best, made by the manufacturer who supplies that part to LR. Doesn't mean it's the same part, or to the same spec.

As FF mentioned, I stripped two Bosch starter motors, one bearing the LR oval, one not. the LR badged motor had more, and more substantial, internal seals. It had a different solenoid design internally. There were other differences too. Some or all difference *may* be due to changes to product manufacture through time. I surmise the unbadged motor was not made to LR spec.

In some previous discussion on here, I looked in the GKN driveline catalogue at U/Js. There were about 4 different parts which would fit the 'common' LR application. None of them is the same part number as the part supplied by LR - that has it's own GKN part number and isn't listed in the general catalogue. Any of those parts will certainly be of high quality, but which one is the most suitable? The one listed for high speed use? Heavy duty? agricultural? I'm not qualified to guess and I don't have enough information to even try. I doubt random_bloke_on_ebay does either, but he can buy the cheapest one and call it OEM with no comeback. He can also buy GKN Driveline parts from some other market region (India, South America for example) where the available parts may be different, or made to different quality criteria.

(And that assumes the parts are genuine at all. There are fake transistors and integrated circuits on the market which in some cases are simply unmarked parts lasered with the current favourite part number. Not too much of a jump to imagine you could order a box of bearings with any manufacturer name you like lasered on.)

[Bowie69]

I mean the LR Genuine badged one

[Escape]

I recently had a customer come in with a diesel leak. Turned out the fuel filter has rusted through. A genuine LR item, a few years old, and not too much crud around it. Not impressed by the quality of genuine items... Those filters aren't cheap either!

[monkie]

At the start of the year I purchase an "OEM" fuel filter. Fitted it, bled the system and all seemed fine until it pulled air into the system 5 miles from home up a hill. Got a tow home and discovered the top of the filter was not flat So I binned it. I now only get genuine filters as I don't want the embarrassment of being towed home again!

[mmgemini]

22 minutes ago, monkie said:

At the start of the year I purchase an "OEM" fuel filter. Fitted it, bled the system and all seemed fine until it pulled air into the system 5 miles from home up a hill. Got a tow home and discovered the top of the filter was not flat So I binned it. I now only get genuine filters as I don't want the embarrassment of being towed home again!

Who makes Genuine LR parts. Not Land Rover

 

[monkie]

Good point. But it was better quality and so far hasn't given me any problems. It was supplied form my local LR dealer.

[Retroanaconda]

1 hour ago, mmgemini said:

Who makes Genuine LR parts. Not Land Rover

 

This was answered above by TSD.

No, Land Rover do not make parts - they buy them from parts manufacturers. However there are numerous cases where parts from that manufacturer have been shown to be of a higher quality when purchased via Land Rover than when purchased via another reseller as 'OEM'. Simply because the manufacturer make the same part to a variety of quality levels.

Truly a case of caveat emptor. However suggesting that all 'OEM' parts are of the same quality level as those supplied by Land Rover would be misleading at best. Many are, I am sure, but I would suggest that many more are not.

[smallfry]

While all the above is true...………...

On the other hand, if LR stuff is that good, why are most of us swapping it for something else ? 😄

[dailysleaze]

15 hours ago, smallfry said:

While all the above is true...………...

On the other hand, if LR stuff is that good, why are most of us swapping it for something else ? 😄

I think the cheap sh!t that has flooded the market for decades has given LR the market position to charge high prices for the expectation of quality. Hence why we have to shop around.

That said, there are quite a few small parts that I buy genuine as they're not that expensive, e.g. if its £8 genuine vs £4 pattern, i'll buy the genuine. I also want LR to supply genuine parts for the Defender for as long as possible, so I'm happy to throw them a few quid now and then 😁

[FridgeFreezer]

On 11/28/2018 at 8:18 PM, smallfry said:

While all the above is true...………...

On the other hand, if LR stuff is that good, why are most of us swapping it for something else ? 😄

Because people are cheapskates and don't think - people assume the genuine starter motor from the dealer is a "con" at £250 when one that looks the same in a Bosch box is only £150, and one that kinda looks the same in a blue box is £75...

[BogMonster]

On 11/26/2018 at 8:11 AM, TSD said:

At the very best, made by the manufacturer who supplies that part to LR. Doesn't mean it's the same part, or to the same spec.

As FF mentioned, I stripped two Bosch starter motors, one bearing the LR oval, one not. the LR badged motor had more, and more substantial, internal seals. It had a different solenoid design internally. There were other differences too. Some or all difference *may* be due to changes to product manufacture through time. I surmise the unbadged motor was not made to LR spec.

In some previous discussion on here, I looked in the GKN driveline catalogue at U/Js. There were about 4 different parts which would fit the 'common' LR application. None of them is the same part number as the part supplied by LR - that has it's own GKN part number and isn't listed in the general catalogue. Any of those parts will certainly be of high quality, but which one is the most suitable? The one listed for high speed use? Heavy duty? agricultural? I'm not qualified to guess and I don't have enough information to even try. I doubt random_bloke_on_ebay does either, but he can buy the cheapest one and call it OEM with no comeback. He can also buy GKN Driveline parts from some other market region (India, South America for example) where the available parts may be different, or made to different quality criteria.

(And that assumes the parts are genuine at all. There are fake transistors and integrated circuits on the market which in some cases are simply unmarked parts lasered with the current favourite part number. Not too much of a jump to imagine you could order a box of bearings with any manufacturer name you like lasered on.)

Interesting. When I worked in the trade a few years back we used to import 'OEM' stuff from Bearmach. My recollection is that the starter motors (I forget for which engine but probably the Tdi) were in the OEM brand box, and the part actually had the 'Land Rover' logo cast into the casing so it was clearly the genuine item. Same part, a third of the price. I think the alternators were the same. We always got the OEM stuff, and the quality was good. The own-brand stuff, not so much.

Sadly in more recent years, the Chinese have made it perfectly acceptable to copy something right down to the manufacturers logo and the packaging, so these days I think all bets are off.

[mmgemini]

Who made the injector pump for the Tdi. Not Land Rover so where can you buy a Land Rover one ? Land Rover don't make tyres so agail where do the Genuine ones come from

 

 

[mmgemini]

Land Rover GENUINE 200Tdi cylinder heads are made in Austria. Not by Land Rover

 

[Ex Member]

Land Rover 200TDI heads are not made by anyone.

Really it is all a carp shoot these days.  A lot of the genuine parts are carp not made to the original spec.  I doubt anyone working at Land Rover know or could even locate the original spec for things made 20 or 30 years ago.

[Tanuki]

I consider "OEM" to be a meaningless designation: for example I've got a 'wall-wart' power-supply for my Internet-router here and the brand on it is actually "OEM" !!

If buying parts these days I ask for the actual manufacturer: things like oil/air/fuel-filters I'm happy to go with Bosch, Mahle, Mann+Hummel [but beware I've seen some filters in Bosch-lookalike boxes though when you look closely they're branded Bosgh]; brake-parts Mintex/Delphi/Ferodo are kosher [though I've seen Chinese-made calipers that look like Lockheed because they were clearly cast using genuine Lockheed calipers as the pattern - cylinder bores were still full of swarf!]. Gaskets - Payen are OK; the Britpart top-cam-cover rubber seal for my TD5 I bought by mistake was about as useful as a jockstrap in a nunnery.

Electrics: the last alternator I fitted was a NipponDenso, and Yuasa is my go-to for batteries.

While you can get good-quality stuff from online sources if you're lucky, I prefer to go to trustworthy suppliers: for example there's a local industrial bearings/belts supplier I can take a worn part to and discuss over-the-counter what the replacement should be. They have GKN, SKF, Dayco and NSK stuff - they're not in any way the cheapest but they _do_ have proper parts traceability (they supply several businesses who maintain aircraft at Gloucester Airport) and I'm happy to pay a bit over the odds for known-good parts rather than fitting cheap stuff and having to do the job again in a few months.