OEM vs Aftermarket PCV's

[Alan]

I've read online conflicting reports on OEM vs aftermarket PCV's with many reporting bad experiences with these "mass application" PCV's.

I've been using an aftermarket Purolator PCV for about a year now so today I tried a little experiment in my 99 Corolla,OEM vs aftermarket.

I didn't change the original factory PCV until last year as it seemed to operate just fine.It's an original Toyota part made out of a half metal half plastic enclosure.

I just cleaned it up and threw it in the glove box until today.

There seems to be more free play inside of the Toyota unit vs the Purolator unit as far as what you can hear and "feel".

The Purolator unit seems almost like it takes a tiny tad more pressure the depress the the inlet vs the Toyota unit overall.The Purolator has an all plastic casing and is speced part number(PV1064) wise for only this application(1.8L 1ZZ-FE).

The Purolator was not clogged or really oily when I removed it to reinstall the original cleaned up Toyota PCV.

I don't know if it's just me but the car did seem to drive better with the Toyota unit reinstalled.

Any similar experiences guys?

 

[MONKEYMAN]

I have a 99 Saturn SL2. I put a Napa pvc in when I bought the car last August. After 8,000 I put an OEM one in after a 2" part of my Napa Gold filter was sucked into the intake. I heard on the Saturn Fans Forum that some aftermarket pvc valves can contribute to increased oil consumption. So I put OEM PVC and OEM air filter from the dealership. The car never ran better. Not sure if it was the pvc, the air filter, or the combination. The pvc from Napa had a loose spring compared to the OEM pvc. I plan to stay with OEM tune-up parts, unless someone has data to prove it does not make a difference. I also have a 93 Sentra. I have heard it is best to use OEM tune-up parts to make it perform the best. I did not know that and had to learn the hard way. Last, I have heard that Toyota's run better with OEM parts. Unfortunate that parts from these dealerships can be so expensive. In my case, the OEM pvc valve was cheaper than the one from Napa. Go figure?

 

[MONKEYMAN]

Little dsylexic, should be PCV. Oh, well.

 

[seotaji]

I've noticed that the quality and consistency of aftermarket parts is less than OEM.

 

[Russ]

Untill a couple of days ago I had a Purolator PCV valve in my Galant. The engine is running a bit rough, so I was looking for possible causes. After I couldn't find an obvious cause, I dedided to try a Seafoam treatment. Poured it in through the PCV hose. That turned my attention to the PCV valve itself. It's a two-piece flimsy-looking plastic piece, which had a slight play in it (the L-shaped tube goes over the valve part itself and after it snaps on can lift up about 1/4 of an inch). In this "up" position (does not require ANY effort to raise it) there was a horrible sound almost similar to a combination of a loose heat shield/vacuum leak. After pressing down on the L-shaped part to get it back to its original position the noise went away, but would come back after the slightest tap on the valve or the hose. Sounded to me like the connection was not tight at all. Bought a Fram

one-piece (well, two piece, but its fixed and does not come apart) unit, and the engine seems to have smoothed out just a tiny bit (although that probably can be attributed to the Seafoam). I think I'll follow your lead and get an OE unit later in the week, and see what that does.
As far as aftermarket parts, the same car has a set of cheapie Advance Auto plug wires on it, which I'm pretty sure are the main cause of the engine running rough (my F-150 has the same brand wires, and has developed an almost identical symptom, within several thousand miles of the plug wire replacement). Naturally, I cannot wait for the dealer to open on Monday, so I can order a replacement.
Those are fairly mild issues. A couple of months back I had to replace a distributor on the Galant , and went with a remanufactured unit from Advance Auto. The thing (which has the ICM and the coil inside - wonderful design, if you ask me

)would RETARD the timing when the gas pedal was depressed suddenly (as in a timely take-of from a stop light). The symptom was cured with an installation of an OE unit. That's my experience so far with aftermarket parts.

 

[427Z06]

quote:

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Originally posted by seotaji:
I've noticed that the quality and consistency of aftermarket parts is less than OEM.

---

I agree. You have to be very selective with aftermarket parts to find equal or better quality than the OEM parts. Lot of cheap junk on the market that barely meets specs with a lifespan that is measured in months as opposed to years.

 

[MONKEYMAN]

If someone has experience that OEM parts are not necessary, and something else will work just as good, then I save my money. I have found advertising very misleading. Without someone with real world experience, I stick with OEM. Otherwise, it is gambling.

 

[acranox]

BTW, it's a "PCV valve" I think you are talking about.

Here's my experience. I had a 94 Civic, and I went to Autozone, and had them look up the part. I bought it for about $4, but I couldn't install it. The replacement was a straight one, and it needed an elbow to clear the intake manifold. So I took it back, and they looked up a different year, and looked for an elbow one, and the system showed it, but they didn't carry it. Off to a dealship I went, and bought a new valve for about $15.

Years later, I own a 87 Accord. I went to autozone, bought the replacement for $3, and what do you know, it's too big to fit in the hole.....or maybe it was so small, it didn't seal all the way around. I can't remember. Either way, it wasn't a good fit at all. So once again, to the dealership I went for a $15 replacement part, but at least it fit.

 

[brianl703]

quote:

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Originally posted by seotaji:
I've noticed that the quality and consistency of aftermarket parts is less than OEM.

---

That is why I prefer to buy parts at NAPA and Carquest. They sell to professionals, so they're far less likely to sell crap.

 

[porterdog]

The PCV valve is a commonly replaced component on Miata's that have had an aftermarket turbo kit installed. There are lots of threads/posts from the turbo miata community regarding the lame quality of the aftermarket valves.

My experience was typical. I went to the discount FLAPS and got a Fram PCV valve which was spec'd for the factory turbo'd 323 GTX (same basic motor). When I got to the parking lot, I opened the package to check the valve and using only lung power I could blow through it either way. Took it back inside and got a replacement. That one too failed the test. Got a third, which also failed, prompting the sales drone to tell me that 'they're supposed to do that.' Oh, really?

In the end, I ponied up the $15 for the factory part. 4 years and 55k boosted miles later, that spendy factory valve is still working fine.

$0.03,
Robert

 

[Jim Spahr]

I agree that the OEM PCV is the best choice. In my case, that is an AC Delco CV 895C That you used to be able to find easily at Walmart and Kmart. No longer. Now, Advance Auto carries only Purolator and Fram. Auto Zone carries Deutche(sp) only. You must go to the dealer to get AC Delco PCV's, air filters and fuel filters. Only AC Delco oil filters can still be found at Advance Auto and Auto Zone.

 

[TallPaul]

Recently had the Aerostar in for some repairs, including addressing a rough idle. One thing they told me when I picked it up was it might help to replace the PCV valve, but that I should go to the Ford dealer for a genuine Motorcraft part as it will be better than the aftermarket PCV valves (apparently their parts supplier did not have Motorcraft and they were unwilling to sell me a second rate part).

 

[Ray H]

quote:

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Originally posted by Russ:
...A couple of months back I had to replace a distributor on the Galant , and went with a remanufactured unit from Advance Auto. The thing...would RETARD the timing when the gas pedal was depressed suddenly...

---

Let me guess - there's a vacuum line going to the distributor, right? Hello! The vacuum modulation to the distributor's supposed to progressively retard ignition timing proportionately to loss of intake manifold vacuum such as would occur during hard acceleration or high-load hill-climbing. The idea is to prevent damaging pinging under moderate to full load conditions. Full vacuum advance of ignition timing occurs when at idle or constant cruising speeds on level (or nearly so) terrain when there's far less liklihood of maximum power demand-related pinging from pre-ignition.

 

[Alan]

Update

,I reinstalled the Purolator part(which is only specified for this one application)and have not noticed any difference.Never any oil consumption with either.

I am going to keep the Purolator part in,must of been just in my head

.

 

[Ugly3]

Alan, you are an honorable man.

I suspect many of the "it ran better after I changed the muffler bearing" is all in the head.

 

[Dan4510]

quote:

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Originally posted by seotaji:
I've noticed that the quality and consistency of aftermarket parts is less than OEM.

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THis is true if one shops autozone...I buy mostly napa parts and get the premium. The agony of having to replace an alternator or water pump twice is far more than the price difference between the good and the bad.

Dan

 

[crashz]

Well said Dan.

 

[TC]

"Aftermarket versus OEM PCV..."

Not sure there is such a thing as an OEM PCV. They're all sourced out, I'd bet. It's just a matter of finding a "good brand" aftermarket product, which is essentially what you'll get even if you buy one at the Toyota dealer.

 

[Matt_S]

quote:

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Originally posted by TC:
"Aftermarket versus OEM PCV..."

Not sure there is such a thing as an OEM PCV. They're all sourced out, I'd bet. It's just a matter of finding a "good brand" aftermarket product, which is essentially what you'll get even if you buy one at the Toyota dealer.

---

I completely agree with this. The only thing about it that I'd change is to remove the "I'd bet" from the end of the second sentence. Stuff like that is completely sourced out. The dealer will have the parts from the OEM supplier. Aftermarket parts stores may have the same parts or parts made by another company. The trick is to get a quality part, that's all.