After lurking for years and using this forum as help with my old 92 5.0L EFI F150, I thought I'd repay the fine folks here and warn about something that I think rates as a scam.

Background:

The ignition switch was getting quirky; my key worked, but my wife's took a lot of fidgeting--and sometimes vice versa. So, I figured, no big deal, I'll spend a few bucks and replace the lock cylinder--easy peasy.

So I ordered an "OEM" lock cylinder (made in Mexico, but aren't they all?) from an eBay seller. When I got the cylinder, I tried to pop it into the casing--and it stuck fast. After pulling it out, I mic-ed the thing and found that it was a few thousandths oversize. Ugh. This is OEM parts quality?

I decided to re-work the original unit and pulled the inner cylinder out and discovered that the key bezel itself was loose--it wobbled around and didn't seem to be attached to the cylinder itself. I also discovered a couple of small bits of pot metal sticking to the whole assembly. It seems that the key bezel simply sits over three pot metal prongs on the key cylinder face. Those prongs had sheared off, heaven knows when, which explained the trickiness in getting they key into the slot. As a fix, a bored a 1/16" hole in the side of the cylinder, right through the bezel about 1/4" deep and drove a stainless pin in to hold the two together. I suspect that this is very common in these locks--causes them to feel "sloppy".

I cleaned and replaced the old assembly and it's just fine--both keys work like magic.

Back to that "OEM" part--it turns out that, in this case, "OEM" stands for "Original Engine Management", printed in very small type on the box. So I was out $15, so what the heck, let's see what's in this "OEM" part.

The original part has two plated steel rods that serve to guide the key into the slot--nothing on the "OEM" part. The holes are in the casting, but the rods themselves are not present.

Similarly, there are two spring-loaded pins in the outer casing that serve to index the detents in the key cylinder itself. On the original, these are plated steel again, but on the "OEM", they're brass and are very undersized, so they'll probably come out of the guides eventually.

Perhaps all of this isn't a big deal, but it's clear that corners were cut to save a few cents--and not worth the trouble to me. I'd advise staying away from the "OEM" brand, unless you really know what you're getting.

Next project--replace the PVC vacuum hoses; I've got a leak somewhere. I'm going to go the silicone hose route.

 

good info. Thanks for sharing!

 

"OEM" has become just another marketing scam, and it's largely irrelevant anyway since Ford uses so many suppliers, and each one can make several levels of part quality. So even though Johnson Controls is the OEM for almost every vehicle battery, that doesn't mean that every JC battery (like MotorCraft, Interstate, DieHard Gold, Duralast, EverStart, & Optima) is the same quality. Shop for "MotorCraft" since it's trademarked - you'll know what you're getting.

 

Steve, in this case, "OEM" doesn't even stand for "original equipment manufacturer", it's a scam. I'm pretty sure that there are some quality aftermarket lock cylinders out there from reputable manufacturers.

 

Years ago (1980's) there where companies selling Ac delco spark plugs that were knock off's They were missing the AC DELCO imprint on the metal part of the plugs. They looked the same as OEM, but were not. A lot of auto parts came out of China that looked the same but were not. NAFTA/GAT It was when we first started get White box parts. Now most parts come from china because of cheap labor.

 

There's a lot of this out there--and a lot more than there was just a year ago. I was tempted by the Chinese fuel pumps (if you've got one of the models with the dual tanks, you know what a pain replacing the thing is) at half the price of the Delphi parts, but was warned off by a mechanic friend. The radiator replacement is from my local NAPA store and comes with a lifetime guarantee (made in Canada).

I didn't think that a simple lock cylinder could be so badly messed up, but I'm learning. Sometimes you have to be deaf to the siren song of your wallet and get what works.

 

hehe it's a marketing trick. advance auto sells their parts too.

 

I also found tapered wheel bearing from china that don't fit on the spindles. Everyone wants cheap, so now all the companies moved to china, and now we got cheap and stuff that doesn't right and don't last! By buying from china, we also lost all our jobs too. We use to export 80% and consume 20%, Now we export 20% , consume 80% , We have become consumers from retailers and no more manufacturing. lots of retail jobs out there!

 

You want fries with that?

 

It's really hard to order from eBay. You are better of ordering from reputable auto parts shop.

 

OEM tools are sold at Autozone. Wonder if its the same company that makes auto parts?

 

It may be a case of store management. At one time, my local NAPA store sold Airtex fuel pumps--they no longer carry them, due to the number of complaints. Store management has similarly purged other low-quality brands. A couple of years ago, I purchased an ECT sensor from them and it was all-plastic--it didn't take too long for it to fail. Now they carry only the standard brass models.

 

Yeah, that was my point. It's not a trademarked abbreviation, so anyone can use it to mean anything they want. Great Neck tools uses it for their "high-end" line of imported automotive tools.



But those 3 letters are still open for anyone to use:

Now you're opening a whole different can of worms by confusing "OEM" with "OE"... OEM only refers to the MANUFACTURER, and AC Delco doesn't manufacture any parts (just like Ford/Motorcraft); it only BUYS parts from a wide variety of suppliers (manufacturers). Those who supply parts for the assembly line are original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Those mfr.s may go on to produce MANY other parts which go directly to retail, which may or may not be branded with any particular logo (depending on the deal that mfr. has with the logo owner). And those retail parts may or may not be built to the same standards as the assembly-line (OE - original equipment) parts (depending on what the retailer wants to buy from the mfr.). So those spark plugs probably were made by AC-Delco's OEM (which is just as likely to be a Chinese company as anywhere else). And they might even have been the exact same plugs that AC Delco ordered - perhaps the mfr. made too many, or found that it was cheaper to keep producing identical plugs than to switch to cheaper materials/processes. But for whatever reason, they couldn't sell them with "AC Delco" on them, so they went to the store bare. That doesn't make them "knock-offs" - it makes them genuine OEM plugs (assuming my guess about their origins is correct).

Here's an example:



Siemens was certainly the OEM for blower motors on these trucks. But that's not the motor that was supplied to Ford's assembly line, so it's an OEM non-OE motor.No, it's actually really easy to order from eBay - just a few clicks. And I've always been better-off when I bought eBay parts because I make sure I'm buying better parts than locally-available at better prices.

. Doubtful.

 

Our supplier came and took them off the shelf, and replaced them with new AC-Delco plugs that had the proper boxes and plug markings. He said they were knock offs! Sorry about the "OE" & "OEM"