OEM gaskets vs felpro, and others, and who makes what

[MilesFox]

I am refreshing this thread due to the continuing OEM only suggestions for at least head gaskets, when, continually, we are still getting OEM gaskets with fuji stampings in ej22 composite and ej25d mls engine seal sets.

 

The point of this thread is to see what manufacture of seals you get when you go non-oem

 

for oem you would get NOK seals. typical felpro has national seals, made in canada or mexico, but, depending on the application, you may end up with an OEM part in the box.

 

One example, and exception to the HG rule would be the felpro ea82 set. Felpro is now stamping their own 'perma torque' head gaskets for ea82, as everyone recommends, on the premise that there is no re-torque sequence, and is contradictory to the 'OEM ONLY' rule. BUT, at the same time, with the felpro ea82 set, you are getting OEM valve cover grommets and rubber, oil pump mickey mouse seals, and rear main seal.

 

The easiest way to explain what you get as a mix of mfgs in any one brand is this:

Parts vendors and gasket makers will do what it takes to fill a box per application. If fel-pro is making a subaru gasket set, they will stamp out their own cork abnd paper for intake, exhaust, and oil pan. But if the set calls for a part they are not making themselves, they will source the part from the next mfg, and the next, so they can package the whole deal in a box with their brand name.

 

If anyone who is shopping to save dealer markup costs(if they cost too much vs other sources) i recommend the following brands as alternatives, as these are OEM manufacturers

NOK seals

BOSAL has been real good with ea82 exhaust parts, and the metal/graphite faced gaskets

 

If your big chain auto store shows "listed, but not available" they will not get you the part. The part can be looked up, but they wont go through the vendoe that carries it if it's not in their current sales structures, as they want to sell the in-house brands and the cheap chinese wholesale mfg's. IF that is the case, get a part number, and go to napa, and use the number that napa can order the part for you from the vendor that supplies it.

 

I hope this thread is useful, and i encourage and would appreciate if members here would make note of what comes in their gasket sets, and report them here!

NGK ignition and plugs

[Idasho]

Interesting thread Miles. Reading all of the hoopla about "OEM or bust", and being new to the old Subaru scene, I wasnt sure what to make of things at first.

 

Until i replaced the t-stat on my GL with an OEM.

 

That is just one example of the DIFFERENCES you will find from OEM to aftermarket. Another good example is the quality of the EA81 oil pan gasket, OEM vs Felpro. Though due to the recommendations from the guys at the local Subaru dealer, I dont use a gasket at all anymore

 

As far as Felpro goes, Felpro is just one branch of Federal-Mogul Corporation. A wordwide supplier of parts, seals, and gaskets with manufacturing plants and warehouses in 34 different countries.

 

Good luck tracking down anything. Open one Felpro gasket set and it might be made n Mexico. Open the next and it might be made in Brazil. Same part, made to the same specs, sold in the same box, but different origins.

 

Beyond being a point of discussion (this thread), I think instead of finding the origins of particular MFG parts/seals/gaskets, I think it would be much more beneficial and productive to start a simple list. A list of items that should be sourced from the dealer only, due to obvious design and quality differences.

[MilesFox]

Yeah, this is a good idea. What i am saying is the felpro will have oem HG/s and cork oil pan gaskets are really arbitrary compared to durability of head gaskets.

 

I used to have a list of napa/victor reinz sets for ea82's, high quality, but napa no longer carries victor and the part numbers no longer apply.

 

if anyone were to look up napaonline.com for their subarus, it will give a whole list of diferent part numbers an manufacturers, price for the same part such as a wheel bearing or a gasket or sensor.

 

there is really an art to shopping for auto parts around suppliers, retailers, manufacturers, and mark-ups.

[93Newbaru]

I just purchased a set of felpro head gaskets for my 1997 Outback 2.5 from Advance Auto. They had one in stock and had to order the other.

 

Part numbers matched on the packages. I installed one tonight, then began reading the package of the second gasket. It mentioned a "blue coating", which I didn't remember the first gasket having. I opened the package and removed the header card which had the part number on it. Underneath that packaging it was factory packaged again, with a different header card and part number. This second gasket was blue, completely different, and was the thinner than the first gasket.

 

These gaskets might be as good as oem, maybe even oem gaskets packaged with the felpro name, but I'm probably just going to stick to buying them from the dealer from now on!

[Quidam]

Hi, The FelPro "blue" coating is actually a form of Teflon, IIRC. Sorry to hear about your purchase.

 

"These gaskets might be as good as oem, maybe even oem gaskets packaged with the felpro name, but I'm probably just going to stick to buying them from the dealer from now on!"

 

That's certainly understandable and you won't go wrong using Genuine Subaru.

 

For someone willing to sort it all out as to what's what tho, "Genuine Subaru" from a dealer isn't required all the time.

[93Newbaru]

Hi, The FelPro "blue" coating is actually a form of Teflon, IIRC. Sorry to hear about your purchase.

 

 

I briefly tried to find out what the blue actually was but haven't found the info.

 

Quote from their website is "The Fel-Pro brand by Federal-Mogul is a leader in multi-layer steel (MLS) head gasket design, the current leading-edge technology in sealing today’s lightweight engine castings with a long-term, leakproof seal called PermaTorqueMLS®."

 

They sound good, but no blue info. Since the first gasket I installed had no coating, I'm just going to remove it and take both back to the store. I'm not opposed to buying felpro head gaskets again, but I just don't really see a reason to even bother with them.

[idosubaru]

similar thing happened with Beck Arnley headgaskets....both looked different for the same part number. this was for an EA82 but I didn't use them either.

[93Newbaru]

I picked up two OEM head gaskets for this 97 Outback with EJ25 yesterday. Part number 11044AA610. I don't have the proper felpro gasket any more, but from what I can remember it looks exactly like the oem gasket I purchased from the Subaru dealership.