Quote:
Originally Posted by kern417
Nah you're right. Because more expensive OEM high pressure fuel pumps, injectors, water pumps, coolant lines, charge pipes, etc. are much higher quality and never fail. Right?
"On a stock engine this is suicide." .... 
Please stop drinking the dealership kool-aid. A lot of the companies that make aftermarket components are also OEM suppliers. It's ridiculous to think that a filter from a reputable company will blow your engine. The fact that you still think it lets larger debris through, much less debris large enough to damage your engine, shows how little you know. Meanwhile the factory engine configuration is shoveling oil vapor into the intake tract to be burned off. But it's just another part of the expensive OEM design, so it must be fine. |
You still don't get it, do you? There are 2 aspects:
Technical
You are perfectly right that the OEM components are not the only ones suitable and sometimes not even the optimal ones to use. But without the knowledge about the technical requirements AND the actual performance of aftermarket parts - it is purely a guessing game. Sometimes the risk is negligible, sometimes not. And please - do not trust brand names and glossy selling brochures in isolation. Take it from an engineer that has seen a lot of contrast between great marketing and actual performance... even from well-established brands.
Legal/Warranty
Although there may be some variations in the laws around the globe, the general rule remains that manufacturers can and would only guarantee for products they have: 1. selected themselves based on a number of factors, of course including tachnical, 2. quality assurance oversight of the suppliers to ensure repeatability, configuration control, material selection and manufacturing techniques remain acceptable. Once you decide to take over that role and start modifying outside the scope of what is formally defined as acceptable - you are on your own with the responsibility all in your pocket and you cannot go crying on the OEM's shoulder to help you. And that is clearly visible in this case as well.
So everyone needs to decide what risk each mod is worth. A fancy air-filter on stock engine, which in reality brings 0 performance gain is IMO definitely not worth all the trouble in this case, irrespective of the end-result. Others may think differently, that's allright. And I am
not saying it caused the defect, but it definitely caused the defect not (yet) being repaired under warranty.