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Swedish Engineering is an excellent first-rate outfit and sometimes then can save you money. They should know what works as they have a very loyal following and it would be very foolish for them to use parts that don't meet the grade. I was in Ann Arbor yesterday and they helped me with some used hinges for my 940. The place was packed to the gills with cars...they have a dozen or more bays and sell used and new parts. Corky is the owner, I believe, and he is very hands-on and visible in the shop.
That having said, the VOLVO OEM water pump is superb. As are the gasket sets they use. And as simple as it is to install a water pump there are about "fifty" things (of course I am exaggerating) you can do wrong that result in a leak. The HEPU pumps have beautiful finish and appearance, as well as GMB, and there many on the brickboard that would swear by them.
In 2005 I bought a very inexpensive pump at Auto Zone (on a SUNDAY) and it works perfectly. In fact the Auto Zone pump has a lifetime warranty. By the way, basically all the 230 engines use the same pump (200, 700 and 900 series 4-cyl cars) so the pump model is very common.
If I had my choice I would always go OEM, but sometimes the cost is a huge decision factor, as is availability. Even if you are buying a part made by the manufacturer that claims to be the OEM for Volvo, the Volvo-branded part is still manufactured to a higher performance standard. Don't kid yourself, Volvo goes to great efforts to make sure the parts are reliable. They test them and monitor quality. It costs them money if parts fail. The aftermarket parts are driven by different factors. Some are good, but some are not good.
That is one reason we are so fortunate to have this forum....
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