Need advice on aftermarket Mercruiser outdrive

[JPTL]

I recently burned up the upper unit of my Alpha 1 gen. 1 outdrive. The quickest, most convenient fix was to have a local shop install a used upper unit. They wanted $900 which was more than I was willing to spend on a roll of the dice.
I've come across a few sellers of new aftermarket Mercruiser outdrives (complete, upper & lower). I can get an Alpha 1, gen 1 shipped to my door for about $1,200 from either source. They say that they've had good luck with these, but of course they're the ones selling them.
Has anybody had experience with these new aftermarket units?
Thanks in advance!
J.P.

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: Need advice on aftermarket Mercruiser outdrive

They say that they've had good luck with these,
Has anybody had experience with these new aftermarket units?

Who is "They" ?

I would be skeptical of a 1200 dollar "new" drive. Maybe remanufactured.......? ? ?

 

[JPTL]

Re: Need advice on aftermarket Mercruiser outdrive

Here's one of the guys selling these:
http://www.marketworks.com/storefrontprofiles/DeluxeSFItemDetail.aspx?sfid=21399&c=569172&i=17038551
I'm guessing that there's one factory making these.

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: Need advice on aftermarket Mercruiser outdrive

I haven't heard of them before, but with a statement like this (from their website), " We have not had a single problem to date with any new outdrive sold", two things come to mind; 1) They're excellent drives, and Mercruiser should buy from "Them", or 2) They haven't sold but a hand full sence going into bussiness in 1987.......Mercruiser nor Volvo Penta could make this claim. :^

I'm still skeptical. Maybe someone else will chime in with some better (first hand) information.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Need advice on aftermarket Mercruiser outdrive

I don't have any personal experience with SEI drives, but I have seen this question before & the feedback from those who had used them was good.....
I think Fishermark has had one for several years now, maybe he will check in.......
I believe that they are manufactured in Florida.....
Pretty sure they have a 1 year warranty......
I would give it a shot.......
Burn the 2G's that you save on gas........JK

 

[JPTL]

Re: Need advice on aftermarket Mercruiser outdrive

I don't have any personal experience with SEI drives, but I have seen this question before & the feedback from those who had used them was good.....
I think Fishermark has had one for several years now, maybe he will check in.......
I believe that they are manufactured in Florida.....
Pretty sure they have a 1 year warranty......
I would give it a shot.......
Burn the 2G's that you save on gas........JK

Reel Poor & Haut Medoc, thanks for the input. I appreciate it!
Haut Medoc, I'm leaning in that direction. Like most aftermarket applications, I'm not expecting this unit to be as good as the o.e.m. Although I won't be putting this boat into any kind of hard or frequent use (a week or two per year) the salt water & northern climate will be a good test for the integrity of this unit.
I first plan to look into the accessibility of the factory. If they're evasive and are hesitant to talk to me about their product, it likely means that they have something to hide, and customer support after the purchase is likely to be non-existent. I'll then run from the transaction. On the other hand, if I get a good sense from them, I plan to go the aftermarket route.
Whichever route I take, I'll post my experience so that others can benefit.
J.P.

 

[QC]

Re: Need advice on aftermarket Mercruiser outdrive

Here's the manufacturer's site:

http://www dot sterndrive dot cc/sterndrive/

That other link above is from a dealer along with the stupid quote . . . There have been some others here who have used them with good luck as well.

 

[swansont]

Re: Need advice on aftermarket Mercruiser outdrive

I purchased a lower from SEI last summer, was going to do the complete unit, but they didn't have my gear ratio. Anyway, it mated up nice, no problems. Haven't had a chance to use the boat much at all this summer (gasp), but, with about a dozen hours on it, so far so good. Their site and people were very helpful also. No complaints here, as I said, so far.

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Need advice on aftermarket Mercruiser outdrive

"I'm not expecting this unit to be as good as the o.e.m. "

Why not? The good news is that it is just as good in my opinion. At least mechanically. I've had some corrosion issues (which seem to be common with their drives) but, so far at least, no other problems. I am very happy with the unit I bought. I bought the complete unit - upper and lower.

By the way - I was able to buy it from a dealer on ebay and have it shipped to me than I could by buying it direct from the factory and picking it up myself.

 

[DHPMARINE]

Re: Need advice on aftermarket Mercruiser outdrive

I guess my previous post got lost.

we used SEI twice.First unit is out the door,no problem.

second unit blew a ujoint (theirs) my feeling was a circlip didn't seat BUT who knows.

SEI covered the outdrive damage,but the customer had to eat $1600.00 in transom housing damage.plus labor.

you are the judge on who you buy from,not me.

DHP

 

[pinbodean]

Re: Need advice on aftermarket Mercruiser outdrive

I installed one on my boat before I sold it to my neighbor. (85 Mark Twain, 260 Mercruiser) He's put over 30 hours on it with no problems. According to the SEI, they've sold over 13,000 of them. The company says that every part will interchange with oem parts, so any mercruiser tech can work on them. For me, it was an excellent alternative to a much more expensive Merc drive.

BTW, this is the sister company to SBT (Small Block Technologies) that rebuilds PWC engines. If this drive is as good as their engines, it's a great value. I've bought two of their engines and had no problems. (One is over 7 years old and still kicking, and they don't get babied.) Also, their warranty and tech support is top notch. Sorry to gush like this, but I've had nothing but good experiences with this organization. However, YMMV. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[JPTL]

Re: Need advice on aftermarket Mercruiser outdrive

Thanks for all of the input. It is greatly appreciated. Fishermark, I didn't word that very well. I'm not implying that I have any experience or research that these units are inferior to o.e.m. The feedback that I'm getting from you guys is what's educating me on that...I'm just not expecting it to be. At less than 1/2 the price of o.e.m., I shouldn't. If it turns out to be, I'll be pleasantly surprised. Reel Poor, you make a good point in your observation of that dealer's quote. Either they are stretching the truth, or they haven't been in business long enough or sold enough units to "...not have a single problem to date..." Even the manufacturer who supplies this dealer with their units admits to problems. Anything that's mass produced and is more complicated that a popsicle stick is going to have some kind of problem at some time or another, regardless of quality.
If premature paint failure is the only thing that I have to deal with after moderate use, then I'll be happy.

 

[180shabah]

Re: Need advice on aftermarket Mercruiser outdrive

Buy the SEI drive, I put one of thier lowers on this spring and so far has been problem free(although it is still too early for anything to fail).
I just don't understand everybody's NEED to distrust SEI. Do you even bat an eye before buying products from Sierra or GLM, no, and why do you buy them, because they are cheaper.

When you need parts for your truck, do you take it back to the dealer everytime, or do you shop at Napa or AutoZone, because they are cheaper?
Why is it so hard to believe that an outdrive cannot be produced any cheaper than the originals from Merc?