Re: OEM vs. aftermarket parts?
TThornhill, Thanks for starting this thread. It is very timely for me as I am doing my first rebuild of my 2000Merc 200 HP V6 outboard. I have so far looked at iboats, marineengine and merc(parts express) to compare price and availability. Havent really considered the Ebay route yet. Im not a dealer, so looks like Promarine is out.
I havent yet split my bolck so I dont know all that I need , but of course will need gasket set, ring set, and probably one oversize piston. What I see is a huge difference in price(~2x) for Merc VS Sierra or Mallory on oversize piston set and ring sets. Folks on this site seem to have sucessfully used the aftermarket, so seems hard to justify OEM prices....although still wondering.
On the gasket sets, I'm having a little difficulty nailing down the differences in sets by the different manufacturers. For examlpe: the Merc gasket set clearly says that it does not include head gaskets. As I look as the list(mercurypartsexpress.com), it also does not include upper and lower crank shaft seals. However, even though the Mallory catalog says their gasket set(9-64217)is a replacement for the Merc set (815791A00), they told me by phone that it includes crank upper/lower seals, and head gaskets(in my case it is molded o-rings). Futhermore, they siad that it does not include any waterpump gaskets, yet the merc set does. Im still troubled that I have to get this just verbally from an account manager as they did not have a published detailed list.
I think Im feeling a bit vanerable here doing the first large outboard rebuild; for cars and motorcycles, I know where to go for what.
