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General Opinion of SEI Drives??

R

rod_stewart

Outstanding Contributor
I was away from the forum for a while, and I am wondering what experiences people have had with SEI drives recently?
I bought an SEI lower unit 3 years ago, but have not installed it yet. I may put it on for next season.

Any thoughts?
Rod
 
Bought a 26" cruiser with 5.0l with a SEI replacement drive on it Alpha I within a year it ate the top gear and I sent it back under warranty and they rebuilt it. I replaced the drive and filled it with 90 weight lube and went boating. One year later seized a bearing in the rebuilt drive. This time it was out of warranty. I had to purchase a new upper end of the drive at a reduced rate and got the new 3 year warranty. I also got the instructions that are quite specific about break-in and the type of lube used. I have a heavy underpowered boat and I'm straining the heck out of the drive and no problems with the new drive after a year of use around 80 hours..... So for the money it seems to be a good drive break-in is important and use Mercruiser lube.. seems I learn everything the hard way
 
Ayuh,... I ain't got 1, nor have I heard anythin' Bad 'bout 'em...

Most all I hear is Good...

I'd pull the trigger in a heartbeat, if I had need of 1...
 
Thanks for the feedback.
I think i will get hold of SEI and see if they will extend my warranty since it is not installed yet.

Rod
 
the warranty for Canada is kind of stupid. they aren't going to extend it, but I wouldn't sweat it. They don't cover 1 red cent of shipping if you are in Canada...even if you are 5 feet from the border. I thought it was bull**** when my brand new GenII was sucking air in the impeller, and they didn't even offer to throw a water pump gasket in an envelope for 75 cents postage for all the troubleshooting I had to do.
The drive has worked flawlessly since I redid the impeller though. I have only put about 10 hours on it though.
 
I love BBQ'd Pork, Fried Rice, Sweet 'n sour sauce, Hot/Sour soup, etc..... all Chinese dishes! Mmmm Goood!

But just look at the tools being offered from Harbor Freight, and that may help you understand the SEI drives.

.
 
SEI Builds a good product. There short comings are, crappy water pumps and the finish on there drives is garbage. If you follow there break in procedures you will have no problems.
 
I bought one. Only a few hours use but sat on lift because of engine problem. Top cap corroded and bubbled paint off. No response from SEI. Lousy people to work with. Seems like they are either overwhelmed or understaffed....or just don't care. I had a missing washer for drive and a shift problem and they were very unresponsive. The only good thing that I heard was a friend hit something right after installing their drive and damaged it. They replaced no questions asked.
 
Like the old farmers say"If you want good hay, you have to pay a fair price. But it cost half as much after it's been through the horse". My 2000 Alpha Gen II has over 1,000 hrs with no problems. Just followed the maint requirements and chopped 25% off required times for preventitive maintence.
I change water pumps every 3 years and did the the 3 cable lube trick at 500hrs. (Shifts sweet). I'll post the how to do if anyone wants.
 
[SIZE=+1][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Bought 2 new complete SEI drives, 1 impeller failed (completely stripped from the center hub) first trip and cooked the engine. Took both drives back to supplier, the second drive impeller the rubber was starting to turn on the center hub (almost got the second engine). I got the blame as the overheat alarm didn't go off ??? it is an older boat that is why I bought new drives. The only warranty was the mechanic replaced both impellers with genuine Mercruiser as he stated there had been a number of other failures, and he didn't trust SEI. I would not ever risk my boat with SEI again, CHEAP PARTS EXPENSIVE REPAIR (DISASTER) Be Warned.[/FONT][/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=+1]Bought 2 new complete SEI drives, 1 impeller failed (completely stripped from the center hub) first trip and cooked the engine. Took both drives back to supplier, the second drive impeller the rubber was starting to turn on the center hub (almost got the second engine). I got the blame as the overheat alarm didn't go off ??? it is an older boat that is why I bought new drives. The only warranty was the mechanic replaced both impellers with genuine Mercruiser as he stated there had been a number of other failures, and he didn't trust SEI. I would not ever risk my boat with SEI again, CHEAP PARTS EXPENSIVE REPAIR (DISASTER) Be Warned.[/SIZE]
 
I have not had any issues with the ones I have installed,,and that impeller issue was across all manufactures who used that impeller
 
TonyA said:
No research needed, they were factory installed part of two new drives.
Both failed on the same boat on the first trip???
Click to expand...

Sorry! You always check for problems with an aftermarket product before you buy it. If you don't want to do the research, purchase factory(Mercruiser/QuickSilver) replacement parts in the future.

I have posted about these issues with SEI drives since 2010 on the site and have known about the problems with there Alpha one pumps since they came on the market.
 
Docksidemarineservices said:
Sorry! You always check for problems with an aftermarket product before you buy it. If you don't want to do the research, purchase factory(Mercruiser/QuickSilver) replacement parts in the future.

I have posted about these issues with SEI drives since 2010 on the site and have known about the problems with there Alpha one pumps since they came on the market.
Click to expand...

Yep your right, I agree with you, sometimes you learn the hard way. I did do some research and what I found seemed OK. All I can hope is lots of people read this when they are doing their research. The drives themselves do work but we are still re-building the engine so haven't really had much use out of them yet, lets hope they are a lot better than their impellers, but it doesn't give me much confidence.
 
TonyA said:
Yep your right, I agree with you, sometimes you learn the hard way. I did do some research and what I found seemed OK. All I can hope is lots of people read this when they are doing their research. The drives themselves do work but we are still re-building the engine so haven't really had much use out of them yet, lets hope they are a lot better than their impellers, but it doesn't give me much confidence.
Click to expand...
No worries on the drives themselves...Follow the break in and all will be good. I have a set on a customers heavy 1989 SeaRay 300 Sundancer for the last 10 years with no issues.
 
Update, both drives are still going. But the paint is falling off both of them and they look terrible. The boat is on a trailer, I think you wouldn't own them long if left in salt water, I think they would be like an Aspirin after a short while.
 
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