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New Sterndrive

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rodders

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"Hi All,
Boat is Stingray 537

"Hi All,
Boat is Stingray 537ZP - 3 litre
Not my day.My boat suddenly stopped in the water with the engine going 3000 rpm. I thought the prop had spun off. Further inspection rvealed prop still in place but outdrive not responding in forward or reverse. Auxilary outboard also refused to start so long paddle back to the dock.
Got the boat home and removed drive. Drained oil and lots of metal on drain plug magnet,oil smelt really bad too. Very burnt. My worst fears were confirmed when i split the upper and lower units and took the top cover off.
Driver gear teeth in upper unit completely stripped. Don't know the state of the lower unit yet as i do not have the special wrench as yet to remove propshaft.
Toyed with doing re-build myself to keep cost down but with all the special tools and work required to obtain critical gear alignments required, It will probably be beyond my DIY workshop facilities.
i'm now looking to get a replacement unit.Dealers here in the UK are quoting £2500 for a rebuilt unit.
I have found a company on net in Florida called SEI who do a " new replacement" unit for $1395.00 + shipping/import tax, which is cheaper than me sourcing all the parts tools etc to do the rebuild which could be beyond me anyway.
Question for you guys is have you any experience of SEI sterndrive units? Looks good value to me.
Your comments/recomendations would be most welcome.
Thanks
Rod"
 
My friend installed one on a 3

My friend installed one on a 350 mag w/o a problem. I was on his boat at WOT and it worked flawlessly.
 
"Thanks, Doctur Your word is g

"Thanks, Doctur Your word is good enough for me. Also found another post with Guy Casper also recomending them. Can't go wrong can i.
Have to admit reading the manual descibing the rebuild was somewhat daunting.Just hope our good old UK customs and excise don't pile on too much misery with import tax.
Thanks again.
Rod"
 
"I'm thinking of the same

"I'm thinking of the same idea, importing an SEI drive to Australia from the USA. Can you let me know how you go with it as I am a bit nervous about paying all that money to someone I don't know and hoping they will do the right thing and send it! Can anyone recommend a reputable dealer to use? Also have been advised that there are no SEI repair facilties in Australia so would be stuck if there are any warranty issues. Might be worth checking if you have warranty repair agents in the UK
Regards
John"
 
"Thanks Guys,
John,I have you

"Thanks Guys,
John,I have your concerns about sending that amount of money to a dealer i don't know. especially in this economic climate. The price of SEI units seem incredibly good value compared to what i'm hearing here in the UK.
This is exactly why i posted on here. Always had sound advice from the guys in this forum who are genuine boaters like you and me as well as some being in the trade.
They are also mostly based in the states, and know their dealers.
I was worried about inferior materials being used in the unit. On a rebuild I know a lot of the cost must be labour as when shimming the gears it appears a lot of assembling and dissasembling of the bearing/gear set up is required to attain the critical backlash settings needed, or the unit will fail.You have to have the special tools. Maybe they are jigged up to overcome that?
The warranty could be an issue as i do not know if we have SEI dealers in the UK. I doubt it as our marine engineers wouldn't get out of bed for that kind of price. lol
This is an issue i am going to have to make a decision on.
I will probably be selling boat on after she is fixed as i just don't get on the water enough to warrant everything i have spent on her. There is a big lack of suitable(reasonably priced) launching facilities where i live so boat lives on the drive most of year.
I have e-mailed SEI for shipping quote but<[email protected] came back undeliverable.So have now sent to other email addres on their website. Difficult to phone due to Time difference and cost.
Also only daughter is getting married which won't be cheap.
Will keep you posted.
Rod"
 
"Ah too bad western society di

"Ah too bad western society did away with the dourey! You could hint around to your future son-in-law what you will need in trade for your daughter's hand! j/k of course, althougn I've supplied my father-in-law with some pretty good boat parts like a pertornix ignition I had laying around."
 
"I've emailed SEI re'

"I've emailed SEI re' warranty and they advised me that I wouild have to ship drive back to USA for any warranty issues at my expense, which would make the excersize a bit costly. I would have to take the chance that there would be no warranty problems. You guys in the USA have got it good compared to what we have to pay, $5,000.00 plus!! for a new drive. Don't supposed any of you guys are coming to Australia for a holiday a would like to throw a new drive in your luggage??? just joking."
 
"John:

There's your bus

"John:

There's your business opportunity. Become an SEI dealer downunder.

Contact Peter Chamberlain: [email protected]
He may be able to help you fix your OD. Tell hime I sent you to him; he'll get a kick out of it."
 
"I just purchased a used Alpha

"I just purchased a used Alpha One Gen One Lower unit that seems good, oils clean and no strange noises and it is guaranteed to work when I put it in the water. If not the guy said he would give me another and take that one back.

So for 250 bucks I am going to take a chance, maybe I will get lucky and it will work good.

Going to install the drive myself, hopefully I can get it back on as easy as it came off. Going ot install a new impeller on it as well before it goes back together."
 
"Thanks Guy, I thought the sam

"Thanks Guy, I thought the same thing, starting up an SEI angency in Australia would be a good business venture for someone to get into as sterndrive boats a getting more popular here now. My outdrive is still working but is slightly noisey due to pitted gears. Just want to get all my options ready for the day it goes bang. I might contact Peter Chambelain and ask if he has any ideas as he only lives about 60 klm's from me."
 
"Hey John, remove about half o

"Hey John, remove about half of the lower unit oil and refill it back up with Lucas Oil Stabilizer. I have heard it does wonders for noisy bearings and gears in lower units. I have never tried it myself but have two friends that have it in theirs and my boat did not and it failed. I will be adding it to mine when I get mine reinstalled."
 
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