sei106

[MICHAEL28]

I have a 87 searay pachanga that I have inherited if I will repair. I have found a sei106 outdrive that replaces the alpha one gen 1 that I have. Mine needs sealed and has a bent prop shaft. Any input on this aftermarket drive.

 

[Bondo]

Re: sei106

Ayuh,..........

The Only thing that I've heard Bad about them comes from a Mercruiser Dealer down the road aways,........
He claims they're Junk,+ the Warranty is No Good.........
Someonelse told me that at SEI's own forums there's some Hate,+ Discontent about having to Buy another outdrive,+ return the broken 1 for a warrenty check-up/out........

On All of the Forums that I happen to travel to,........
I've heard Nothing but Great Reviews...........
And,..........
I'll probably be buying 1 Myself in the near future, as the Price should be worth any potential Issues later on.....
In My mind,..... Alphas have pretty much become Disposable Drives with these on the market.......

 

[ziggy]

Re: sei106

The Only thing that I've heard Bad about them comes from a Mercruiser Dealer

my mercruiser says the same. really bad mouths them to the max.....

I've heard Nothing but Great Reviews...........

yep, me too. from the readin that i do. i agree. only thing perhaps i've read is the paint may not be so great. don't adhear to good....other than that.............. i'd think about tryin one too for 1200 buckeros. gee, if yer mercruiser dealers workin on yer drive, bet ya can rack that $1200 up real quick...and more.....

 

[MICHAEL28]

Re: sei106

My dealer told me that my repair cost was going to be upwards of 1500 due to the bent shaft so I thought I would look into other options. Any other feedback?

 

[pinbodean]

Re: sei106

I put one on an 85 Mark Twain I had. I then sold the boat to my neighbor. The drive now has about 120 hours on it with nary a hiccup. I don't know about the paint issues as it sits in the water all the time. (Fresh water) My neighbor isn't known for his maintenance; drive it till it breaks. So yeah, I guess you could say I'd buy another one. Plus, the 3 year warranty is tough to beat. Ask your dealer if he'd warranty the rebuild for even a year. Somehow I don't think he will.http://forums.iboats.com/images/icons/icon10.gif
Talking

Bodean

 

[wca_tim]

Re: sei106

I put a lower half from them on my alpha after i sheared the drive shaft off... It's got 40 or 50 hours on it now and has worked like a champ so far. I'm not really that easy on things... I'm planning to buy a different ratio upper half from them in the next couple weeks... Before I bought the lower I asked around and the only bad talk was from people who hadn't actually bought one. everyone i talked to that had one, was happy with it other than a few comments about the paint being soft...

Hope this is helpful.

 

[Sterndrive Engineering]

Re: sei106

Michael28, thanks for your interest in Sterndrive Engineering. Our company is now 5 years old and we have a lot of really strong, dedicated employees that have put a tremendous amount of work into getting where we are today. They're proud of the product and appreciate the kind words that several of the posters in this thread have offered.

As for why some Mercrusier dealers offer less kind words, I suppose I understand but also think it is shortsighted and unfair. Not all customers can justify putting big money into repairing an older boat. Or maybe with some customers, money is just a little tight and they simply are looking for a less expensive option. Either way we provide the dealer with an economical option to get his customer back on the water and that's what should matter.

As for paint, we have spent a lot time over the past couple of years improving this aspect of our drives. Our paint process now uses PPG products and it it much tougher and durable than it was when we started.

The three year fault free warranty that we offer speaks for itself. We have done a tremendous amount of testing on our drives and know they are good. Our gears are the only ones that we know of that are made of a high nickel alloy, shot peaned, and cryrogenically treated. And with the fault free warranty, we will either replace the drive or fix it if it breaks for any reason including hitting a stump, running it without gear lube, or sucking up some fishing line.

Again, thanks for your interest,

Greg Pickren
President and Owner
Sterndrive Engineering


Oh, and BTW, to make all the Brunswick lawyers happy, Sterndrive Engineering, Inc. (SEI) manufactures a stern drive designed to replace Mercury Marine's MerCruiser? Alpha One?, R, MR, Gen II and Bravo One? stern drives. MerCruiser? Alpha One, R, MR, Gen II and Bravo One? are trademarks of the Brunswick Corporation. SEI has no affiliation with the Brunswick Corporation. Consequently, any warranties governing products and or sold by Brunswick Corporation will not apply to products manufactured and or sold by SEI, or to products damaged due to the operation of an SEI product.

 

[Bondo]

Re: sei106

(SEI) manufactures a stern drive designed to replace Mercury Marine's MerCruiser? Alpha One?, R, MR, Gen II and Bravo One? stern drives.

Ayuh,........... Thanks for stopping by Greg,.....

I spent some time over at Your forums last night,.....
While they appear to be more of a "Tech Support" for your drives,...
Rather than the Open forums here at iboats,.....
I was very Impressed anyways......
And,........
I did see some talk of your introduction of a Bravo replacement drive,....
Then I see the same info in your legal disclaimer here,......

So,.......
Is it True that you're now offering a copy of the Bravos,..??..??.....

Btw,.........
As I like to say to All the New posters here,........

Welcome Aboard to the forums here at iboat.com.....................

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: sei106

Michael, for the price, I don't see how you can not buy an SEI drive. Just be aware (the site says it too) if you buy a complete drive, it will be shipped in two halfs, and you'll have to put it together. Not a big deal, unless you are in a hurrry and thought you were just going to have to slide it on and tighten six bolts and put the rams on. My dad put one on an older boat for a guy, and it's not been any trouble for two years.

Greg, thanks for stopping by, and the for the update on your paint. I too am curious about your Bravo series. Your ads still say, "Coming Soon!". And it's been a year at least. Hurry, I may need your drive!

 

[Sterndrive Engineering]

Re: sei106

Bond-o, yes we now have a lower unit that is designed to "fit or replace" the lower unit of Mercruiser's Bravo (trademark noted). We started manufacturing and filling orders last month. As for the upper, we must wait for some patents to run their course.

We will also have next summer lower units for six cylinder and up outboards including application that will "fit or replace" Mercury, Yamaha, and OMC (trademarks noted). As with our sterndrive products, the prices will be very economical ($600 to $800) and the warranty will be three year fault free.

Greg

(As I must always say, Sterndrive Engineering, Inc. (SEI) manufactures a stern drive designed to replace Mercury Marine's MerCruiser? Alpha One?, R, MR, Gen II and Bravo One? stern drives. MerCruiser? Alpha One, R, MR, Gen II and Bravo One? are trademarks of the Brunswick Corporation. SEI has no affiliation with the Brunswick Corporation. Consequently, any warranties governing products and or sold by Brunswick Corporation will not apply to products manufactured and or sold by SEI, or to products damaged due to the operation of an SEI product.)

 

[Fishermark]

Re: sei106

I have had a complete unit on my boat now for a couple of years - yes the paint issue was a problem - but one I can deal with. I have had no problems whatsoever with the drive mechanically. (No, I don't work for them!! ) This is on a heavy boat - 1988 Sportcraft 242 Offshore Walkaround with a 5.7 liter Mercruiser engine.

Here's what happened to the upper gear on the original Alpha the boat came with:

Here's the aftermarket solution, and how it comes shipped to you:

Here it is on the boat after a couple of seasons of use:

Here's the boat:

 

[Sterndrive Engineering]

Re: sei106

Fishermark, thanks for the business and kind words. Your boat looks great!

(We use new metallic decals now that hold up better to sunlight, call if you would like a free set to replace the faded ones.)

 

[QC]

Re: sei106

I just put on a complete 106 for a friend. I had one issue which was the line-up of the trim tab attachment bolt access hole to the threads. I called and they let me bore out the hole so I could install it properly. I appreciated that I could make a simple repair without having to send the drive back and not worrying about affecting the ongoing warranty. Everything else was fine. Sorta shown above is the great packaging. The destructions were decent and the forum helped me out too.

The dealer situation is probably pressure from Merc. They'd probably love to sell those drives, but have to be careful about thier status. My .02 . . .

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: sei106

That looks like it is in good shape after a couple of years of salt water use......

I'll most likely get a new drive when I put the new 351W in the old Sea Ray.....
At close to 300 bhp I might look at 1:32 gears though.....​

 

[Fishermark]

Re: sei106

I've touched up the paint from time to time!

 

[whywhyzed]

Re: sei106

We will also have next summer lower units for six cylinder .... OMC

hmm... so any chance of an 800 series or Cobra lower? not much different....

 

[Lou C]

Re: sei106

How about a whole upper and lower Cobra while they are at it, it'd be a great alternative to having to convert it over to a Volvo. Plenty of boats are still running around with Cobras.

 

[180shabah]

Re: sei106

I've been running a SE116 lower for two seasons now with no complaints. The only snag I ran into was the connector for the speedometer tube was different. It was a seven dollar fix. Of course, had I spent three times as much for a new lower directly from Merc, I would have still had to spend the seven dollars to change my connector to the new design. So I can't exactly hold SEI accountable for that, Merc changed the connector.


Greg, I am glad to hear the 121's are finally starting to ship, I have passed on a couple of boats that were good condition, but were being sold without the drive. May go back for another look.