I bought a used boat that had a shot counter rotating lower unit (electrolysis, saltwater, corrosion, etc.) After searching high and low for reviews of SEI lower units I placed a call to SEI and was promptly greeted by a very knowledgeable technician. The technician openly admitted that the parts are sourced from abroad (as are Yamaha's) and assembled locally in Florida, I had no problem with that. They stated several days to prepare the unit and ship however it shipped the following day, a huge plus.
The unit arrived well packaged, with a quart of lower unit oil and the extra gaskets I asked for. The installation went without a hitch and everything lined up as good as the OEM it replaced. Breaking in the lower unit was going to be a challenge with an Outrage 26, 200 gallons of fuel and 10 pax to the South Channel Islands off California but weather permitted following the instructions to a T. After the trip I changed the lower unit oil and found what anyone would expect, oil with a light metallic swirl as it left the lower drain plug and a cluster of metal shavings on the magnetic plug. I topped off the unit with new oil and have since placed 40 hours on the new unit, some of which with the full 200HP pumping through the gears on a 49 mile glassy day.
All in all I am pleased with the purchase and so far it seems to be money well saved (About $1050 vs $2400). To keep the review honest I have to post some cons. The paint did not match my 15 year old Yami but I am not sure if there is a color difference between salt water and freshwater versions or over the years. After I slap some bottom paint on it no one will even care or notice for that matter. The quality of the casting is acceptable. There are obvious indications they struggle with the castings and considerable grinding and prepping takes place afterwards. I noticed one small area of porosity in the casting below the intake vent, not worried about it.
Thanks SEI!
Rich
The amount of metal I expected to see after break in.
Jul312013_5490.jpg
The oil looked great, you can see the finishing marks on the casting.
Jul312013_5491.jpg
This loaded up over 10K pounds is as good of a test as any.
Jul172013_5462.jpg
The unit arrived well packaged, with a quart of lower unit oil and the extra gaskets I asked for. The installation went without a hitch and everything lined up as good as the OEM it replaced. Breaking in the lower unit was going to be a challenge with an Outrage 26, 200 gallons of fuel and 10 pax to the South Channel Islands off California but weather permitted following the instructions to a T. After the trip I changed the lower unit oil and found what anyone would expect, oil with a light metallic swirl as it left the lower drain plug and a cluster of metal shavings on the magnetic plug. I topped off the unit with new oil and have since placed 40 hours on the new unit, some of which with the full 200HP pumping through the gears on a 49 mile glassy day.
All in all I am pleased with the purchase and so far it seems to be money well saved (About $1050 vs $2400). To keep the review honest I have to post some cons. The paint did not match my 15 year old Yami but I am not sure if there is a color difference between salt water and freshwater versions or over the years. After I slap some bottom paint on it no one will even care or notice for that matter. The quality of the casting is acceptable. There are obvious indications they struggle with the castings and considerable grinding and prepping takes place afterwards. I noticed one small area of porosity in the casting below the intake vent, not worried about it.
Thanks SEI!
Rich
The amount of metal I expected to see after break in.
Jul312013_5490.jpg
The oil looked great, you can see the finishing marks on the casting.
Jul312013_5491.jpg
This loaded up over 10K pounds is as good of a test as any.
Jul172013_5462.jpg
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