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View Full Version : Does anyone have any ifo on these aftermarket drives?



Gilligan
07-11-2006, 10:04 AM
http://www.prestostore.com/catalog.php/pmcparts/dt6396
http://www.prestoshopping.com/prestostore_graphics/8073_pd217979full.jpg
They cost less than half a new Mercruiser drive and they guy who sells them says he has not had a warranty claim since they came out 3 years ago.
They also have a 1 year warranty and all Mercruiser parts are supposed to fit them. :)
Anyone run these or have you heard anything about the drives. I believe the are made by SEI??

RiverDave
07-11-2006, 10:08 AM
Do they make Bravo's as well or only Alpha's?
RD

Gilligan
07-11-2006, 10:11 AM
Alphas as far as I know.

Gilligan
07-12-2006, 06:43 AM
:)

BadKachina
07-12-2006, 06:49 AM
We sell alot of those. If you have an older boat, with an Alpha, they are a real nice alternative to rebuilding a drive or buying a a Merc drive. They only cost between 1100 and 1500 complete, depending on gear ratio and generation, and they come with a one year warranty. Sometimes parts and labor on a rebuild can run more than one of those, it's just more practical and cost effective bolt one of these up.
I haven't had any problems what so ever with these drives. I've actually had more problems with Merc stuff........ :rolleyes:

Gilligan
07-12-2006, 08:29 AM
We sell alot of those. If you have an older boat, with an Alpha, they are a real nice alternative to rebuilding a drive or buying a a Merc drive. They only cost between 1100 and 1500 complete, depending on gear ratio and generation, and they come with a one year warranty. Sometimes parts and labor on a rebuild can run more than one of those, it's just more practical and cost effective bolt one of these up.
I haven't had any problems what so ever with these drives. I've actually had more problems with Merc stuff........ :rolleyes:
I have heard the drives are noisy and the water pump can go bad in the first 30 minutes on start up??? Have you seen this problem?

BadKachina
07-12-2006, 04:52 PM
I have heard the drives are noisy and the water pump can go bad in the first 30 minutes on start up??? Have you seen this problem?
No I haven't, any water pump can fail, the water pump is just an impeller run off the lower drive shaft, there are no other moving parts other than the impeller that slides down the drive shaft and has a key to hold it in place. The housing is plastic that goes around it. You can put a Merc impeller and Merc plastic housing in it if it makes you more comfortable. As far as noisy, all Alpha's seem noisy to me, I've heard some older Merc units that seem to run in customers boats without any problems that I wouldn't feel safe going out in, but Alphas are what they are, they are Mercs cheapest drive period and the old gen 1 Alphas are worse than the gen 2's. At least the Volvo Pentas seem to be beefier even in the four and six cylinder models and are more comparable to Bravo's in design. The Alpha is basically an outboard lower with a gear set on top of it, meaning the unit shifts in the lower unit unlike Volvo's and Bravo's. Basically if you own a boat with an Alpha in it long enough you are eventually going to need to replace or rebuild it. You can't hardly put new gears in the upper and lower, and replace the u-joints, with labor for what you can buy one of these units for, and you would still have a used drive with a short (if any) warranty. With these at least you get the one year warranty for a decent price and they look nice and new.
Don't get me wrong, I think a new Merc drive is nice, but lets say you have an older boat, maybe worth a few of thousand dollars, you might want to keep the cost as low as possible and not spend more than what the boat is worth just on the drive alone.