My SEI Experience

[elkhunter338]

Put new SEI 106 complete unit on Spring 2009 ran it 100hrs no problem. Little whine but this went away with time.
Started 2010 season in early July, heard a knocking noise. Water had gotten into the u-joint bellows because of a hole or tear in the u-joint bellows. I have no clue how this happened, bellows looked good no cracks and I had changed it a few years ago and always store inside in the down position.
Anyway this caused the transom bearing to go bad, rusted up the outside of the u-joints. I repaired the bearing, and repaired the water leak.
Ran the outdrive 25hrs and kept the boat in the water for about 5 days.
No water in the u-joint bellows but now outdrive oil. The seal was leaking oil past the yoke because the surface the seal rides on was damage due to the water. Called sei and they gave me a warranty number. Sent the upper unit in and they replaced all the seals, bearings, gears, u-joints, drive shaft. Total time was about three weeks from the time I shipped it off to the time I got it back. UPS takes almost a week to ship from Oregon to Florida.
Only cost to me was about $50 shipping.
This failure had nothing to do with SEI. So far I would recommend SEI to anyone.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: My SEI Experience

That is one heck of a warranty...Great service!

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: My SEI Experience

Wow! When they say no fault warranty they mean it, huh?

I took 2 things from your post.....


1. SEI warranty is #1!

2. If you replace your drive, replace the bellows too!

 

[zbnutcase]

Re: My SEI Experience

Good ole SEI...the Harbor Freight of Merc drives!

 

[sea wolf]

Re: My SEI Experience

Good ole SEI...the Harbor Freight of Merc drives!

That may be, but for guys like me that own an OMC it's a good alternative. I have a 3.0 & I think the clutch dog is shot. If I bring it to a shop the cost to replace the gear set etc. is going to run me about $1500. Now, should I sink 1500 bucks into an OMC which is no longer in business, or get an SEI for a few hundred more with a 3 yr. warranty? I think it's a no-brainer. So, next spring I'm doing the switch. My .02.

 

[JoLin]

Re: My SEI Experience

Imagine a company that sells a usable, cost-effective alternative, backs it with a really good warranty; then actually stands behind the hype?

Sounds like a winner to me. May they live long and prosper.

Thanks for the feedback, elkhunter.

 

[Bondo]

Re: My SEI Experience

Good ole SEI...the Harbor Freight of Merc drives!

Ayuh,... Difference is,... Harbor Freight don't warranty $h!t...

I can't wait for my Alpha to blow up, so I can buy an SEI drive....

 

[Fishermark]

Re: My SEI Experience

A big "thumbs up" from me for the company - every aspect of the company. Local company - great product - even better customer service. Friendly on top of that! Since they are local for me, I took my lower unit in to them (about an hour away). They rebuilt it and shipped it back for free. I truly cannot say enough good about them.

 

[Brewman61]

Re: My SEI Experience

That has to be one of the best warranties out there for pretty much anything. Most other warranties only cover manufacturing defects and exclude everything else. Hats off to them.

 

[nola mike]

Re: My SEI Experience

smart business. not enough good customer service around. look at this thread--no way you can buy advertising like this for the couple of hundred bucks it cost them to fix op's drive.

 

[truckermatt]

Re: My SEI Experience

i also have a sei complete drive.. bought in 2009, has ran perfectly since new, hopefully i dont need the warrenty, but if i do i know what to expect.

 

[zbnutcase]

Re: My SEI Experience

Ayuh,... Difference is,... Harbor Freight don't warranty $h!t...

I can't wait for my Alpha to blow up, so I can buy an SEI drive....

Last time I was there, I saw them warranty replace an air compressor, no questions asked...must vary by store location...And let me be clear, they are great drives for the money, perfect for replacing that clapped out Cobra...

 

[Ducatinut]

Re: My SEI Experience

Last time I was there, I saw them warranty replace an air compressor, no questions asked...must vary by store location...And let me be clear, they are great drives for the money, perfect for replacing that clapped out Cobra...

No need for qualifiers, they're just good drives. They're built as good, if not better, than the "name brand".

The only people who trash talk SEI are the people trying to sell the original "black drives". Or people who have no idea what they're talking about...

Fair winds,

Chris

 

[Split Shot]

Re: My SEI Experience

Bought an SEI 106 this spring and no problems. Like someone said, a little noisy at first until broken in.

 

[MahtyMaht]

Re: My SEI Experience

Saw mention of SEI on this forum first, googled around, most impressive feedback from SEI users, maybe 40% negative from non-SEI users. I was lookin', because I put a straightened propshaft, lower bearing carrier, rear Timken, and seals in a B1, and when the Merc manual's preload instructions for 150 ft lbs on the retainer ring nut seemed to actually work, I was still paranoid, and looking to see my post-catastrophic failure options. SEI just kept coming up. users love'em, and I even saw one jackanapse who was deliberately over-horsing his SEI made Aplpha correlate, saying, "WTH, they'll replace it every time I burn it down." I think this kind of thing contributes to the inevitable downward evolution of the quality of the warranty. My B1 is still alive so far, but any crap out of that thang, and I'll strap an SEI on the duff of that boat so quick, if ya blink you'll miss the switch.