SEI Lower units?

What do you guys think, good and bad? Thanks

The only thing I ever heard is bad, except the they're so much cheaper then OEM.

I have one as a spare lower unit. Definitely worth the money and I ran it very hard for 12 months. No questions asks warranty is the real deal. You could buy 3 for the price of OEM. They are a legit company and product.

I have a friend that put one on his Merc 225 three years ago and has had no problems. He runs it hard too. Looks like they are worth the money.

I had one on my last boat put about 60 hours on it before I sold the boat. No probs. But, it is very important to break it in exactly the way they say to. Its a 10 hour break in period which takes alot of patience. I wound up just driving around Joe Pool every morning for 2 weeks before work to get mine broke in. It is very tedious. Once you get that done no probs. I did hear that if you do have a problem never mention to them that you fish tournaments or they will void the warranty.

I had one on a Mercury 225. It was a good lower unit for the most part. I had to replace it just before the 3 year warranty expired. I didn't have any issues with them at all. It never broke it just lugged the motor way down. I spent a ton of money on the motor before a mechanic told me it was the lower unit. With SEI's warranty and price you can't go wrong!!!

Did the mechanic ever say why the lower unit was causing the motor to lug?

Why not replace with OEM since insurance is paying? I will never run a knock off. I also do not like rebuilding them.... Majority of the time, the housing will be tweaked enough to be scraped.

he showed me. The gears were just chewed up and worn. SEI said it was due to not properly breaking it in. My mechanic said that wasn't true. But that's another argument. Replaced the lower unit and finally my boat would plane out again and run like it was supposed to.

Know several people with sei problems I replaced mine recently with a rebuilt oem and had to send it back do to water intrusion.better to spend the money for oem imo

I HAVE HAD MINE OVER A YEAR, no problems at all....

Improper break in is a excuse for companies to void warranty. A lower unit does not have a "break it" basically launch the boat. Shift forward and reverse to make sure the shims are compressed and shifting correct length then go fish. The gears will naturally align and eat correctly if it's built right. There is no excuse for gears to eat without there being a cause (stump, bad build, ect). My opinion.

I agree. It isn't like a clutch, piston ring, or brake pads, where seating is going on. Basically, how the gears mesh on the very first revolution, is how they should stay for the life of the gear. The "life"'of the gear depends on the builder and quality of components.

You still fish?

I've ran one for 5 months. I broke it in exactly per the directions. I was anal about it and even carried a timer in the boat to get exact run times. I did lose a few mph with it and on my last (3rd) oil change I found this not sure if I would consider this normal wear. I like their warrenty, but when this one takes a dump I'm replacing it with a silver torque master.

On the 2.5 Mercury lower units dropped to under 2000 after SEI sold so many lowers.

I would always try to rebuild an old unit rather than buying a cheap SEI. Not bashing but they do not hold up as well. Any decent lower unit mechanic can determine if the lower can be rebuilt.

If it breaks down more often its just one other thing that keeps you off the lake.

I don't have experience with it but have read that they have been known to break prop shafts, sending a $400-$500 prop that isn't covered under their warranty to the bottom of the lake with it. Also heard that this was because the props were run too high. Just my 2 cents, FWIW

Insurance want replace for just machaincal break down, I didn't hit anything it just with I would say exploded inside!

Stripped the forward gears in my OEM lower unit, got a SEI and it lasted about a month and the prop shaft sheared off running mid lake.. Didn't hit anything. SEI sent me a new lower unit and prop and been running that lower unit now for probably around 2 years with no problems.

They paid for your prop also? Never heard of that....

I lost a prop do to a SEI lower unit prop shaft sheering also. They did not replace it and insurance wouldn't either. Said it was poor material. My buddy had the same exact thing happen to him also with the same results. They are no where near the quality of an OEM.