Anyone ever used an SEI lower unit?

I bought a boat the other day with a bum lower unit that I was going to have rebuilt when I ran across SEI lower units. Brand new aftermarket lower units for around $900 with a 3 year warranty.

Worth it? Or is it a better idea to just rebuild the lower unit i have?

I helped a friend install one a few years ago on a mercruiser alpha stern drive. I know he ran it a few years without issue before he sold it.

My dad has one on his merc and had no problems. And I've had one on my etec for about 6 months. Both have been trouble free

Ive had 2 SEI lower units the first one lasted about 4 years and drive shaft broke and I'm on my 2nd one now. have had it about a year. I'm not really sure why the drive shaft snapped on my last SEI lower unit but its definatley cheaper than paying around 2500 for a new Mercury one. They get the job done and have a 3 year no fault warranty. Dunno if this will help your decision, just thought I would share my experience with them.

I have ran 2 different SEI lowers on 2 motors. Serviced & kept quality oil in them & never had a problem. Also have had rebuilt OEM's. 2 had no problems & 2 bit the dust. So technically SEI success rate 100% & OEM rebuilds 50%. All had over 100 hrs aervice before sold. Except the 2 that shelled out. One at around 40 hrs the other around 80. I wouldnt be afraid of another one especially for the $ difference.

had mine going on 3 years and no problems

Be careful,a lot of guys have run them and had the drive shift break, losing a $4-500 prop which they won't and don't replace. They have no problem replacing the lower unit, but forget about it when you lose the prop.

My buddy is on his second. They hold true to their no fault warrant. The first one went out so he sent it in and they did replace but said it failed due to improper break in which may have been true. If you fish a lake with a lot of stumps to hit I wouldn't hesitate to buy one or if I have had several dings on my insurance.

Not bad product

Read the fine print, warranty is VOID if you fish tournaments.

No it doesn't. It says "commercial use" isn't covered. I don't think a local tourney is considered "commercial use". Also denotes "racing or competitive use". I have talked to them once before and they specifically have stated that fishing tourneys on a local level is fine. They are NOT warranting a product that is being used in a racing application.

I have used them on a couple different boats. Never a problem. Break them in and change the oil.

I've had one SEI lower unit, the prop shaft snapped clean off running 30 mph in the middle of a flat calm river about 15 hours after it was installed. Followed break-in to the letter and never hit a thing. They did replace it for free no questions, and even sent a replacement prop when I -----ed about losing my nice balanced and worked one. The one they sent was not great, but it was a prop. The next shaft held up fine, sold the boat a little over a year later with no other problems

If you dont know how to rebuild a lower unit & shim it out then yes on an SEI. Even if you have the tools needed (most dont) it still has to be shimmed to thrust tolerances within specs or it probably wont last. SEI is still cheaper to run even if prop shaft breaks & you lose a prop unless your running a $2000 prop. If they were such an inferior product they wouldnt have stayed in business over 25 years. I'm not afraid to run one.