articfriends

Pretty straight forward question, stock power or ? I wouldnt run a SEI Bravo behind anything turning much of a prop that has much power , IE, 500 + hp as in a hp 500/500 efi or better. When i was rebuilding some merc racing 2 stroke 300 lowers, I called them as some of the shafts/gears for those were same as what they sold. Guy outright discouraged me from buying the parts from them, said theyd fail, hence stock power applications.

articfriends

Tons of people have ran SEI bravo lowers with 500 + hp with good longevity or ?

boatnt

Don't know

TICafeRacer

I recently had a Bravo drive go bad on me and the Marina recommended an SEI outdrive which was installed. From the moment we got the boat back there was a small film of something that looked like oil on the water behind the boat when we docked. So small that I really couldn’t see it, but son did. We had the boat and ran it a little bit for the next two weeks. A usual ride for us is about an hour. On our last night before leaving for a while, we started to go for a ride and my son says “Dad come look at this”. I look at the water behind the boat and the faint film of oil or whatever is now a much bigger area and instead of being faint it is pretty easily visible. Since this was our last night before leaving for a while, we turned the boat off and left. While I was away, I asked the Marina to come and look at the boat and preferably fix it before I returned in a week. They came and looked at it and said everything looked normal and all fluid levels were good and without pulling the boat there wasn’t much they could do. I return at the end of the week and check the levels on everything and find the gear oil reservoir on the side that was replaced is now down to below add. So, my question is, has anyone used their warranty on an SEI drive and had them pay for labor? From what I’ve read they are pretty good about supporting their products. What does the warranty do for you? In that short a period of time where the majority of the leak happened without the boat being driven that has to be their issue or related to installation. Who pays for labor? Thanks

im MartinB

It's unlikely that anything serious is wrong. You probably need a seal changed or possible as simple as the 0-ring where the oiler goes thru the drive is missing... The marina that installed the drive is the responsible party at this point. In the event it wasn't simply an installation issue SEI is likely going to provide them with compensation. Keep adding oil to that drive until you get the boat out of the water. You don't want the drive to fill with water.

TICafeRacer

Thanks very much. I hope you are right. The marina does not want to do anything with the boat until I leave for the winter. When I discussed the drive with them they made it sound as if there was nothing to do with the installation that would have caused this. They kept repeating it was a fully built upper and lower drive that they just put on. Like there was nothing they did other than install. How accurate is that in regard to your comments above. Would they have had to install seals or the O ring where the oiler goes through the drive? Are there instructions for installation that I could download so that I know what I’m talking about when I discuss it with them? Thanks again

TomZ

They have a “no questions asked” warranty for the drive but I don’t think they cover labor - that’s going to be between you and the marina that did the work.

https://www.sterndrive.cc/warranty.html

In my experiences SEI has been great to deal with but I’m coming from a DIY standpoint.

TICafeRacer

Ok. Thanks very much. I hope I can work something out with them. Most shops warranty their labor when working on cars. So, I was hoping the same applied. It was just installed and showed signs of a leak from the beginning. The boat was run in salt water for four years and I had an issue with the steering ram a couple of years ago. So, when we first saw the faint discharge on the water and I told the marina about it we both assumed it was the other steering ram that wasn’t replaced the last time. Now it is clear it is the newly installed drive.

Helmwurst

I am agreeing with Martin on this one. The oring likely fell out or not quite all the way seated in the groove. You will likely see some oil film on the top starboard side of the drive.

87MirageIntruder

As others have said it is possible the marina messed up and didn't get the oring between the drive and helmet to seal correctly. More diagnosis needed.