Need advice on new lower unit for 150 Evinrude

mannix2 · **Posted:** Sun Jul 17, 2016 8:04 pm

Well after a great day of cruising, swimming, and BBQing, we packed up to head to the dock. She was sluggish to get on plane, but everything else seemed fine, then dead stop with rpms racing. She never moved again. Passengers said oil was coming out of the lower unit. I pulled her form the lake and me and a buddy dropped the lower unit. Drive shaft spins in reverse and forward but prop does not. Top spline of drive shaft looks fine so I assume lower gearcase is toast. Anyone have any experience with SEI aftermarket units? The three year warranty and prive are very attractive. I'd like to order a new one ASAP so I can get back in the water before summer is gone. Appreciate any recommendations on SEI or anyplace else.

mannix2 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 18, 2016 8:26 am

OK just saw the very mixed reviews through a search on SEI might be steering me away from them.

GottWhat · **Posted:** Mon Jul 18, 2016 9:44 am

I have read good things about SEI. As you know, people are many times more likely to write/post a bad review than a good review.

captkevin · **Posted:** Mon Jul 18, 2016 9:58 am

Have not heard any bad things about SEI. Everyone i know who have purchased them have been happy.

LouC · **Posted:** Mon Jul 18, 2016 10:04 am

They do have a great warrantee, compared to anyone else but I have read extensive reviews on them and they are mixed. Mostly with respect to the very common Merc Alpha clone they make, the SEI 116 or whatever they call it. They have a rep for being noisy, and having paint quality issues. Some run fine for a long time, others have had early failures.

http://www.crowleymarine.com/p/773592/J ... -1979-2010

Might want to call these people and get some more information on these....

http://www.crowleymarine.com/johnson-ev ... /51872.cfm

This is the OE unit....

The other option, is to get a quote on rebuilding yours, you might not need all new parts, may be bearings, and the FWD/REV gears and clutch dog...Your housing, and shafts may be just fine.

Oil coming out, means a seal failure, but you're in freshwater right so not the end of the world. Did you try shifting the gear case into FWD and REV while turning the upper driveshaft? The failures that these have are usually not a complete loss of drive, but rather jumping out of gear, if the clutch dog engagement faces get rounded off because the shift linkage was out of adjustment or the operator shifted too slowly causing it to grind going into gear all the time.

Drain the gear case oil and look for wear particles on the magnetic drain plug. Was it shifting and running well before this? Ever hit anything in the water?

rpengr · **Posted:** Mon Jul 18, 2016 2:57 pm

I would also try Marine Parts Express:
(207) 882-6165
www.marinepartsexpress.com

mannix2 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 18, 2016 3:01 pm

Lou
Thanks for your advice as always. What is left of the oil is 50% water, magnet has 1/4 inch shards attached, I'm thinking she's gone. It's frustrating because it ran great and I haven't hit anything. Really no warning except slow to plane, but I had 6 people on the boat and attributed it to the extra weight. On failure there was a good size release of oil and on the subsequent two tows, I had the engine in the water to stop from fishtailing. At the ramp when I raised up the motor oil was definitely mixed with the water draining. Whichever seal failed must have been quick and catastrophic. I think I've determined there are two types of lower unit sellers, new and oem remanufactured and the after market variety with many parts made in China. Much research seems to show about a 30-40% failure/dissatisfaction with SEI, Crowley is more than twice the price, but I'm not looking to ship a unit back and forth if I get a dud either. With a 12 month warranty and the break in period in the Northeast, I'm nervous about a failure that is out of warranty as well.

Tough decisions, I just want to be back on the water.

LouC · **Posted:** Mon Jul 18, 2016 4:17 pm

While it won't be the cheapest, if you can find a good local rebuilder that might be the safest bet. Ask around with marine mechanics and see who they use. It sounds as if the gears started coming apart in small pieces and the ones that broke loose tore up one of the seals and caused the oil leak. Could be a failed bearing also.

mannix2 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 18, 2016 7:27 pm

Spoke with some businesses today, learned a lot about drive shaft length, two piece drive shafts and pinion gears. I believe I can reuse my shift rod and my extra long upper drive shaft. To my surprise the drive shaft just lifted right out of the unit. When I peeked inside all i saw was small metal rods. Here are some photos
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The short drive shaft seems to have failed as well the bottom is less than round.
[url=http://s207.photobucket.com/user/mnm2291/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20160718_175825_zpsytginw1r.jpg.html]

The well known local company is booked through September. Guess I'm making calls tomorrow to the Crowley and the others suggested. I'm not a lucky man, so I can't chance a problem with SEI.

LouC · **Posted:** Mon Jul 18, 2016 8:33 pm

Looks like the pinion bearing (roller bearing, that's what the rods are) and the lower driveshaft, in the parts diagram parts #2 & 22. I wonder if something jammed the pinion gear (either a piece of it broke off, or maybe a piece of the fwd gear) and jammed the pinion gear to the fwd gear and the pressure of the engine torque broke off the bottom of the lower driveshaft. Good luck on your search. Outboards are more common down here on Long Island than were you are, you might try looking around for a rebuilder down here, that might be able to take your unit as core. Those were very common engines.

http://www.crowleymarine.com/johnson-ev ... /51872.cfm

mannix2 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 09, 2016 7:18 pm

I decided to go with Crowley marine with the mantra "sometimes you get what you pay for". The landed price was just over 2K. The shipping department called me a few hours after placing the order to verify my engine model. I was impressed by this, the fellow said, "you don't need anymore problems by getting the wrong unit, have to get you back on the water". It arrived a few days later. I swapped out my shift rod and drive shaft and installed a new water pump and housing and filled it with oil. My buddy came over and we bolted it up into the power head. I had a big smile when the prop spinned again on the muffs in the driveway. Took her on a 1 week vacation to the CT shore and moored her in the LI Sound. Babied it at 3200RPM and about 25 mph for the break in. Running smooth! I'll splash it back in the lake this weekend and finish up the break in period. Bottom line I would highly recommend Crowley Marine. Thanks for your help as always Lou.

LouC · **Posted:** Tue Aug 09, 2016 8:10 pm

Great outcome and thanks for the follow up...

GottWhat · **Posted:** Mon Aug 15, 2016 2:07 pm

GottWhat wrote:

I have read good things about SEI. As you know, people are many times more likely to write/post a bad review than a good review.

Update to this post. Yesterday after boating (a great day), we walked by the launch ramp as a family was pulling their cruiser. The prop and shaft were completing missing from their Alpha1.

Talked to the owner and he said it was a SEI lower replaced a couple seasons ago. He said he has never hit anything with it and they were just idling out of the marina and got to the point where they can throttle up. He put the throttle down and the RPM's ran up like crazy. He was hoping he had just spun a prop but the shaft was snapped.

I asked him about the SEI warranty and he used it once before but having to pay for shipping and the time involved, he is just going to get something done locally.

LouC · **Posted:** Mon Aug 15, 2016 8:20 pm

While SEI has a good warantee, you also have to take into account the inconvenience of having the boat laid up till you get a replacement, finding a mechanic to install it if you can't do it yourself, etc. OE and locally rebuilt is more expensive but sometimes you get what you pay for....

www.iFourWinns.com

Need advice on new lower unit for 150 Evinrude

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