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Motor Boat Forum

would you or wouldnt you?

by betty boop » 20 Feb 2019, 18:35

Theres been a lot of talk on Dennis' and Nick's Dodgy heaters from China recently so heres another on Cheap imports.

Whilst investigating a replacement IAC valve for the 4.3mpi I eventually found out that a direct and identical replacement
non Merc stamped part was £150 vs $20 USD, with shipping from the US it came in at about £35-40 A BIG saving on the
merc part and the Seirra branded alternative at £88. As these things seem to be almost a service part for regular
replacement it makes sense to carry one if nothing else, esp as my on going fault alarm could be a faulty or
intermittent failure of the IAC.

Thats for another day but I also need a trim sensor pack for the Alpha G2 during my investigations the usual suppliers
ranged from £100 ish to £80 for after market Repower parts. Hmmm then to eBay, and I found the Chinese alternative,
by photo they are exact matches to the Repower part certainly a direct match for the UK based eBay sellers at £55.
I paid £33 free delivery which took 1 week exactly from the land of fried rice. BARGAIN. they look and feel good
quality inside and out. Of course the stainless may not be (from experience) and the wiring may not be salt proof
but then neither is the Merc part which has failed from salt water immersion (the common failure)

Then I found that the same seller is offering a complete drive service kit, Gimbal Bearing, bellows, seals and
gaskets. for £55 posted. Would you be brave enough? even the bearing is £80+ the cheapest Ive seen.
I've had kits of bellows over the years and they have all been pants, half didnt fit, some hard rubber or fall off (as I have now).
I assume my Bearing is OK when I get that far but if not am I brave enough to go Chinese on such a part?
Im not sure yet until the debit card comes out.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Transom-Repa ... yhHesC62Nw


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Last edited by Cap'n Jack on 21 Feb 2019, 08:58, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Very large Ebay url disrupted Forum Responsive display causing spacing errors- under investigation-not user error
betty boop
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by Bigplumbs » 21 Feb 2019, 07:03

Ian

For some reason your post went off the page with no slider at the bottom so hard to read, and I can see a reply button so reply here
I did copy and past it so have read it.

I would certainly go with the copy re the trim sender as no real risk here

On the service Kit I would be very tempted. I think I would buy the Chinese one and somehow compare the bellows with the genuine article

The real problem is that if you try and buy a better one you will most likely get the one you have found as resellers will jump in

A difficult one to be sure.

How offton do you usually change your bellows as mine have been on 3 years

Dennis
Last edited by Cap'n Jack on 21 Feb 2019, 09:01, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: BP was unable to reply initially due to Forum Responsive errors by large Ebay URL - Errors fixed - Topic merged to keep continuity
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by Ianfs » 21 Feb 2019, 09:49

I agree with Dennis, this is a difficult one. For me this is because things change so much over the years.

First of all, over the last 40yrs I have bought Genuine Mercruiser, Genuine Volvo, Sierra, GLM, BAM to name a few. Some have been diabolically bad in comparison to Genuine and some have been better, its been a bit of a lottery.

Sierra merged with Teleflex or bought them, not sure which and they became a go to aftermarket supplier with a good name but since then lots of other manufacturers have sprung up.

I did find out a few years ago that Mercruiser Exhaust parts for example were made in both China and Mexico and you would expect they were made to a standard and therefore be better than some other aftermarket part made in the same place.

What I would say though is that all in all Genuine Mercruiser Drive Bellows tend to be more flexible and of a thicker mix than any of the aftermarket ones I've used and I found myself changing an aftermarket one sooner than a genuine part, but that doesn't speak for all the others out there. I had a Drive bellows leak once and it destroyed the Gimbal bearing and sea water intrusion ate away some of the transom shield, but that's another story.

When it comes to Gimbal Bearings, these are a different matter altogether. The Genuine ones I've fitted have tended tend to fit better which is fairly important as there is a lot of pressure from the drive and you certainly dont want this to be loose in its housing as it couold destroy the housing completely.

This doesn't rally answer your question at all, but as I said its not an easy one, but as I said its a lottery.

Dennis, how long drive bellows are usually changed has historically been 3yrs, but some I know have lasted 6yrs, if the boat is kept out of the water and not used much. From experience, if its kept in the water and there are signs of creature attachment, it would be good practice to change it out after 3yrs, possibly sooner. Two of the bellows on a stern drive will sink the boat if they leak, thats the Drive and Gear Cable bellows, the 3rd exhaust bellows can leak but will not sink the boat.
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by betty boop » 21 Feb 2019, 18:08

all good points, certainly food for thought if it were needed. Bellows change as I explained to Dennis earlier I did on Betty after 10 years and they were good to excellent so that was money wasted, BUT it is worth a full check every 2 yers at least.

2 points- how do you know if the Gimbal Bearing has gone? I have the drive alignment tool but thats all - they always seem good. I do have an annoying hollow pitched howl from the engine on minimum revs in and out of gear but not anything above 1500 rpm. I read it may be the fuel system HP pump ?

and 2nd not installing the senders thru the drive? As Dennis has done and Ive seen on Youtube above the water line holes/grommets seems a good idea but wold you shy away from buying a boat like that? Remembering these are possible pre sale repairs Im carrying out not for the fun of it :-)
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