OEM vs aftermarket manifolds & risers

N

nigel

New Member
Jan 24, 2007
68
South Coast, UK
Boat Info
1998 270 Sundancer
Engines
Twin 4.3Ls on Alpha 1s
Hi Everyone,

What are your experiences with aftermarket manifolds and risers? - I removed my 11 year old manifolds today and, as I expected, they are in a pretty awful state.. good for the skip only.

Now, here in the UK we pay through the nose for everything.. List price for a pair OEM Merc manifolds, 3" spacers and elbows with all the gaskets is £1200.. Which in USD is about $1900 - plus 17.5% tax.

Needless to say, whilst I can probably get a -bit- of a discount on these, I'm going to look very carefully at the aftermarket products.

So... anyone got good or bad experience of these? GLM, HGE, Osco etc..?

Many thanks in advance,

Nigel.
 
I ran thru several sets of risers and one set of manifold on a 390EC during the 9 years we owned her. My experience with aftermarket cast parts was not good. I had OSCO and Barr and both lasted about 1/2 as long as OEM Mercruiser parts.

The biggest problem was their warranty...the OSCO was so bad I decided that I wouldn't use them again if they were free. The Barr manifolds lasted less than the warranty period, but weren't terrible. What was terrible was that they require the parts to be sent back to them before they will warranty them. I use my boat and I was not going to let it sit and not go boating while they scratched their ....... . I replaced them with OEM Merc castings and didn't lose any boating time. Sure enough, 9 weeks later they called and wanted to negotiate the warranty coverage for depreciation and argue about sending me a check for the amount we agreed on (about 50%). Instead they wanted me to buy new manifolds from their dealer and send them the receipt at which point they would then send me a rebate for the agreed upon settlement.

My point is that, even thought they use it as a selling feature, the warranty can be less than worthless when you consider down time involved.

To quantify this in terms of time, I got about 2 years out of aftermarket risers and 5 years out of Mercruiser parts. Also, I am in a hot weather, salt water location where we use the boat 12 months a year and this is just my experience.
 
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Thanks for this Frank. Does the heat "help" with manifold destruction a lot then? - The boating season here lasts for about six months and I'm now moored in a river far enough up that I can't taste any salt in the water - so the engine basically gets a flush everytime I come back in...

Two years life would be a pain in the ... but if aftermarket bits would last me 5 years or so here I could live with that.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
I looked at both brands Frank mentioned when I replaced my exhaust last year. I was able to see the Barr unit next to the Mercruiser and the parts were thinner and the cooling passages in the risers were not as large. I was able to get a deal on Mercruiser parts and went with OEM for the manifolds and risers for both engines. Several members here have aftermarket and have had good luck with them so far so maybe they'll provide input. As far as boating conditions - I'm in either salt or brackish but your results may vary with the fresh water usage. How far up the river are you and how long would the engines run in fresh (or mild brackish) before they are shut down?
 
I put aluminum GLM's on my 89 sundancer last year. I'm in brackish water way up the river. Will let you know when I check them next year. they say you only get 2 years out of them. We will see.

Rick
 
How far up the river are you and how long would the engines run in fresh (or mild brackish) before they are shut down?

> I'm about three miles up - with a reasonably large natural harbour in-between. Depends on tides but I'd guess the last 15 mins are always fresh water.. often much more.

Anyone tried GLM or HGE? - They seem easily available here...

Nigel.
 
Leafy Isle said:
Has anybody tried these manifolds from Hiteck

www.hiteckmarine.com.au

Probably less than the oem Merc's and would look so cool in the engine room....
Click to expand...


They are stainless steel and rediculessly expensive (over $5000 per big block motor). I could never justify the cost, especially not knowing there longevity...

Buy Merc OEM....
 
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fwebster said:
I ran thru several sets of risers and one set of manifold on a 390EC during the 9 years we owned her. My experience with aftermarket cast parts was not good. I has OSCO and Barr and both lasted about 1/2 as long as OEM Mercruiser parts.

The biggest problem was their warranty...the OSCO was so bad I decided that I wouldn't use them again if they were free. The Barr manifolds lasted less than the warranty period, but weren't terrible. What was terrible was that they require the parts to be sent back to them before they will warranty them. I use my boat and I was not going to let it sit and not go boating while they scratched their ....... . I replaced them with OEM Merc castings and didn't lose any boating time. Sure enough, 9 weeks later they called and wanted to negotiate the warranty coverage for depreciation and argue about sending me a check for the amount we agreed on (about 50%) instead of me buying new manifolds from them and sending them money.

My point is that, even thought they use it as a selling feature, the warranty can be less than worthless when you consider down time involved.

To quantify this in terms of time, I got about 2 years out of aftermarket risers and 5 years out of Mercruiser parts. Also, I am in a hot weather, salt water location where we use the boat 12 months a year and this is just my experience.
Click to expand...


From my little experience I concur with Frank, go with the Mercruiser OEM parts. :thumbsup:
 
Isn't Hitek the same manifolds which could apparently cure most engine and boating problem encountered....? I agree - go with OEM - you got 11 years out of them the first round! I'd certainly recommend annual inspections and gasket replacements to make sure you know what is going on in there.
 
Thanks everyone... Would you still say "Go OEM" if you had to pay $3800 in total though?? - I don't know what you can get them for in the States (much less than that I bet!) but over here that's what it would set me back from the Merc dealer... Are they really worth an extra $1900 ~ $2000 ??!!
 
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nigel said:
Thanks everyone... Would you still say "Go OEM" if you had to pay $3800 in total though?? - I don't know what you can get them for in the States (much less than that I bet!) but over here that's what it would set me back from the Merc dealer... Are they really worth an extra $1900 ~ $2000 ??!!
Click to expand...

Well lets see mine where around $2,930..00 per each engine,parts only, plus labor.. so naught + naught, carry the...:huh:
 
Thanks for your comments everyone.. Shipping for manifolds is very costly due to the weight... I'll keep looking around to see if I can find any OEM deals...
 
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I've used Osco and Barr and had reasonable service life out of them in salt water with raw water cooling, about 4 years before I changed them as a proactive measure. I'd stay away from GLM (Good Luck Marine)HA, poor casting quality and poorly machined mating surfaces.
JMHO
 
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