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Conference wahoo::fishing

Title:Fishing Notes- Archived
Notice:See note 555.1 for a keyword directory of this conference
Moderator:DONMAC::MACINTYRE
Created:Fri Feb 14 1986
Last Modified:Fri Sep 20 1991
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1660
Total number of notes:20970

1029.0. "Are OMC Sea Drives reliable?" by STAFF::CHACE (let's go fishin') Tue Mar 14 1989 10:38

    
     I'm interested in buying a 2 year old boat which has a 2.5L
    (165HP) OMC Sea Drive. Someone said that there were problems with this
    motor, specifically, the powerhead. Is this true? Are Sea Drives
    unreliable? I'm almost positive that the Sea Drives use the same
    powerhead (at least internally) as the equivalent outboards, and
    since they've been made since 1982, I would think any bugs have
    been worked out. 
    
      Any experience or info about Sea Drives would be appreciated.
    
    				Thanks in advance,
    				Kenny Chace
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name		DateLines
1029.1Underpowered?WEDOIT::JOYCETue Mar 14 1989 11:026
    I assume this motor is on the 23 ft. Pro-line mentioned in the other
    note? The boat may be a little underpowered. It will probably be
    ok with very little weight, but if you plan on fishing with six
    people and a lot of gear, you'll be running the motor hard.
    
    Steve
1029.2A little underpowered, but not too badCSMET2::CHACElet's go fishin'Tue Mar 14 1989 13:2716
    
      Yes, this is the motor which will be on the ProLine boat. I agree
    that it will be a little underpowered, but it comes with the boat.
    From my experience, it won't be too bad. The boat my father has
    now is a 22'cuddy which came with a 155hp OMC I/O. It went OK. It
    has since been repowered (we wore the other motor out!) with a Volvo
    170hp I/O. It seems to go about the same. 
      This new boat (to us) weighs about the same, but with a motor
    that weighs about 400-500lbs LESS and has HP that's measured AT
    THE PROP, I think it will also be OK (note - not great - but OK).
    
      My pref would be about 200-225HP.
    
      But does anyone know if Sea drives are unreliable???
    
    					Kenny
1029.3SEADRIVE RELIABILITYDPDMAI::VILLAROSAWed Jul 12 1989 13:159
    THIS IS PROBABLY AFTER THE FACT BUT OMC SEA DRIVES ARE JUST AS RELIABLE
    AS JOHNSON AND EVINRUDE OUTBOARDS.  FROM THE FLYWHEEL TO THE PROP SHAFT
    THESE UNITS ARE IDENTICAL. THE BIG DIFFERENCE BEING THE INTEGRAL
    BRACKET BUILT ONTO THESE UNITS FOR MOUNTING ON A FULL TRANSOM. THERE IS
    A DIFFERENT TILT/TRIM UNIT FOR THESE BUT ARE ALSO RELIABLE.
    
    DONT BE AFRAID OF SEA DRIVES. THEY ARE VERY RELIABLE AND HAVE NO
    INHERENT POWERHEAD OR ANY OTHER TYPE PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED TO THEM