When I bought the sierra ones on amazon they were so inexpensive I bought 4. When I lost one on the lake I did not have my spares so I bought two new merc ones and installed one. I noticed it went in a lot harder, when I got home I compared the spare merc to the spare sierra....the rubber is at least 50 percent stronger.

The Sierra impellers are good for .25HP less parasitic drag and a 2oz weight saving. Maybe get you that extra .1MPH

Sierra Marine is a divsion of Teleflex/Morse. No affiliation with mercury or any other engine manufacturer. However, in alot of cases sierra aftermarket parts are the exact same as what you would get from a dealer as not all engine manufacturers make all of their own components.

Sierra parts are oem quality and I would have no problem using anything they sell.

Some Sierra stuff is fine and some is hit and miss. Some of their products are probably manufactured by the same companies taht manufacture merc parts.

As far as OEM quality, that really does not mean a lot. I had "OEM quality" brakes put on my old 2500HD at a reputable shop. They lasted half as long as the original factory brakes.

thanks everyone for your help. Turns out a local dealer stocked Quicksilver starters so thats went in. It was smaller, lighrter and sealed! nice little starter!

whats this fancy new starter going in ???

Since we are on the starter issue. Who makes the best mini starter? So much smaller and lighter than the original. Much easier to finagle in the twins. I have offset bolt pattern.

back to sierra parts for a sec. i fix canon copiers. i order a part, and frequently comes in a canon box with made in china on the label. everybody, even the OEM people use chinesium parts these days. as long as stuff can be made there that much cheaper than here, it will be...unfortunately, the savings goes into the CEO's pocket and the part costs us the same as if it was made in Dearborn Mich.

Their products for the most part are indeed manufactured by the same companies as sold to you by your dealer.

And if your brakes only lasted half the time as what came from the factory then I would have to say they were not "oem quality".

I sell Sierra Marine and seldom have any issues or complaints.

Years ago Sierra starters use to come from Arco. IMO Arco starters are not that good. I have 1 or 2 bad right out of the box per year. MES starters are cheap and weak.

Today Sierra starters come painted black and are beefy. I use them now but they also are kind of expensive like Mercs PG260 starters as we use them also.

Merc and Sierra Bravo impellers & Black Plastic housings and that complete kit is the exact same made by the same people. The Sierra housing even has the Merc part # on it. Next in this app if you want a better Bravo impeller kit buy the Mallory Marine. I sell all 3 brands. U can see and feel that the Mallory Marine is a better impeller kit.

I use the MalloryMarine kit for my own stuff and sell which ever the consumer wants. Mallory Marine also makes better bellows & exhaust manifold gaskets FYI. Again I sell all 3 brands, OEM Merc, Sierra & Mallory Marine so have nothing to gain by saying this.

The brass Gen VII water pumps housings and impellers are made by Jabsco for Mercruiser. FYI