Pay NOW or Pay Later Your Choice – TUNE UP PARTS

[JAXONBOATS]

OK I know “what a title”! The objective here is to educate fellow Malibu owners of a finding that resulted in us being towed back to the dock on a perfectly good day. I acquired a Sierra Cap and Rotor not giving enough thought towards quality and effectively paid the price. Fortunately my wife was not on the boat at the time of failure or the potential pain level would have been quite uncomfortable.

Here we GO!

Below are pictures of 2 different brands of rotor and cap Quicksilver & Sierra. What is noted here is one is a “minimum solution” and commonly used across the nation at marine service shops. Conversely the Quicksilver Brand is more expensive but can be considered a better choice do to manufacturing methodologies. ASK WHAT PARTS ARE BEING USED IN YOUR BOAT

A great many marine shops purchase NON Mercury brand because of the cost. Sierra is effectively ½ the cost (for this comparison).

Let’s compare. The Quicksilver Cap is a dark black higher carbon based plastic compared to the Sierra Brand that seems to have both black and a cream color combination. Notable differences- The Sierra Brand uses Aluminum Poles verses Brass, the Sierra Brand has a reputation of shorting between poles 3 & 7. The QuickSilver brand weighs in at 9.6 ounces compared to the Sierra at 7.6 ounces- one might suggest it is the brass material adding the weight, IMO it is a combination of higher density plastic AND the use of Brass. Easy to spot the QuickSilver, it has smaller numbers and it vivid shiny black.

Moving on to the Rotor

The Sierra Rotor is bright white compared to the cream color Quick Silver. The Sierra has longer locating poles on the bottom. Notice the black burn spot below the center contact area, that’s a short that occurred after running for about 30 mins. Who would have ever guessed a new rotor cap could fail a. for a short through the cap and b. that soon into the life of use.

Regardless our lesson learned is use actual Mercury QuickSilver brand at minimum. Yes it is a little bit more money but IMO a better investment towards your 100 hour service choice.

Note; regardless of brand, all parts fail at one point, it is a statistical probability.

Hope this helps!

[D-GOOSE]

As they say. You get what you pay for. Good write up and description.

[nuttyskier2002]

Thanks for posting this! Valuable information going forward!

[Falko]

Has anyone replaced their distributor with an aftermarket? I installed a Mallory marine dist in my last boat and ran it for 8 years. The cap and rotor NEVER needed replacing and there were a ton of options for that system. I'm just wondering if going up to a higher quality unit like that wouldn't be better in the long run compared to replacing cap and rotor every year or two. That boat was much simpler than the Malibu I have now, not sure if that type of distributor would work with the electronic controls.

Oh, and great write-up. I used to use Sierra a lot on my boats, but their quality started to suffer over the past years and I walked away from them.

Edited July 12, 2013 by Falko

[EchelonMike]

With sites like ski dim and others, you can get "the good stuff" at a reasonable price...no need to get low grade auto zone type stuff unless you are in a pinch for a temporary fix.

I swapped my cap, rotor and wires last year. Boat was running fine but they were original...10+ seasons old. There was pretty major wear on cap and rotor...i was probably a few trips away from a tow.

Great post/info!

[shawndoggy]

Is the "oem" stuff that skidim sells the good or the bad?

[built2rev]

For me I have had good luck with factory GM stuff. I know the other day I helped out a member here on the board with some Factory GM tune up parts for his boat. Now he is back up and running like a champ.