OMC A/J Pistons

[17W]

I will take a forged piston over a cast piston any day of the week!

Brent, we can talk over several beers next week about my GLM experiences!!!!!!!!!!!!

Regardless all the "Internet Keyboard Master Techs" know more than the next guy & would complain if the pistons were free.

More & more parts for the OMC "A" will become obsolete with time, so start saving to purchase a "Sidewinder"!

[ricochet112]

This was already explained to Mike Bartlett in a private message... but we all now know he has a set of .030" OEM pistons he intends to use....hope they are not too out of round & the ring locator pins do not come out. If by chance they are I have 4 complete sets I will sell you for full retail!

I would consider purchasing them for 30% off retail, I don't pay retail for parts.

Out of approx 10 sets of OEM A pistons (20) I've installed in our motor and for others, I've only had one fail, 5% failure rate.
I've had a 100% failure of Mercruiser GLM gear sets fail, 2 out of 2. What would you do?

Why wasn't Sierra considered?

[mercguy]

Glm!!!!!

in 08 alone, we had (4) GLM OMC 800 lower units fail consecutively!! The customer thought he was saving money going with GLM parts, but spent most of his summer NOT boating and GLM did not pay for R&R labor of the lower units. Also had (2) GLM Merc Alpha drives fail in the same time frame. Also had numerous exhaust manifold failures, of which they would not warranty. Do (did) we sell the customers these units.......NO WAY, but nowadays there are lots of people trying to save money and buying off the internet. They soon find out, it is not worth it.

unless GLM is marketing someone elses pistons, I would not even attempt to use their parts!!!!!! There are better alternatives! I respect Ed Runne very much and no the vast knowledge he has, but you have just heard of (2) tech's that have had TERRIBLE experiences with GLM products!!

[17W]

you can take that first comment and shuv it right up you know where..........

Well I did not direct the comment toward yourself as I do know what your abilities are......it is unfortunate you took it the wrong way.

There will be more data present to support the decision to pass the alternate piston by the Stock Comm. than there has been in some time. i.e. dimensions, weight & validated pistons!

[mercguy]

Well I did not direct the comment toward yourself as I do know what your abilities are......it is unfortunate you took it the wrong way.

There will be more data present to support the decision to pass the alternate piston by the Stock Comm. than there has been in some time. i.e. dimensions, weight & validated pistons!

sorry Brent, I did "assume" you directed that at me. I apologize and deleted my post

[473M]

Ok so if I am reading your posts corectly the issues you both have had are with GLM gears and Drives. So because they do not have very good quality in their Gears and drives that make all of their products bad. that is very intresting way of thinking.

[mercguy]

Ok so if I am reading your posts corectly the issues you both have had are with GLM gears and Drives. So because they do not have very good quality in their Gears and drives that make all of their products bad. that is very intresting way of thinking.

its called "quality control"..................its not just the gears that have had problems...............enough said! I guess they say..............."you get what you pay for"..........

[ricochet112]

I called one of my distributors today to see if they carried GLM so I could take a look at one, they don't. He said the word in the industry is that GLM means Good Luck Marine, and I don't think he meant it in a good way

GLM doesn't make any parts, they have them made for them or they just buy from vendors.

For the sake of the A class and APBA I truly hope GLM chose a quality vendor for their pistons.

[ricochet112]

Ok so if I am reading your posts corectly the issues you both have had are with GLM gears and Drives. So because they do not have very good quality in their Gears and drives that make all of their products bad. that is very intresting way of thinking.

Call a couple different marinas in your area and ask them about GLM parts and see for yourself. Again I truly hope, for our sport, that GLM chose a good piston vendor.

[17W]

Call a couple different marinas in your area and ask them about GLM parts and see for yourself. Again I truly hope, for our sport, that GLM chose a good piston vendor.

Mike- Brian & I along with a few other well respected technical individuals w/APBA have been involved. Sorry to hear your aftermarket vendor does not carry them, I bet they carry Sierra....

[ricochet112]

Mike- Brian & I along with a few other well respected technical individuals w/APBA have been involved. Sorry to hear your aftermarket vendor does not carry them, I bet they carry Sierra....

Yes they do. Will Sierra pistons be legal?

[Skoontz]

Seems to me, Wisco is what we should be using. Excellent parts, numerous venues, and factory support.

Why would anyone consider not using the best?

[ricochet112]

Seems to me, Wisco is what we should be using. Excellent parts, numerous venues, and factory support.

Why would anyone consider not using the best?

That's what I thought we should use at first, I have never been impressed with OMC's quality, especially their castings. OMC pistons are cast, Wiseco's are forged so there would be a performance issue (they're heavier), that's why a cast piston was chosen.

Good info-
http://www.motorcycleproject.com/mot...s-pistons.html

[Dave M]

Sierra

Personally, I like the Sierra pistons. They hold up very well in the OMC three bangers. Wiesco not so good for me. Stock OEM pistons worked great. Never heard of GLM until today.

Here is a question. Why not make it legal to use any aftermarket piston in the A Stock engine ? Limit it to the three or four big brands. This way someone can get a piston for a reasonable cost as the markets are competing. Instead, you are giving GLM a monopoly.... I sure wish I the cash to start up a piston factory......... and parts factory, I could get rich off the stocks.

If one piston proved to be faster than the other, such as Weisco vs Sierra, than you would be a fool to not run the faster one, but at least the option is there.... I can say Sierra are a ton cheaper than OMC pistons, and a lot cheaper than Weisco in my applications. I would tend to think this is true across the board.

[reed28n]

The Goal

The goal was to make available a replacement part. One made in the same manor as OEM equipment. The piston selected fit the bill, it was installed in a motor, broken in, tested and raced with no points awarded. The pistons will be presented at the meeting, with comparison to OEM shape, tolerances and weight. A full report has been prepared to show the results of all of this work. We consulted with BRP and OMC techs.

We are looking to approve a piston that will not give anyone a performance advantage and stay within an inspection guideline that will limit someone from skirting the rules.

If we approve a piston that gives a speed advantage you obsolete all of the current pistons in use, then rather than solving a problem we have created one.

If no piston is approved we obsolete motors or at least blocks. Yes there are still OEM parts available, but the goal is to try to remain as close to stock with an old motor running out of parts as we can and keep parts availability in line with consumption.