Anyone have feedback on Barr Manifolds

Sun Chaser

Sun Chaser

Member
Oct 13, 2006
177
Bellmore, NY
Boat Info
280 Sundancer 2001
Engines
T 4.3 w/Alpha I CR
I have removed the risers and manifolds from the engine but have not bought replacements. I want to buy OEM but have been told that the Barr Manifolds and Risers are suitable replacements. Any feedback would be appreciated.


Glenn
 
I had a 390EC a few years ago that needed risers. The cost differential between OEM and Barr was too much to pass up. Their warranty read ok, so we used Barr risers. They lasted only 2 years. Thankfully, I am conservative and pulled them off just before the 2nd season to check them. They were rusty and already leaking and looked like the OEM risers at 5 years. I am also a long term type of guy and make boat decisions that way. I had all the 2 year Barr fun I wanted, so we immediately ordered new Mercruiser risers, got them in 2 days and were back on the water immdediately.

However, I did return the Barr parts to them for consideration under their warranty. They were good to their word and said after inspection by their QC people, they would let me know if they would cover the risers. So, 8 weeks later, they called and said they would prorate the riser cost and would send me a check for the prorated amount if I ordered new Barr risers from my dealer. I thanked them and asked them to send me the check since we weren't waiting for them and had repaired the boat 2 months ago. I received my $90 check in another month.

Now this may just be my experience with Barr, but I was getting 5 years our of sea water cooled Merc castings and only got 2 years out of Barr, but the most worry-some part of this is that their warranty is next to useless is they expect you to wait 2 months for replacements due to early failure. Up there where you are, your season will be 1/2 used up waiting on replacements. Even so, I consider myself extremely lucky.........what if I had not checked the risers before the 2nd season? They were already leaking and I would have been replacing an engine in a matter of a week or 2.
 
I ordered from them the other day...Supposed to be delivered by end of week...I am going to look them over thoroughly before installing!
 
Manifolds are made from cast iron. It is difficult even impossible to tell good cast iron from low quality cast iron visually. All cast iron is not the same quality much depends the on the quality and amount of the raw elements being used, what type of casting, cooling time and many other variables. For instance if it's cooled to quickly or unevenly it will be porous. If it's too porous which means full of air bubbles it will rust very quickly. Ask any machinist that mills different quality cast iron sometimes it mills like steel other times like chalky black powder. That's the difference. If I were buying a birdbath for my Wife's flower garden I would not care what quality cast iron it's made of. However a manifold that has salt water going through it that can take out a $10,000 motor. That's whole different kettle of fish! Let me add a disclaimer...(IMO)
 
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He stated that once the GLM manifold came in he would look at them then decide. You can stare at it all you want you can't see low quality cast iron. That's why I posted that. Sorry I was not making my point clear.
 
Sun Chaser was the OP. Dicor was responding to Smittyasc3 who stated he ordered Barr and was going to do a visual inspection. So his response should be of use to the latter but not so much to the former!:smt001
 
Fwebster-You said that you only got two years out of the Barr Risers. Wow. I was hoping that I would get at least 5 years out of them. I do not know if the ones I removed were original as I am the second owner of the boat. The manifold and riser I took out were MercCruiser. Is it possible that they coulld have been 10 years old??. This would have been my sixth season with the boat but I noticed rust between the manifold and the spacer so I removed them. They were clogged. I'm going to price out OEM vs Barr and then make my decision. Thanks for the replies.

Glenn
 
My buddy has a 2003 280 DA and he's still running on the originals, although I have strongly advised him against it.
 
If your going to make your decision on upfront costs, you will go with the aftermarkets, but if you do a true cost analysis over a 5 year period you will find that the OEM's parts are going to be much less expensive. I never recall hearing anyone say that they loved there aftermarket exhaust parts (2-3 years later)... I do hear the anomalies of people getting 8-10 years out of OEM parts, and yes I am talking about salt water usage. Boating is expensive enough, do yourself a favor and save yourself a ton of money and go with the OEM parts now, if you don't it will cost you later.
 
Well I am resuing my manifolds because they look good inside...I do want to repaint them before I put them back in...Can i use regular enamel spray paint or should i use high temp engine paint?
 
@Sun Chaser - I am right with you. I just ordered a set of "Coated" ones from PPT. Should be here today or tomorrow. Mine were definately the originals as the threads were still all painted up. Let me know if I can help.
Mike
 
Smitty from what I hear there is a difference in gaskets also. I've read on this forum people stating that a graphite gasket is the best way to go. This is just hearsay on my part. Hopefully someone with more insight will chime in.
 
I did alot of research on this a few months ago before replacing my manifolds. The OEM manifolds and graphite gaskets are the way to go. If you go with the graphite, the merc service bulletin 99-10 states that, "these new gaskets go on dry, no sealant is required". If you go with the cheaper green paper gaskets, you would want to use the quicksilver sealant. Not sure I remember what the name of the sealant is since I didnt go with the paper gaskets but I think its called ProSeal. I love to save money and do whenever I can but when it comes to the already troublesome merc exhaust manifolds, lower grade parts are way outside my circle of trust. Hell, the higher grade parts are still outside my circle of trust. If they had dry joint exhaust for a 7.4L I'd get it in a heartbeat.
 
Put a fraction of the money you are saving by doing it yourself into the parts. This is not a part to try and economize on.
 
Well, I went with a different company. I bought the parts from Marine Engine Products. They look substantial and bolted on quite nicely. They came with the graphite gaskets. The ones I removed were clogged so I am glad I did replace them. How long they will last, only time will tell.

Glenn
 
9 years have past since the close of this thread. Curious. What was the synopsis doc?
 
I've used BARR and OSCO, neithervheld upbin salt water very well. I switched to OEM Merc and they are holding up much better.
 
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