Robert M. Gary wrote:
On Sep 26, 10:17 am, wrote:
On Sep 26, 12:34 pm, "Robert M. Gary" wrote:

I have an '03 4.3L Merc engine. The dealer insisist that I should only
use Merc's motor oil, gear lube, etc. Of course the dealer price for
this stuff is pretty high. The gear lube itself is $15/qt. I noticed
that Walmart sells QuickSilver brand products now. I believe
QuickSilver is a respected brand in that I've seen it at WestMarine
and I've heard they are actually owned by Merc. So my question is...
1) Can I save money by buying Qucksilver lubes vs. the Merc lubes? Is
there really a difference?
Generally, no difference. As long as the lube in question meets or
exceeds manufacturer's recommendations. With my outboard, I buy
whatever oil is on sale at Bass Pro Shops or WalMart. The same with
lower unit gear oil.

Interestingly I just went to Merc's website and they have brochures
for Quicksilver lubricants as well as their Merc brand lubes. So I"m
really confused now. How are they positioning these two brands? The
Merc lubes are more expensive (maybe just because they are sold at
dealers while Quicksilver is sold at Walmart). Does Merc's
advertisement of Quicksilver lubes imply and endorsement. I'm not so
concerned about motor oil because its probably all the same but I'm
still buying the Merc brand outdrive lube at a premium price.

-robert

Gear lube is gear lube. Synthetic is better than dyno by far. Lubrimatic
will serve you just as well as Quicksilver and you can keep a couple of
bucks in your pocket.

On Sep 26, 1:50*pm, jim wrote:

Gear lube is gear lube. Synthetic is better than dyno by far. Lubrimatic
will serve you just as well as Quicksilver and you can keep a couple of
bucks in your pocket.

Hey, check this out. Here is the advertisement for Merc's expensive
dealer sold lubricants...
http://northamerica.mercurymarine.co...bricants-1.pdf

Now check out the advertisement for the Quicksilver lubes sold at Wal-
Mart.
http://northamerica.mercurymarine.co...bricants-1.pdf

Its word for word the same brochure!!! Now I'm confused as to how they
are marketing the brands. If the Merc is more expensive you'd think
they would *try* to convince people it was better but it doesn't
appear that way at all. The only thing I can tell is that they might
require you to use the Merc lubes while you are still under warranty.

-Robert

On Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:56:08 -0700 (PDT), "Robert M. Gary"
wrote:

The only thing I can tell is that they might
require you to use the Merc lubes while you are still under warranty.

-Robert

I believe that is illegal. I know that car manufacturers cannot
dismiss warantee claims if you didn't have them do all the recommended
service that is in the owners manual. All you have to do is regular
oil changes - and you can have them done anywhere you want (including
do it yourself) using any brand of oil you want. That's the law.