Franko Manini
Well-Known Member
Folks,
I bought a new to me boat in the summer and have been using it regularly. It came with a matched pair of 2010 Suzuki outboards, a DF140 and a DF9.9TH. The kicker has always been a bit difficult to start, but it has gotten worse. It is the high thrust, electric start, hydraulic tilt model.
The symptoms are:
Hard starting - it never fires right up. Lots of cranking, no backfires or pops, but it will eventually catch.
Runs rough - when it initially catches, it is hard to keep it running. Once it warms up, it is better, but still has the occasional pop or miss.
It vibrates - I have read that this is pretty common with this engine, and honestly, mine doesn't seem as bad as some others have been described to be.
What I have done:
Stored it empty - I always run the fuel out of it. I flush it for 10 minutes after every use in the salt, and then disconnect the fuel supply and run it dry.
Use good fuel: The fuel in the main tank (both motors share the same fuel supply) is fresh and propoerly stabilized. I use marked gas with 0 ethanol.
Fresh fuel: I grabbed a jerry can and went down and bought brand new fuel and tried running the motor off that - no difference. I also have a second fuel line that I tried - no difference.
I popped the cover off and had a look around, but everything looked so foreign to me that I decided I better not monkey with anything until I had a better idea what to do. I could not see any loose wires, hoses, no obvious leaks or damage.
The frustrating thing for me is that the guy that I bought this off of put an hour meter on this outboard and it's got 34.5 hours on it to date. And yes, he was right up front about the motor not running well and saying he wasn't happy with it, and we factored that into the price. To me, a motor with that little time on it should be purring like a kitten, not coughing like a tuberculosis patient.
Does anyone have any pointers, tips, suggestions? And in the worst case, is there a member on this site that I could take it to for some fixin? I'd rather keep the money in the family if you know what I mean. Barring that, where could I take it here in Victoria?
Thanks everyone. This thing is driving me NUTS.
I bought a new to me boat in the summer and have been using it regularly. It came with a matched pair of 2010 Suzuki outboards, a DF140 and a DF9.9TH. The kicker has always been a bit difficult to start, but it has gotten worse. It is the high thrust, electric start, hydraulic tilt model.
The symptoms are:
Hard starting - it never fires right up. Lots of cranking, no backfires or pops, but it will eventually catch.
Runs rough - when it initially catches, it is hard to keep it running. Once it warms up, it is better, but still has the occasional pop or miss.
It vibrates - I have read that this is pretty common with this engine, and honestly, mine doesn't seem as bad as some others have been described to be.
What I have done:
Stored it empty - I always run the fuel out of it. I flush it for 10 minutes after every use in the salt, and then disconnect the fuel supply and run it dry.
Use good fuel: The fuel in the main tank (both motors share the same fuel supply) is fresh and propoerly stabilized. I use marked gas with 0 ethanol.
Fresh fuel: I grabbed a jerry can and went down and bought brand new fuel and tried running the motor off that - no difference. I also have a second fuel line that I tried - no difference.
I popped the cover off and had a look around, but everything looked so foreign to me that I decided I better not monkey with anything until I had a better idea what to do. I could not see any loose wires, hoses, no obvious leaks or damage.
The frustrating thing for me is that the guy that I bought this off of put an hour meter on this outboard and it's got 34.5 hours on it to date. And yes, he was right up front about the motor not running well and saying he wasn't happy with it, and we factored that into the price. To me, a motor with that little time on it should be purring like a kitten, not coughing like a tuberculosis patient.
Does anyone have any pointers, tips, suggestions? And in the worst case, is there a member on this site that I could take it to for some fixin? I'd rather keep the money in the family if you know what I mean. Barring that, where could I take it here in Victoria?
Thanks everyone. This thing is driving me NUTS.