Suzuki Reverse issue

jkg51781 · 10-15-2009, 10:28 AM

I have a 2004 Suzuki DF140 4-stroke motor with ~850 hours. It has been running great all season. This weekend, I began experiencing an issue shifting into reverse.

Timeline: For the first 3 hours, the motor worked fine in forward and engaged reverse with no issues. Then after about 45 minutes of uneventful low speed idling in and out of forward and reverse, I began experiencing the issue.

Issue: When attempting to shift into reverse, the motor did not seem to engage reverse gear, the shift controls would make a loud banging noise, and the motor would not engage in reverse, it would just buck as if the motor did not fully engage the reverse gears. If you pushed the shift control further into reverse, the RPMs would rise, and the bucking would get worse.

This issue continued for the rest of the day (about 3 hours) I could not get the motor to engage in reverse gear. I had no issues engaging forward gear, and used forward gear the rest of the day. When I got to the mooring, I checked the linkages at the motor and they seemed to be moving properly, nothing looked out of place, and the linkages didn’t seem to be stuck or stiff when shifting.

After mooring the boat overnight, the next day we used the boat again, in the morning, the motor would not engage in reverse. It behaved just like the day before. After putting roughly 3 hours on the motor in forward gear, I attempted to use Reverse, and the motor engaged reverse perfectly with no issues, and no bucking. For the next 2 hours, I used forward gear and reverse gear regularly with no issues. When I got back to the mooring, I shifted in and out of forward and reverse about 30 times, trying to replicate the issue and was unable.

Does anyone have any idea what would cause this behavior?

Thanks,

A1 Outboard · 10-19-2009, 04:32 AM

Pull the drain plug on your gearcase and look tor a large amount of metal particles. If you have a large amount of metal on the magnet see your dealer beause you may have gearcase damage. Gearcase damage can be caused by cable out of adjustment or damage to the linkage at the motor or helm. If you continue to run the gearcase with problems you may cause further damage.

haleraiser2 · 10-21-2009, 07:48 PM

I'd be will to bet the shift yoke under the powerhead is locked up. There is a bushing that gets frozen with corrosion on these motors make it hard to shift and will keep it from going all the way in gear. Will some times losen up later in the trip and freeze up in a week or two again. Remove shift cable at motor and try to shift with your finger should be fairly easy.

jkg51781 · 11-09-2009, 07:24 AM

Update: I got the boat back from the dealer, the issue was salt buildup inside the shift Control box, which was adding play to the shift cables. Checked the lower gear oil, no shavings, when shift cables were disconnected the motor would manually shift easily.

After cleaning the corrosion out of the control box, I've Used the boat the last 2 weekends and it now shifts like a charm.

Thanks,
JKG