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Random Quote: It's better to ride em hard and be put up wet than to ride em wet and be put up hard
I purchaced a new Evinrude 70 4 stroke in 2001. It had a whinning noise from the get go. During the 20 hour check- up the dealer could not find the cause. So he informed Evinrude of the problem, recieving a claim number. This 4th of July the oil pump drive ears on the cam broke off. Thus no oil pressure and mucho $ for repair. The dealer notified Evinrude that the breakage was probably related to the original problem. Evinrude won't even respond to his inquiries about helping with the cost. Suzuki is no help either. Thus I put a Honda on the new boat I just bought. Has anyone else had simular problems with Evinrude?
I had that same trouble with the same year Suzuki DF70, same engine. Engine oil light came on as I was leaving the marina (had about 49 hours on it). I got a free power head replacement as there was an assembly problem with the engine and a series of them had failed oil pump drives. The replacement power head failed too, I am on the third one. I would ask via a Suzuki dealer for the info on the campaign, but the warranty being up may be a sticking point on your engine. For my inconvienence I got a spare factory prop, I had to wait for about 4 months to get the engine back to running normal.
Thank you halifisch. Now that I know there was an on going problem with these engines I may have a chance of getting some help. If need be may I use your post as proof? Power head cost $2200.
Sure, Suzuki has a record of my complaint, a customer complaint record number exists somewhere. Its not like they could do anything since my engine is out of warranty now. If your boat is financed I would consider getting the bank involved as they have an interest in you having a running chunk of collateral.
Howdy all,
This is a bit of a late reply to such an old topic but I was stunned when I saw it.
Anyway I own a 2000 Suzuki DF 60 ( detuned 70) which I had almost clocked 400 hours on with out a trouble until my last trip out on the water.
I was cruising on about 4500 rpm whilst a few miles from my local boat ramp and suddenly the oil pressure light came on so I ended up crawling back into the ramp at under 1000 RPM.
I took it down to my local marine mechanic (an independant marine mechanic)and he discovered the exact same problem as pinelure had with his motor - ceased oil pump and cracked camshaft. Anyway whilst my dealer was looking around for replacement parts he asked the general questions to Suzuki/Johnson dealers as to wether they had heard of such a problem. The replies were "No, Never heard of that problem before". That is why I was so stunned when I saw this topic here on this website. I have a funny feeling that Suzuki dealers here in Australia have been keeping this problem to themselves somehow !
What I would like to know is have Suzuki actually rectified this problem in the Df60/70 models to anyones knowledge ?
Before I saw this topic on here I was thinking of trading my current motor in on a new DF 70 but I think I may be choosing another brand if Suzuki have not rectified this issue.
After learning from this topic that Suzuki knew of the problem and had failed to recall the DF 70's I am disgusted with Suzuki as this could well lead to a life threatening situation if caught out to sea. I was lucky as I was only a short distance from shore but I'd hate to be stuck miles offshore with this problem occuring.
I was unhappy too that Suzuki elected to fix them as they found them, vice recalling them. My dealer told me that it was a certain series of engines and Suzuki caught and corrected it. Based on what I knew of the problem, yours got pretty old, 400 hours. Most dealers I talked to (USA of course) had no idea about the problem either.
I actually emailed Suzuki Australia with my problem and concern. My email was promptly returned by the the service advisor, which I was very impressed with as they could have just completely ignored it, and they seem genuinely concerned,wanting to know details of problem occurence, mechanic who is working on the problem etc., of my problem as they have not heard of such a fault occuring with DF 60/70 in Australia before.
As I stated in my reply back, the fact that most Df 60/70 models were bought after the early 1997 - 2001 models in Australia probably accounts for the lack of the oil pump breakage problem with this model as obviously Suzuki have corrected the fault since these early problems arised. I , along with you guys, bought the early models and as with many products out on the market in their early days "bugs" are often found - unfortunately we were the unlucky ones who had to find them. !
Anyway at least it seems that Suzuki have corrected the fault as there is no doubt that they are beautiful motors when operating how they are supposed to !
Hey Lizard, Pinelure here. My problem cost me $4200 for a power head and other repairs. My engine being an Evinrude built by Suzuki and Eninrude having gone bankrupt and bought by Bombardier was a problem. Bombardier refused to honor Evinrude's commitments. Customer service at Evinrude didn't even know Suzuki built these engines and gave me all sorts of dumb excuses. That's why my new Lund 18' Fiaherman has a 150hp Honda hanging on it. Good luck with your repairs and keep us posted on how Suzuki handles the situation.
Sorry but Suzuki did make Evinrude's 4 strokes and also Johnson's which were Evinrude's products. The Suzuki reps I talked to at a boat show a few years ago said the Evinrudes were Suzukis with Evinrude badging. They continued to make Johnsons for a few years after Bombardier took over and Evinrude went back to 2 strokes. Then last year they had a nasty falling out so Suzuki won't help the Evinrude owners.
I have a friend that I fish and work with that had a DF70 go down a couple of years ago under warranty. It was repaired in a couple of weeks. No significant charges to the owner, he may have paid for fluids.
This has been a known problem with the DF70, the oil pump drive gear is plastic. It will not last very long, before it strips out. At least that is the story I got from a local mechanic.
Sorry to hear of your trouble, the 115's and the 140's so far have been very trouble free.
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Evinrude (suzuki) 70 HP oil pump breakage 
