cammac12

Just repowered my Glacier Bay 2270 with brand new 2019 Suzuki 115s (they have been sitting in crates for the past year and a half). During the pre-delivery inspection the exit stream on Port took almost 2 minutes to begin flowing, while Stb began peeing right away. You can feel air coming out of the pilot hole but no water until the thermostat opens. Once flowing, the exit stream on Port flutters slightly and is very hot while Stb is cold and steady. After running for 5-10 minutes Port temp gauge shows 1-2 bars higher than Stb. When quick flushing with motors off and good hose water pressure, Stb has a solid exit stream while Port has none whatsoever.

On his own dime the dealer replaced the impeller and water pump kit, swapped thermostat with Stb, swapped pressure control valve with Stb, and blew compressed air thru the lines with no improvement. He agrees this is not normal operation, but can't continue tearing the thing apart without Suzuki paying for it. They will not honor the warranty until there is a "failure due to a manufacturing defect." Basically without alarms or error codes they will not acknowledge there is even a problem.

I've put 12 hours on them and everything has remained the same. I'm not thrilled about running a brand new motor that obviously has a problem until it "breaks," potentially at a very inconvenient time and place, in order for Suzuki to finally decide oh yeah guess there's a problem... After all the troubleshooting the dealer has never seen this issue be so persistent on a brand new motor where salt/corrosion/improper operation/lack of maintenance can all be ruled out. So I'm not sure where else to turn. Any ideas or suggestions would be most welcome. Thank you this forum is great.

Thanks,
Cameron

Capt. Fred

I have DF 140's and these motors do have a history of prostate problems. Mine have always taken a while to start peeing when on the hose and it always stresses me out while I wait. One of them always took waaay longer to pee, also. I have no idea why. I finally made a section of hose with a Y on it so I can run water to the lower unit with muffs, while simultaneously running water into the inlet on the port side of the motors. This gets them peeing just fine when I rinse them now.

Now, that doesn't seem to explain all of your issues though. Have you run them with the cowlings off, to be sure water isn't leaking out somewhere it shouldn't be? I assume the mechanic did this. When you say that the port motor seems to run hotter, do you mean while on the hose, or while in the water running the boat?

Bullshipper

If the dealer sold you the engines, he's on the hook.
Its not your problem how he gets paid.

Write him an email or registered return letter saying that as you have pointed out, you feel there is a problem with one of your engines, serial number XXXX
Tell him you are going to follow his last verbal (or written?) instructions to run them as is following his unsuccessful repair.
Ask him to notify you in 48 hrs if he wants change his instructions prior to your boating trip this weekend.

cammac12

Thanks for the reply. When on the hose, Stb pees right away but Port never does. I left it flushing for 20 minutes with the hose on full blast and never got a drop out of the pilot hole. The mechanic says he had the whole lower cowling off and could not identify any visible leaks.

Regarding temperature. When running the boat in the water with motors on, the multifunction gauges show 1-2 bars hotter on Port than Stb regardless of rpms.

When you flush with the hose connected to the inlet AND muffs on the lower unit, do you have the motor on or off? I haven't tried this but seems this would just bypass the issue because I do eventually get an exit stream when drawing water from the intake.

cammac12

Here's where it gets tricky: I purchased these motors from a private seller who bought them through this dealer last year. Before they were ever mounted, this guy got a completely different boat and decided he didn't need the zukes anymore. Rich ppl problems I guess. He told the dealer to sell them for him, so I essentially bought them on consignment (although I paid the seller directly, not the dealer).

I have extended warranties on them thru 2025, so I'm currently using the boat as if nothing is wrong. I'm pretty sure if something catastrophic happens I'll be covered, but not knowing if/when/where that will happen eliminates the peace of mind you expect to have when buying new. I'm also concerned that this issue could slowly wear things down to a point of failure after the warranties expire but well before the lifespan of the motor. Hence why I want to get this figured out and not just pretend like everything is fine like the dealer and manufacturer are both telling me to do.

Gmart

Why wouldn’t you bring it to the dealer for a warranty service, get the problem and solution documented? Let the dealer and Suzuki know if your stranded or worse because of this issue they will be on the hook for all associated costs including towing, hauling etc...?

Bullshipper

Understood.
With twins, one will get you home.
And with documentation showing that you are acting in good faith, its really their problem.
You have the reciept from the dealer when he mounted them, plus when he sold them to the 1st party, so I assume Suzuki backs that up, especially if the the Dealer and Suzuki accepted payment to extend the warranty limits.

The impeller is preety new new, but did he also change out the sleeve housing around the impeller than can get damaged with debri and cause you to lose pressure? Just a couple of scratches on the housing will really affect its pressure and flow.

The 115's are great little motors. One pair of 2003's I owned has 6000+ hrs on them.

frogbite

If the dealer/mechanic could not get Suzuki to budge, it might be time to try another service center. Maybe an official Suzuki dealer if the one you are going to is not one. I find it odd that Suzuki would take this stance as it is obvious that the mechanic is expecting a defect of some sort.

Bullshipper

I kind of agree. If a mechanic or dealer truly can't solve a cooling problem they will be of little help with something a lot more complicated.

But this is a maintenance problem and something you will probably have to pay to fix. That is the message between the lines you are really getting.

Capt. Fred

When I am rinsing my motors on my Y contraption, I do it with the motor running. When I get the muffs on, and the hose screwed into the rinsing port on the motor, I turn on the water. Within about 20 seconds, the motor is peeing fine. Then I start the motor and let it run for a while.

Since yours is running hot while you are out on the water running the boat, I don't think this Y contraption will help your issue. My motors have always peed OK while the boat was in the water, but they have always struggled while rinsing on the hose.

I like Bullshipper's suggestion of trying one more water pump kit and replacing the entire assembly.

Also, there are some bushings on the water tube. I wonder if one of those was missing or installed incorrectly if it would cause the system to lose pressure?

Dacman

Sounds like a pressure control valve problem , maybe they missed something looking at that?

Bullshipper

There is a spring above the impeller that can break and partially plug the water passage. Better check passage too

cammac12

All good intel here, thank you. I believe the water pump kit included the new metal sleeve and new gaskets along with the new impeller. The pressure control valve was swapped with Stb but no improvement. I'll look into the water tube bushings and the passage near that spring above the impeller.

I agree it may be time for a second opinion. This is an authorized Suzuki dealer and the guy working on my motor is the service manager who seems to know what he's doing. But since he and his tech can't figure this out I need to be sure it's not them. Just sucks to start from square one with someone that has no skin in the game.

Update: motors have 18 hours on them and last night was the first time Port had an exit stream while flushing with motors off. It had about 15% pressure compared to Stb and very hot. I let the hose run for 20 minutes and by the end, the water coming out of the lower unit was cold but the exit stream was still surprisingly hot. All streams on Stb were cold in under 10 minutes.