Suzuki 15hp outboard turns by itself

[megajig]

Hey all,

I have had a suzuki 15hp four stroke outboard for a few years now. This season when I put the motor back onto my small aluminum boat i noticed the tracking is a bit off. I put the motor directly in the center of the back of the boat and at cruising and higher speeds when I loosen my grip on the steering handle (no wheel just standard steering pole attached to the motor) the motor pulls sharply and quickly to the right by itself.
I know that on my big four winns boat the vovlo penta has this little angled fin on the bottom that is turned in one direction to counter the spin of the prop or something like that.

Is there some adjustment that I can do to the suzuki to keep it going straight without me fighting it to keep it straight?

Thank you

 

[robert graham]

Re: Suzuki 15hp outboard turns by itself

the little fin you mention is called a trim tab/sacrificial anode which helps correct some of the steering torque caused by the rotation of the prop and is made of zinc, which sacrifices itself to the corrosion that would normally occur on other parts of the motor. after it corrodes so far, it is a replaceable item. I take it your motor has lost it's trim tab or never had one. you can buy manual or motorized trim tabs for the bottom of your transom like so many larger, off-shore, high-horsepower boats have. Or you could make a small trim tab out of a thin metal plate(aluminum or stainless steel) and attach(with 2 small stainless steel bolts) to the trailing edge of your motor's skeg(the bottom fin of the motor), which probably wouldn't be real hard to do. Then you could just bend the plate slightly to give you the desired steering effect.

 

[megajig]

Re: Suzuki 15hp outboard turns by itself

Thank you very much for the advice.
I will look into purchasing / making one of these trim tabs.

regards