Re: Painting The Motor
Corrosion issue - Suzuki 6 HP Year 2000
I bought a Suzuki 2-stroke brand new in the year 2000, which I use mostly between seasons when my larger boat (with a 115 HP Mercury) is out of the water. I also use this 6 HP as a tender when the big boat is in the water. Mechanically, this Suzuki motor is a gem, no complaints whatsoever. But I am a little surprised regarding its resistance to corrosion. My big Merc (a 1997 model) doesn't show the slightest sign of corrosion or paint bulging, although it stays all of July/August in salt water, and only gets a complete clean-out once pulled out for storage. On the other hand, the Suzuki, which gets a fresh-water rinse inside and out every day when I trailer it back home, tended to corrode in various parts of the shaft housing, also a bit on the shift lever etc. At first, I thought it was because the anodes were not well grounded. Checked that, but the problem remained. Nothing horrible, but enough for a stickler like me to rush to the shops and buy all the stuff required to restore it to its pristine paint condition.
I asked here and there whether there was a particular reason for this early corrosion, and I got all sorts of answers such as "what do you expect, it's only a Suzuki", to more high-tech explanations such as the following: Around the year 2000, Suzuki, like other brands, switched to water-based paints for all the environmental reasons we know. And these first-generation water-based paints were nowhere as tough as the good old chemically diulted stuff of yesteryear (my previous motor was a 5 HP Evinrude, 1987 vintage, which to this day has kept all its paint in nearly perfect condition, with no corrosion at all).
Anybody have any views on the matter?