I serviced the above engine this week and wanted to highlight a problem and solution.
I started the engine on Tuesday morning to take the boat round to get lifted out for a wash and engine service. The tell tale was flowing poorly and I nursed the boat quickly to the boat yard for lifting.
One out of the water I gave the engine a full service, replacing the oil, oil filter, plugs, fuel filter and removed the bottom leg to replace the impeller and plate using genuine Suzuki parts. The old impellor was 2 years old and appeared in good order.
I did not fill a drum with water to check the engine running at this time, which on reflection was a mistake and I will always do this in future.
On returning the boat to the water, the engine started first time, but the tell tale was still flowing poorly. I was unhappy and tried to clear the tell tale outlet by removing the rubber grommet and using a small screwdriver to clear the orifice without success.
Feeling deflated, I went home to view the internet for posts of owners having similar problems. Most of the problems posted related to owners that has not replaced the impeller. There were no posts that matched my problem. I came across some posts where owners were describing flushing sea water from outboards, by back flushing fresh water into the tell tale.
Armed with this information, I decided to return to the boat armed with a length of hose. By connecting this to the mains water, I ran the hose to the outboard, removed the grommet and fixed the hose directly onto the tell tale and allowed water to back flush for several mintes. First this was done at low pressure and then the pressure increased to visualise the water draining out of the bottom leg (engine had been tilted back to allow access at the back of the boat).
After removing the hose, I started the engine and was delighted to see that the water was streaming from the tell tale.
This back flushing technique, I will now use regularly to keep the waterways in the engine clean. The boat does not go in sea water, but is kept on the Norfolk Broads, which is tidal and therefore some salt will be encountered towards the estuary at Great Yarmouth.
I hope this information is of use to someone experiencing a similar problem. I'm now looking forward to spending the rest of Easter enjoying the holiday period on the water.:joyous:
I started the engine on Tuesday morning to take the boat round to get lifted out for a wash and engine service. The tell tale was flowing poorly and I nursed the boat quickly to the boat yard for lifting.
One out of the water I gave the engine a full service, replacing the oil, oil filter, plugs, fuel filter and removed the bottom leg to replace the impeller and plate using genuine Suzuki parts. The old impellor was 2 years old and appeared in good order.
I did not fill a drum with water to check the engine running at this time, which on reflection was a mistake and I will always do this in future.
On returning the boat to the water, the engine started first time, but the tell tale was still flowing poorly. I was unhappy and tried to clear the tell tale outlet by removing the rubber grommet and using a small screwdriver to clear the orifice without success.
Feeling deflated, I went home to view the internet for posts of owners having similar problems. Most of the problems posted related to owners that has not replaced the impeller. There were no posts that matched my problem. I came across some posts where owners were describing flushing sea water from outboards, by back flushing fresh water into the tell tale.
Armed with this information, I decided to return to the boat armed with a length of hose. By connecting this to the mains water, I ran the hose to the outboard, removed the grommet and fixed the hose directly onto the tell tale and allowed water to back flush for several mintes. First this was done at low pressure and then the pressure increased to visualise the water draining out of the bottom leg (engine had been tilted back to allow access at the back of the boat).
After removing the hose, I started the engine and was delighted to see that the water was streaming from the tell tale.
This back flushing technique, I will now use regularly to keep the waterways in the engine clean. The boat does not go in sea water, but is kept on the Norfolk Broads, which is tidal and therefore some salt will be encountered towards the estuary at Great Yarmouth.
I hope this information is of use to someone experiencing a similar problem. I'm now looking forward to spending the rest of Easter enjoying the holiday period on the water.:joyous: