03 Suzuki Df 140 Drive shaft housing and bushing shot

[seaholic]

This is my first post so hello to every one.

I have twin 03 Suzuki 140s on my 26 Catamaran. I was getting ready to tow my boat to Mexico for a big trip and decided it would be a good idea to change the water impellers. I have done this before so I was familiar with the repairs. I unbolted the lower unit to drop it. As I dropped it, it went down about 5 inches and it wouldn't drop any more due to the drive shaft being stuck in the upper unit. rite away I noticed a lot of rubber chunks that didn't look very good. It took me about an hour of trying different things until I used two hydraulics to press it all the way out allowing the drive shaft to completely drop from the upper unit(channel). I soon found out the reason it wasn't coming out smoothly is because of the salt water built up that accumulated on the wall of the upper unit unit/channel. I found out that all that rubber deb re is chunks from the drive shaft bushing that normally would sit at the base of the drive shaft housing(the first place the drive shaft goes through as you are putting the lower unit back into the upper unit). Also The area where the bushing would normally sit in the housing was all worn out to the point where it actually made a whole through the housing.

I took the lower unit off of the other motor to see how it looked and it also was extremely hard to drop, and the bushing on this side was still in place but also shot about 50%.

Looks like I am going to have to replace the Drive shaft housing on one of the motors and I might be able to save the better side.

I have no idea how or why this damage was created as this bushing from what I was told and per repair manual is not a part that need to be replaced under so many hours.

I use the boat on a weekly basis and I have around 600 hours on it now. I always flush out my motors on every trip.

Does anyone know what the heck could have happen to cause this issue and how to prevent it in the future. When flushing out the motors does the fresh water also go through and around the drive shaft to flush it out?

At first I was afraid that I might have some more damage inside as without that bushing in place water was getting up in the drive shaft area, but from what I gathered is that that bushing does not provide a water tight seal anyway and water does flow through that area.

Also, do you think that this issue might have caused the drive shaft to warp/bend?

I couldn't find any number to a tech at Suzuki to ask about this situation.
What do you experts think about this issue.

By the way, unfortunately parts are not available till next month, so there goes my plans that I have been planning for the past year.

Attached is a pic of the drive shaft housing (#1) and the bushing (#5)

Thank you

 

[seaholic]

Re: 03 Suzuki Df 140 Drive shaft housing and bushing shot

Anyone??

 

[rodbolt]

Re: 03 Suzuki Df 140 Drive shaft housing and bushing shot

I would not worry about the hole as long as the new bushing seats in tight.
clean the busing bores, replace the bushings and go fish.
all that bushing does is held steady the shaft, not all manufactures actually use one.
doesnt matter how much you flush 6 to 8 years of salt does a number on AL castings.

 

[Jaymack]

Re: 03 Suzuki Df 140 Drive shaft housing and bushing shot

Seaholic

Curious what you ended up doing with your drive shaft housing problem. I have an 02 DF140 and have a very similar problem. I just noticed a hole in my drive shaft housing just above the bushing you were referring to. I thought I would pull the lower unit and patch the hole with marine tex. But upon removing the lower unit I found that it was very tight space to get to the spot to clean the corrosion out of the inside so i could patch. After some further analysis I decided (as you did) that the bushing does not create a waterproof seal and it appears that the problem is caused by salt water getting above the bushing and not getting flushed out like it should - doesn't appear a normal flush in the yard will actually push any fresh water into this area. I am thinking of taking the suggestion of leaving the hole so i can flush this area out regularly as needed. Don't really like the idea but don't know what else to do. If I patch the area I think it will once again start corroding from the inside. Any thoughts on just leaving the bushing out? I think that would solve the corrosion problem but am worried that it might cause the shaft to not be aligned properly. Appreciate any thoughts....

 

[reeldutch]

Re: 03 Suzuki Df 140 Drive shaft housing and bushing shot

The reason they put the bushing in is to keep the driveshaft from wobling.
believe it or not at high rpm the driveshaft flexes a litle.
this bushing prevents it from flexing to much.

some manufactures didnt border with a bushing.
the only explenation i can give you is that it might be there to help the lower driveshaft seal sealing the driveschaft.no flexing = perfect seal

water will always be present on the driveshaft thats why its made of high grade stainless.

i wouldnt worry about it.
if you can put a new bushing in it if you cant leave it out.

if you have a rotwhole trough the housing i would be very suspicious about other corosion on your engine.

its not a usual spot for it to rot trough.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: 03 Suzuki Df 140 Drive shaft housing and bushing shot

and I actually have a complete DF 140 that sank but it still has good parts.
had 17 hours on it when oregon inlet claimed yet another.

 

[Jaymack]

Re: 03 Suzuki Df 140 Drive shaft housing and bushing shot

Thanks for the comments. I would love to leave the bushing out altogether. Do you think that a suzuki technician/rep would ever 'suggest' leaving it out?

 

[seaholic]

Re: 03 Suzuki Df 140 Drive shaft housing and bushing shot

Hey guys sorry for not responding. I have not visited here for a while.

Before I made my decision I was a little hesitant about leaving the bushings out but I did feel more comfortable after I spoke to one of the owners of a Suzuki Dealer. He told me as a Suzuki dealer he is supposed to tell me to replace everything to bring it to its factory condition but then he told me if it was his boat he would just bypass them and leave them out..

Anyway I ended up leaving the Bushings out, and on one of the Motors that had a hole, I just cleaned it up very well, sanded it, and used 2 part epoxy to fill in the hole. I put them back together and have been running strong for the past few months on a weekly basis without any issues what so ever. I don't ever have to wary about those stupid bushings anymore and water building up above those bushings.

By the way when I tried to contact a Suzuki tech I was told that I can not speak to any tech's and that I needed to just take my boat in to one of their dealers to have them look at it. That was really disappointing, what a joke.

Good Luck

 

[Jaymack]

Re: 03 Suzuki Df 140 Drive shaft housing and bushing shot

Seaholic

Thanks for the follow up. After much discussion with many different techs I ended up leaving the bushing out as well. I have run it now about 6 different times with no issues. I was a little tenative at first and kept the rpms down but have now run it up to full rpm with no issues. I have been told that there are a number of people in my area doing the same thing. Will try to keep this thread posted if I experience any problems in the future.