150 hp Suzuki afraid of water

[Get-it-Wet]

Can someone help??!!! For some reason it seems as though my outboard motor is afraid of water. I crank it in the driveway and it runs fine, I take it to the lake and it will not run for anyone. Sure it cranks, I push off the dock, I get a few feet away and then she dies and leaves us stranded. Needless to say it is leaving a sour taste in our mouths for this boat and souring our boating experience. It is connected to a deep V hull 20' Mako that I am using a portable gas tank for instead of the original gas tank (because the original is supposedly somewhere around a 40 gal capacity). Any suggestions?

 

[99yam40]

Re: 150 hp Suzuki afraid of water

Do not know what year motor you have or if it is a 2 or 4 stroke ,but check compression on all cylinders, then the spark. If that is all good, then start looking at the fuel side. A manual is a must have along with the proper tools and equipment for testing

 

[Get-it-Wet]

Re: 150 hp Suzuki afraid of water

I do not know the year either, but compression is good on all cylinders (low compression motor). Will look at the fuel side and see if I can find anything. The guy I bought the boat from practically gave it away but did not have much info, so anything I know about it is because I found it.

 

[sflwesty]

Re: 150 hp Suzuki afraid of water

Out of the water there is no backpressure,in the water there is.It sounds like a fuel issue clogged carbs

 

[James R]

Re: 150 hp Suzuki afraid of water

Do you have the model and serial number. From that we can get the year. If not, if it is the original color paint we can get close enough.
You have raised my curiosity. A low compression motor?
The tests that have been suggested are vital in finding out what the problem is but I agree it sounds like carb cleaning time.

 

[eli_lilly]

Re: 150 hp Suzuki afraid of water

+1 on carb cleaning... breaking the carbs down and cleaning them, not just spraying "cleaner" into the throat.

-E

 

[stylesabu]

Re: 150 hp Suzuki afraid of water

try enriching with carb cleanerwhen it starts to stall if you can keep it running its a fuel issue. you will need 2 people to do this. it sounds like its running lean

 

[Get-it-Wet]

Re: 150 hp Suzuki afraid of water

Sorry I have not responded but work has taken me away. Back now, caught up on this thread, I will take a photo of the motor and any id tags. I did talk to the guy I bought it from and he told me that he cannot remember if he replaced the fuel pump. With that info, and maybe a little more on info on the motor, I can finally get this resolved. The carbs look good and I did try adjusting the screws to where it sounded pretty good on dry land. The compression was in the high 80's if I remember correctly (I took it to someone when I first bought the boat and I saw what the compression was, he was a little surprised too but did not see anything wrong with it). I will put the pics up tomorrow of the id tag, motor with cover, motor without cover. Does the fuel tank have to be pressurized? I was told that it did not because this is what the fuel pump was for, I have a priming bulb to get it going.

 

[mfgniagara]

Re: 150 hp Suzuki afraid of water

A fishing buddy of mine bought a 150 Suzuki motor last fall, I just got done rebuilding the carbs on it again. I checked the compression and got almost an even 145 on all cylinders, give or take a pound. It fires up easy, runs pretty strong too. The carbs are pretty finicky but I'd be more than a bit concerned about a motor with only 80 psi of compression. It should run but to me, that's a pretty low number for a larger motor. I'd put some fuel mix in a spray bottle and see it you can make it run in water with that, if it has spark and fuel, and the compression is enough, it should fire. My concern is that there's not enough compression to overcome the back pressure when it's in the water.

 

[James R]

Re: 150 hp Suzuki afraid of water

I am glad to see someone else has picked up on the "low compression"
I have not done a 150 but I have done most Suzuki motors up to 140 and I have never seen one below 125 PSI. Most are consistently 130 even after boring.
I think the order of 80PSI is way too low and may be the source of your problem.

 

[Get-it-Wet]

Re: 150 hp Suzuki afraid of water

Here is a photo of the id tag found on the motor:

Here is a photo of the motor:

I gotta be honest, I am a little concerned now about the compression on the motor. It had been awhile since it had been in the water before I got it, but I was assured that they ran it quite often. I bought the boat from a pretty reliable person, but I'm gonna ask, if the compression is too low, what do you do about it? The mechanic I had checked it was a little surprised about how low the compression was, but said that it should be fine because they were close on all cyliders. What do I do now?

 

[99yam40]

Re: 150 hp Suzuki afraid of water

the 3 in the serial #351062 says it is a 1993 model
DT means it is a 2 stoke
Are you mixing oil and fuel or is it oil injected? and are you sure it is getting the proper oil mix?
Make sure it have fresh clean fuel and oil
If you are saying it will idle while in the water but not take off when giving it gas then clean the carbs and adjust properly

 

[James R]

Re: 150 hp Suzuki afraid of water

If you want the motor to go like a new one then it needs to be stripped down and bored. Boring and new pistons will probably do the job. The Suzuki cranks are very good so that part will probably be ok. Can be expensive unless you can do the tear down and rebuild yourself.
If you can do this then expect to spend around $1400 on boring, parts and materials.

 

[Get-it-Wet]

Re: 150 hp Suzuki afraid of water

The previous owner disconnected the oil injection, so I do mix the oil and fuel together. I probably go a little rich for just in case, so I know that it gets enough oil.

 

[stratos92]

Re: 150 hp Suzuki afraid of water

While I don't have a proposed solution to your problem. I do relate to your "low compression" motor problems though. I recently bought my first boat and had the motor (Evinrude 150) checked out prior to buying and the compression was 80-85 across all cylinders. When I questioned the mechanic about those numbers he also told me that the compression was good and that mine was also a "low compression motor". Needless to say after a few trips and the motor never running right I found out that my "low compression" motor has a cracked piston and needs to be replaced or rebuilt. So I feel your pain...good luck and I hope you find a simple solution to your problem.

 

[99yam40]

Re: 150 hp Suzuki afraid of water

Hopefully whoever disconnected the oil injection did it properly, otherwise it could be very bad for the motor