KeyWest1500
Cadet
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2012
- Messages
- 9
Good day everyone,
First and foremost I'd like to thank everyone on these forums for helping in more ways than one with my work on my boats and engines throughout my days and nights in my garage and shop at home. Some of you have been my lifeline in many occasions.
This is my first post with a boat I just purchased with a '97 Suzuki DT65 that has turned out to be a complete nightmare. I'm hoping to get some guidance and advise as to whether it's worth putting any more money into it or selling it for parts.
Please bare with me and I'll provide the details of what I have.
I purchased a '97 Key West 1500 Sportsman with a Suzuki DT65 used in salt water that ran perfectly with the earmuffs on. Hull is in great shape and I got a great deal on it so I took a chance and took it home. I took it out on the water for the first time and it started right up and ran great at idle, but would not go faster than an idle even when throttled up to full power. The throttle cables were in bad shape so I changed them out along with the water separator as it was in dire condition as well. No change, still ran at no more than an idle. Compression was 95 top, 105 middle, 120 bottom.
Removed all the fuel and found tons of water in it so I rebuilt the entire fuel system. Cleaned the tank, new lines, new fuel pump, had the carbs rebuilt and cleaned everything really well. When the carbs were removed I found a broken reed valve so I upgraded to Boysen Power Reeds and fixed that issue. Put it all back together and it ran like a brand new engine. Compression did not improve much at all. Stayed the same throughout all cylinders (95,105,120). Cranked right up and got up on a plane quickly. Super quiet and smooth and responsive. Ran great! All good right? Nope.
Water wasn't consistent out of the tell tail and it was getting hot. I thought maybe it was no big deal, just needed a stat change. When I went to remove the stat to check the condition, I broke 2 bolts right off. Not a good sign as I could clearly feel thy were corroded badly. I got the stat off and it was in horrible condition. Useless. So bad, that I decided to inspect further and took the head off. I almost fell over. It looked like cancer had attacked my engine. The corrosion and build up was so bad I was amazed it even ran. Ever.
I have posted pictures below so that you can clearly see the damage of the reed valve, the PH, the stat and overall condition. There was also some damage to the top cylinder and piston (the one with lowest pressure) where it looks like the steel reed that broke off bounced around. I have also posted some pictures of the PH after cleaning and repairing it in my shop. It's a work in progress and it looks like I can get all the corrosion and buildup out in my shop and put it all back together.
Do you guys think this is a smart move? Should I not waste my time and look for a new engine or should I proceed with the restoration of the PH and top Cylinder as I have already rebuilt everything else in the system? Any advise you guys can provide will be greatly appreciated.
I am sorry for the long post, just wanted to be as clear as possible. I will of course keep you all posted on the progression if I decide to continue with the rebuild.
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First and foremost I'd like to thank everyone on these forums for helping in more ways than one with my work on my boats and engines throughout my days and nights in my garage and shop at home. Some of you have been my lifeline in many occasions.
This is my first post with a boat I just purchased with a '97 Suzuki DT65 that has turned out to be a complete nightmare. I'm hoping to get some guidance and advise as to whether it's worth putting any more money into it or selling it for parts.
Please bare with me and I'll provide the details of what I have.
I purchased a '97 Key West 1500 Sportsman with a Suzuki DT65 used in salt water that ran perfectly with the earmuffs on. Hull is in great shape and I got a great deal on it so I took a chance and took it home. I took it out on the water for the first time and it started right up and ran great at idle, but would not go faster than an idle even when throttled up to full power. The throttle cables were in bad shape so I changed them out along with the water separator as it was in dire condition as well. No change, still ran at no more than an idle. Compression was 95 top, 105 middle, 120 bottom.
Removed all the fuel and found tons of water in it so I rebuilt the entire fuel system. Cleaned the tank, new lines, new fuel pump, had the carbs rebuilt and cleaned everything really well. When the carbs were removed I found a broken reed valve so I upgraded to Boysen Power Reeds and fixed that issue. Put it all back together and it ran like a brand new engine. Compression did not improve much at all. Stayed the same throughout all cylinders (95,105,120). Cranked right up and got up on a plane quickly. Super quiet and smooth and responsive. Ran great! All good right? Nope.
Water wasn't consistent out of the tell tail and it was getting hot. I thought maybe it was no big deal, just needed a stat change. When I went to remove the stat to check the condition, I broke 2 bolts right off. Not a good sign as I could clearly feel thy were corroded badly. I got the stat off and it was in horrible condition. Useless. So bad, that I decided to inspect further and took the head off. I almost fell over. It looked like cancer had attacked my engine. The corrosion and build up was so bad I was amazed it even ran. Ever.
I have posted pictures below so that you can clearly see the damage of the reed valve, the PH, the stat and overall condition. There was also some damage to the top cylinder and piston (the one with lowest pressure) where it looks like the steel reed that broke off bounced around. I have also posted some pictures of the PH after cleaning and repairing it in my shop. It's a work in progress and it looks like I can get all the corrosion and buildup out in my shop and put it all back together.
Do you guys think this is a smart move? Should I not waste my time and look for a new engine or should I proceed with the restoration of the PH and top Cylinder as I have already rebuilt everything else in the system? Any advise you guys can provide will be greatly appreciated.
I am sorry for the long post, just wanted to be as clear as possible. I will of course keep you all posted on the progression if I decide to continue with the rebuild.
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