2004 DF140 Exhaust Leak

I have been having trouble with a poor idle and stalling causing the check engine light to come on flashing three times with one beep. The repair shop said that a trouble code was not logged with the computer and they tested the engine in the shop and in the river with no troubles (apparently with the engine cover removed). When I got it back it still had trouble idling and I noticed a noise like an exhaust leak. Upon further investigation I found that the exhaust was leakin from the casting on the engine holder (just below the block on the port side) at the exhaust plug. I have plugged the port with JB Weld and the engine idles perfectly now, at low speed it was sucking in exhaust gas with the cover on. The casting has apparently corroded and is very thin in this area. I flush the motor each time I use it on the hose connection but with the engine not running. Has anyone else had this trouble and what could be the cause of the corrosion? Is there any repair that could be made short of replacing the Engine Holder set, ^$1000 Any thoughts on flushing the engine this way may not clean out the exhaust chamber?

Re: 2004 DF140 Exhaust Leak

New info from the dealer: the engine is two months out of warranty but they will spring for the parts (engine holder set), I have to cover the labor, about 8 shop hrs. The engine block has to be pulled and so does the lower unit. This issue is unusual but not unheard of. It seems that there is an amount of cooling water that is mixed in with the exhaust to cool it and the cooling water flashes to steam as it passes down the exhaust manifold. The combination of the gasses and the steam is very corrosive to the aluminum casting. The service manager said that this is also happening to Yamaha 4-strokes as well. It would seem that an anti-corrosion coating in the exhaust chamber and passages would be warranted as this could become a major repair expense for every owner of 4-stroke outboards.

Re: 2004 DF140 Exhaust Leak

Exact thing happened on my four stroke 9.9 yamaha.

Model year 2001, yamaha did spring for parts - but it cost me for the 8 hours of labor. This is really a design issue and should not be happening on such new machines.

As for flushing, that doesn't seem to matter?

On a 2004 I think you have no choice but to fix it - but $1,000.00 out of pocket - I would fight over that. The 8 hours is 4 hrs to take a part and 4 hours to install new "free" parts. I think Yamaha should pay half. Why should you agree to pay to fix this defect -. A 2004 is almost new and if they refuse to pick it up, pay the shop and Yamaha to Small Claims for the entire 8 hours - you will win because the written warranty is not as important as the implied warranty.