1988 or 89 Suzuki DT175; opinions?

[agrazela]

Can anyone comment on the 1988-89 Suzuki DT175 (175hp) as regards reliability, economy, difficulty to work on and/or find parts for, etc.?

 

[murphy1]

Re: 1988 or 89 Suzuki DT175; opinions?

I have a 1989 dt200 and it works great for me. It has 3 carbs which makes fine tuning a little tough. It's not difficult to work on, except when the bolts break, but with help of the good old manual and answers from these guys I'm confident as an amateur mechanic. As far as reliability, that depends how it's owners took care of it. Parts you can get then from Brownspoint.com, except decals, those are discontinued. Economy, I'm not sure as far as gph because I make short runs, but it's definately not as efficient the newer fuel injected motors. thats my 2 cents

 

[ThomWV]

Re: 1988 or 89 Suzuki DT175; opinions?

I too had a 1989 DT-200, which is the same engine with slightly larger carbs, and ran it up until last fall - at which time it was still running strong. Mine has slightly over 2,000 hours on the meter when I sold it and is still running strong on a 20-foot Mako down in the Keys. In the years I owned the engine my total cost for parts and maintaninece, including annual water pump replacements, was less than $1,000. Parts availability might be a bit of a problem, but of course there is always Brown's Point, but for us it never was because in the entire time I had the engine the only parts I ever had to replace were a throtle position sensor and a fuel enrichment valve. The fuel enrichment valve had been bad since the day I bought the engine, but I didn't know it until about year 4 or so. So if you ask me its the most reliable engine on the market. As for economy, well, there isn't any large V-6 that anyone would call economical. My maximum burn rate was just under 20 gallons per hour, at trolling speeds it sucked down gas at 3~4 GPH. I used to cruise at about 4,200 RPM and it would burn right at 12~14 GPH in that area. The 175 should burn just a bit less and of course if your boat is lighter than mine (23' walkaround at about 6,000 pounds fully loaded) it will get better economy as well.<br /><br />Good engines in my my opnion. Oh, I sold mine for $900 with controls, guages, cables, and a stainless prop. I knew the guy who bought it or I would have asked (firm) around $1,200 for it.<br /><br />Thom

 

[agrazela]

Re: 1988 or 89 Suzuki DT175; opinions?

Thanks for the infos, guys.<br /><br />This motor would be on a 18.5' center console, fully laden weight (including people) estimated at an absolute maximum of about 3800 lbs (yes, that's ALOT of motor for such a boat).<br /><br />With that rig, I would be happy at under 20 GPH fuel usage WOT, and about 15-17 GPH at cruising rpm...so it seems on target as far as economy.<br /><br />The issue of parts availablity and the sparse dealership network still has me spooked, though...I spent about 15 minutes online just looking for an impeller for this motor and could not find one (not even on iboats); that's scary.

 

[murphy1]

Re: 1988 or 89 Suzuki DT175; opinions?

I'm with ThomWV, the only thing I had to replace was the TPS and impellor. I bought my parts from brownspoint.com. I was even able to just take my impellor to a local marine shop, they matched it up to their life size charts and ordered one and I got it in a couple days. You're right though, I had a tough time finding suzuki parts and dealers initially, but they are out there. Where are you located? I'm in the Boston area and know of 4 suzuki dealers that I can get parts through, but since I work in front of a computer all day I just order them online so the parts are there for the weekend.

 

[spego]

Re: 1988 or 89 Suzuki DT175; opinions?

Well I wanted to see if someone can help me here.<br /><br />I have a 1988 DT175. I bought it on a bass boat and it had a lot of problems at first but most seem to be straightened out. I replaced the throttle sensor and had some choke issues. But anyway it really hauls now (64-68mph). But here is the problem. It hates to start. Once it is warmed up....it fires right up. But when it is cold it just does not want to run at all. It will sputter and then stall. Then start it again and same thing. It chokes out when you try to give it gas. I understand that 2 strokes dont run well when they are cold but this is worse than a usual stubborn outboard. You really have to get it started a few times and then run the **** out of it....then if you stop for a few hours and go to start it agiain it starts all over again. Any ideas? Please email me at spego69@excite.com if someone can help me or have some ideas.

 

[spego]

Re: 1988 or 89 Suzuki DT175; opinions?

Also another quick question.....if i were to want to buy the parts....what would be required to convert the 175 to a 200? Powerhead, carbs? the boat is rated for a 190 so unless i were to buy a 200 and change the cowl to a 175...just looking for the cheapest way to sneak more hourses.

 

[R_Andersen]

Re: 1988 or 89 Suzuki DT175; opinions?

spego, I beleive you just need to change the carbs, but someone else can verify that. I have a set of 3 recently rebuilt carbs from a 1992 DT200 I would be willing to sell if you are interested. Contact me via email at grandnat@optonline.net if you're interested.<br /><br />-rob

 

[spego]

Re: 1988 or 89 Suzuki DT175; opinions?

thanks for the posting rob. Yeah if someone can verify if thats all i need to do then I will run with it. If anyone knows let me know....also about that starting problem mentioned above too!! Thanks guys

 

[JB]

Re: 1988 or 89 Suzuki DT175; opinions?

To Outboard Non-Repair

 

[jim dozier]

Re: 1988 or 89 Suzuki DT175; opinions?

Spego you may just need to enrichen the idle circuit a tad. If your carbs are clean this may help the start and the take off from idle. If the carbs are dirty fix that first. The idle adjustment screws meter air so try screwing each one in 1/8 of a turn. You should probably start a new post instead of hijacking this one.