What broke on my Suzy Q?

special_kaye

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
170
Hey All,
While pulling a tube my '88 Suzy Q DT150ss sounded like it revved high. I immediately cut the throttle. We ended up getting towed in because in gear I could only go about 1 mile an hour. It sounds like it shifts, forward to reverse and neutral, but all it really does is swirl water.

First thought was a spun prop but sitting in the driveway, in gear, I can spin the prop both directions with no noise or resistance. Before I tear into everything and maybe make things worse, does any one have an idea what might have broke and where I should look first?

I do have the Suzuki factory manual but that doesn't mean I really want to tear the engine down, or really give me a place to look first. If it's in the lower end, I'll probably fix it, if it's in the upper, I'll have to take it in.

Thanks for your time.
Dennis
 

64osby

Admiral
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Messages
6,799
Re: What broke on my Suzy Q?

You did not give many details, but it sounds like a shear pin or key has gone.

I would start at the prop, take it off and inspect everything. If it looks good then you just start working upwards to the head.

I just fixed a motor where the woodrift key at the union between the motor and the lower unit had sheared. Had to pull the motor to get to it. It was only a 7hp so it was pretty easy.

Good luck.
 

special_kaye

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
170
Re: What broke on my Suzy Q?

Thank you very much for the reply.
There really aren't much more details than that. It worked fine, then stopped. I thought I heard the engine hiccup but wasn't sure. No one else heard a thing. Then we had to get towed in. Hopefully I'll get a chance to look at it today but it's looking like a 16 hour day at work. But at least I'm working.
 

steelespike

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 26, 2002
Messages
19,069
Re: What broke on my Suzy Q?

There is a Yamaha/Suzuki section I think you would get more detailed help there. Assuming it has had normal care it sounds like some sort of abnormal failure.Perhaps someone at the Suzuki section knows of a common failure
perhaps there is a drive(shear)pin.
 

jdzioba

Recruit
Joined
Sep 7, 2009
Messages
3
Re: What broke on my Suzy Q?

A similar thing happened to me once. My propeller has a rubber insert in the center that surrounds a metal tube that the drive shaft goes into. The rubber had lost it's grip on the metal tube. A new rubber insert solved my problem. If your prop has a rubber insert, it may have stripped and lost its grip.
 

special_kaye

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
170
Re: What broke on my Suzy Q?

There is a Yamaha/Suzuki section I think you would get more detailed help there. Assuming it has had normal care it sounds like some sort of abnormal failure.Perhaps someone at the Suzuki section knows of a common failure
perhaps there is a drive(shear)pin.

Thought I hit that section....
 

special_kaye

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
170
Re: What broke on my Suzy Q?

I would start at the prop, take it off and inspect everything. If it looks good then you just start working upwards to the head.

Good luck.

Thanks for the luck, I'm pretty sure I'm going to need it. This is exactly what I'm going to do. I'm hoping, maybe, I just broke a shift cable or something simple like that. Even a spun prop would be a welcome thing right now but because it spins freely in gear, I'm pretty sure it's not that. I just put in a VERY long day at work and probably won't tear into anything until the weekend. I'm just to brain dead right now to do anything useful. And the next couple of days are going to be the same.
My job keeps interfering with my work.
 

special_kaye

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
170
Re: What broke on my Suzy Q?

Okay, finally got out in the heat, humidity, and mosquitoes to work on this. Would you believe, the Admiral keeps asking me if I've fixed it yet. She wants to take the boat out! How cool is that?

The Admiral helped by pushing the throttle back and forth. Everything looks okay that way. Cables move smooth, nothing broke, shift lever at top of lower unit moves but has a noticeable clunk when going into or out of gear.

Anyway, I've dropped the lower unit and need some pretty general advice 'cause I don't really know what I'm doing.

Lower unit is now laying on it's side on a small table. When I go to push in the shift rod (forward) it's pretty tough to push in so I'm thinking the springs are okay. But, still, the prop will spin free.

Getting into reverse is a little tougher just because the shift thing is so small and hard to get a grip on. But, same thing, prop spins free.

Now, I have turned the drive shaft. It will only turn one direction. I don't have a spline tool so was just using a rag around the splines so I didn't have much power to turn in the other way but it didn't really want to go anyway.

So, here's what I need to know before I take the next step:
Should the drive shaft only turn one way?
How hard should it be to shift?
Should it shift without having to turn drive shaft or prop?
Should in snap into gear and stay or does shaft/prop need to turn before it'll stay?

The factory book I have doesn't mention any of this. There's so much knowledge in this forum, I hope someone could give me a few pointers.
Thanks for your time.
Dennis
 

fishhawk

Cadet
Joined
Jul 8, 2006
Messages
10
Re: What broke on my Suzy Q?

My DT150 wont let the prop spin while in gear-(by hand and engine not running).my guess is you spun the prop insert.
 

reeldutch

Lieutenant
Joined
Feb 2, 2004
Messages
1,340
Re: What broke on my Suzy Q?

never spin the drive shaft counter clock wise.
you will change the direction of the vains of the waterpump and they could get damaged or shear.

when the lu was on the engine you said it was shifting fine. did that mean the prop was spinning when you put it in gear? or the shift lever moved but it didnt go into gear???????


when you put the engine in gear the prop wil spin in one direction and wil lock up on the other direction when its in neutral it wil spin freely in both directions .


when you put it in gear it should not spin in both directions.

if it does probbebly your clutch dog is broken
 

special_kaye

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
170
Re: What broke on my Suzy Q?

When we were on the water, I thought we had spun the prop but it turns the prop drive shaft, or appears to. I haven't taken the prop off yet. I was hoping to get some more info before I do.

Before for I get ahead of myself, let me just say thanks for your time, everyone.

never spin the drive shaft counter clock wise.
you will change the direction of the vains of the waterpump and they could get damaged or shear.

I didn't try very hard and I never did actually spin it backwards. I would only say clockwise if looking down from the top. Maybe it was the water pump vanes keeping if from going the wrong direction. It's got about four to five hours on a new water pump and it's a pretty robust impeller.

when the lu was on the engine you said it was shifting fine. did that mean the prop was spinning when you put it in gear? or the shift lever moved but it didnt go into gear???????

No, the prop would not spin but it appeared to be shifting into and out of gear by watching the shift lever. There is a more noticeable "clunk" as it's shifted into or out of gear than I remember but I don't think I've shifted it with the engine not running since I first set the shift cable up.


when you put the engine in gear the prop wil spin in one direction and wil lock up on the other direction when its in neutral it wil spin freely in both directions .

My prop spins freely in both directions regardless of forward/reverse/neutral.

when you put it in gear it should not spin in both directions.

It does.

if it does probably your clutch dog is broken

Damn, I was afraid it was something internal like that. Okay, I have a book, I'm fairly mechanical, and I have a lot of "go get em" type spirit. Honestly, is this something that I can replace at home without to much trouble?

Yes, the CLUTCH DOG SHIFTER is available, for $64 plus shipping, and the pin is another $3.

Now, here's the kicker: I have an almost exact copy of this motor that I just have to go pickup. No, it doesn't run, and no, I don't really know what kind of shape the seals or anything is in but I figure, I could take apart the non-running motor, and use it to practice for the running motor. I might even be able to take parts off the older motor. Or, even the entire lower unit.

But the question remains, if I have to replace the clutch dog, is this something I can do at home?
Again, thank you all.
Dennis
 
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