1981 Suzuki DT65 questions

[possom813]

I bought this motor off of another forum.

The ad:

I have up for sale a 81 Suzuki DT65 2 cycle outboard motor.
It runs good and has clear title in my name.
The engine compression tested 125 on one 135 on the other cylinder. It has newly rebuilt lower unit with water pump and controls with 10ft cables.It doesn't have tilt but has the button on controls. I re-fiberglassed top cover and gel coated black then sprayed the inside with bed-liner material for noise suppression.It has 20" shaft and good prop.

I bought it and a friend of the family that is a retired boat mechanic helpe me install it.

At the time, he didn't think to check the linkage adjustment and tried to walk me through it over the phone yesterday. He won't be able to actually help me solve the problem until this weekend.

I'd like to have several ideas for him to check out, just in case it's more than linkage adjustments.



I took the boat out yesterday for the first time. We launched and the boat cranked up just fine. I forgot to lock the motor down for reverse, but it was ok as long as I didn't rev it up too much. Good enough to get out into the water about 100 yards.

When I put it in forward, it revved up like it wasn't in gear. Tried it a few times with the same result.

So we trolling motor'd it back to the ramp.

Brought it home and put the water ears on it and called my bud.

He walked me through adjusting the carb linkage because of what I described to him. It seemed to work, with the ears on it went into gear both directions and revved up pretty good.

So back to the ramp today.

Launched the boat(only left it hooked to the trailer with a rope this time to prevent floating away).

Fired right up, put it in reverse and the water by the motor got violent like you would expect, but the boat didn't move or attempt to move at all.

Put it in forward to try and drive back onto the trailer.

The water didn't bubble, but I felt it shift, when I revved it up it revved really high like it was in neutral.

Messed with it for a few minutes, and at one point it felt like it surged forward with the gear shift in reverse.

I checked the linkages yesterday with the ears on and the propeller is turning the right way in boat directions.

 

[eli_lilly]

Re: 1981 Suzuki DT65 questions

Prop may be slipping on hub, put a mark on it to check.

-E

 

[possom813]

Re: 1981 Suzuki DT65 questions

Where exactly am I supposed to mark? I'm new to the boat motors and was told, long after the fact, that I shouldn't have bought a suzuki if I planned on working on it.

 

[eli_lilly]

Re: 1981 Suzuki DT65 questions

The prop is sitting around a rubber donut hub thing. This breaks loose if the prop hits something, to avoid damaging the drivetrain. Sometimes it can slip. Put a mark right near the center of the prop, where it connects to the shaft. Then put another mark on the outside ring, the same one that the blades are connected to. The two marks should not separate when you're trying to run your engine.

Yes, an old Suzuki is very difficult for an amateur to work on when compared to an old Mercury or Johnson. The manuals are poor and there are few used parts available. But in this case, your problem is either the propeller, the gearcase, or just linkage adjustment, and these are just about the same difficulty (which is "not very") for any outboard. If it's the gearcase, you probably won't be able to find a replacement, so hopefully it's the propeller.

-E