suzukidave
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2000
- Messages
- 387
Hi I've got a 1989 55hp Suzuki on my boat with a tach issue. It doesn't have one and I'd like to install one but can't seem to find one. For those more mechanicallyinclined than me maybe you can tell me if it's possible.<br /><br />It's not a regular Suzuki 3 cyl DT55 motor but a DT55M, which is a 2 cylinder commercial skiff motor (manual start and used to have a tiller before it went on my boat). According to the Suzuki dealer there is no Suzuki tach made for it and he said he had no idea if I could find an after market tach that would work. The motor has a rectifier but no regulator, and, according to the dealer, it has 4 poles. <br /><br />I bought an after market tach and tried to set it up. The motor is supposed to run at 5500 w-o-t and idle at 750-1000 rpm but at the 4 pole setting the tach showed about 4200 rpm w-o-t and about 1500 rpm at idle -- both impossible based on the way the motor idles and the speed of the boat at w-o-t. At 2 poles I got 5600 rpm at w-o-t but 2000 rpm at idle -- then after about three weeks the tach completely died in spite of a 10 amp in line fuse (which didn't blow). I got another replacement tach and it died in a week.<br /><br />Before you say get another motor, I love this motor because of the manual start -- I keep the boat far from town for the summer and I am happy to have no battery/starter/tilt worries. I would just like to know what RPM I'm running at plus I suspect I'm currently under-propped and may even be over-revving.<br /><br />Can anyone offer any suggestions on how to figure this out?