outboard DIY repairs

[draadkar]

i have an old 70's suzuki 4.4hp still in full original condition and use to run like a dream. Lately i had either airflow or petrol issues that i cant fix with the little bit of knowledge that i have ( turning a screw here and there) i have taken this motor a couple of times to clean the carb etc, and everytime it costs R500 plus. Now if you do the sums i could have probably bought a better outboard but i love antiques and dont want to shelve my baby.

the motor idles fine, but as soon as you open the throttle it starts coughing and looses power and will die, if you dont take the motor back to idle speed.

now my question: is it at all possible to clean or service this type of motor yourself, do i have to take it to the dealers everytime, man it is really getting expensive and i would love to fix and service this motor myself. I have a little bit of knowledge but not nearly enough and i am to scared to start taking parts of as putting it back in the right order is challenging for most men ( finally done, oops where does this screw come from )

i would appreciate any help from the mechanical minded people on flytalk.

thanks and looking forward to your feedback

[draadkar]

Attachment 11241

her first outing in hermanus a couple of years ago

[nkula_nkula]

i have an old 70's suzuki 4.4hp still in full original condition and use to run like a dream. Lately i had either airflow or petrol issues that i cant fix with the little bit of knowledge that i have ( turning a screw here and there) i have taken this motor a couple of times to clean the carb etc, and everytime it costs R500 plus. Now if you do the sums i could have probably bought a better outboard but i love antiques and dont want to shelve my baby.

the motor idles fine, but as soon as you open the throttle it starts coughing and looses power and will die, if you dont take the motor back to idle speed.

now my question: is it at all possible to clean or service this type of motor yourself, do i have to take it to the dealers everytime, man it is really getting expensive and i would love to fix and service this motor myself. I have a little bit of knowledge but not nearly enough and i am to scared to start taking parts of as putting it back in the right order is challenging for most men ( finally done, oops where does this screw come from )

i would appreciate any help from the mechanical minded people on flytalk.

thanks and looking forward to your feedback

My guess is you left the engine standing for an extended period of time without use.

Clean the carb... What you'll prob find is there is dried up 2 stroke oil in the needle/float valve mechanism which clogs the supply and starves the engine of petrol everytime you open the throttle. I have a 28hp Mariner and the same thing happens if I haven't run the engine in a while. If I clean it then it runs fine after that. It is really simple to do and just requires someone to show you how its done. I have no experience on suzukis but presume it would be the same as other outboards of the same era.

If you want you can bring it around to my place and we can have a look and see if it can be fixed easily?

A way to stop this happening is to drain the "float" chamber on your carb before storage. (there is a screw at the bottom which you can open to drain it). I can also show you how...

[poppernel]

My guess is you left the engine standing for an extended period of time without use.

Clean the carb... What you'll prob find is there is dried up 2 stroke oil in the needle/float valve mechanism which clogs the supply and starves the engine of petrol everytime you open the throttle. I have a 28hp Mariner and the same thing happens if I haven't run the engine in a while. If I clean it then it runs fine after that. It is really simple to do and just requires someone to show you how its done. I have no experience on suzukis but presume it would be the same as other outboards of the same era.

If you want you can bring it around to my place and we can have a look and see if it can be fixed easily?

A way to stop this happening is to drain the "float" chamber on your carb before storage. (there is a screw at the bottom which you can open to drain it). I can also show you how...

Spot on here, another problem with 2- strokes is lack of power, do not beleive the guys when they say your rings have gone, 2-stroke can quickly carbon up your exhaust port, causing lack of power and stalling on acceleration.

Method to clean, remove exhaust, simply pull the cylinder forward blocking the exhaust port with the piston, now clean the port without damaging the piston itself, scratch all the carbon from the port until clean. Now clean good and then pull as if to start to rid the exess.. Pull a dozen of times or so. Replace exhaust, engine should now fire on the second pull at least.

DAVE

[Michael]

A way to stop this happening is to drain the "float" chamber on your carb before storage. (there is a screw at the bottom which you can open to drain it). I can also show you how...

Easier way is to just simply disconnect your fuel line and run the engine until the carbs are empty and the motor stalls. Then try to start a few more times to make sure the carbs are dry and empty. (Obviously run the motor either while on the water, or with a hose-pipe connector...don't run the motor without cooling water going through the engine).

I second the motion about your carbs being dirty, but you say you have had it cleaned a few times and it still does it...then it's weird. Maybe the guys didn't clean it properly, or one of the jets are faulty or closed up a bit, and the guys didn't pick it up.

I'd strip it myself if it were my engine, but if you don't have the tech skills to tackle it then don't. I'd take Liam up on his offer to help you check if you can find the problem.

[damage]

Easier way is to just simply disconnect your fuel line and run the engine until the carbs are empty and the motor stalls.

this is Not a good idea for two stroke engines as the oil in the fuel is needed for lubrication
you are effectively running the bearings dry evey time you do
The extra wear my be minimal but I'd opt for the manual drain of the carbs as this leaves a slight coating of oil on the moving parts helping avoid corrosion too

/d

[nkula_nkula]

this is Not a good idea for two stroke engines as the oil in the fuel is needed for lubrication
you are effectively running the bearings dry evey time you do
The extra wear my be minimal but I'd opt for the manual drain of the carbs as this leaves a slight coating of oil on the moving parts helping avoid corrosion too

/d

Agree with Damage here, that is why you manually drain the carbs and do not let it run "dry".... Got the same advice from my engineer friend who works on boats/engines as his profession. He assisted me with a full recon of my motor.

[nicholas]

Old 2 stroke bikes had the same issues, if you have cleaned the carbs and stripped it down put it all back together correctly then i suggest its the oil/petrol mix is too rich, running to much oil in the mix will dirty up the carbs very quickly, what ratio of oil to petrol does it run? or i would check the carb needle it sounds like when you open the throttle you flood the engine with fuel and the needle is getting stuck,the other thing i would check is the petrol tank,i would empty it and clean it out or even burn it clean if its easy to disconect something is either blocking the fuel or the reverse as i mentioned.

[draadkar]

guys great feedback thank you all! all great advice..

@nkula, i would real like to take you up on your offer to clean the carb as i would like to maintain and service this motor myself. the motor only gets used about 3 -5 times a year and it is very likely as you posted that those long periods is what causes this clogging and throttle issues.

@pops a good point and hopefully something i can do in the future myself.
@michael i also think they missed something on the last service as the problem was still there.

thanks nicholas some good info, i think its 50 /1 will check later today, i have a sticker on the tank as i kept forgetting.

again thank you all!

[nkula_nkula]

guys great feedback thank you all! all great advice..

@nkula, i would real like to take you up on your offer to clean the carb as i would like to maintain and service this motor myself. the motor only gets used about 3 -5 times a year and it is very likely as you posted that those long periods is what causes this clogging and throttle issues.

@pops a good point and hopefully something i can do in the future myself.
@michael i also think they missed something on the last service as the problem was still there.

thanks nicholas some good info, i think its 50 /1 will check later today, i have a sticker on the tank as i kept forgetting.

again thank you all!

Running at 1:50 is good for your engine, advisable on older motors even though it smokes a bit it ensures good lubrication of the engine (which is important on old engines.