Suzuki Outboard Engine Shut Down While Underway

C

C-Nile

New member
Fellow C-Brats,
Our Suzuki 40 HP engine shut down abruptly at half-throttle while underway, stranding us in the channel of a river with heavy commercial traffic, and we had to call SeaTow (their service was fantastic. and had to tow us 15 miles back to our marina.) The Lanyard was engaged. We had power to the power trim/tilt and to the gauges, but when we turned the key, the motor did not turn over. Our dealer (who is excellent) tested the motor a couple of days later, and it started, but on another attempt it failed. Finally, it was started yesterday, ran for several hours, and there were no problems. The diagnostic computer didn't reveal anything either. Has anyone experienced any similar problems like this with a Suzuki? Needless to say, this has left my wife and I rattled, with no confidence in the motor. Next week we're installing our short-shaft, 4HP, 4-Stroke Yamaha on one of those pull-up/push-down auxiliary motor brackets. It's ironic. There we were with 20 hours on a modern, fuel injected motor -- being towed, while people with 30 or 40 year-old Johnson motors were passing us by. 30 or 40 years ago, things were simple, and in my humble view, more dependable. :crook
 
Sorry to hear about your experience.
A few things to keep in mind, you may need to turn your key full off before you can try to restart. That is the case with my Suzuki engines. I have twice had an engine quit unexpectedly (2008 engines), but in my case, as far as I can tell, it was an issue of shifting from forward to neutral too quickly and perhaps bumping too close to reverse which I believe causes a shut down. Quitting while underway is another matter of course.

After something somewhat obvious like that....our engines run on three things as I'm sure you know...fuel, air, and spark. That is where your dealer will begin their troubleshooting. It could be as simple as having some water in the fuel which would not come up in any of the computer diagnostics to my knowledge.

You should have an extremely reliable engine. You have Seatow as insurance if something goes wrong and you're still under warranty. Just run your engine and bring it in if it does not run correctly until the problem is solved.

Great boat name by the way!
 
Luckily, we've had zero problems with our Suzuki 90 (knock on wood). Starts right up all the time and never quits until we turn her off. I've really grown to love our Suzi's, they are the epitome of reliable. Sorry you had a problem with yours. I hope they can figure it out.

Peter
C-Dancer
 
An island buddy of mine related a shocking story this past weekend: He was leaving Skyline Marina to cross Rosario strait and began to hear a loud clunking/hammering sound coming from his 1 Y.O. Suzuki 90 (not on a C-Dory). The engine literally came apart, with holes blown through the side of the block and oil everywhere! Of course his kicker wouldn't start, but luckily a mooring neighbor saw him and towed him back to tie up. He has no idea what happened. He has good warranty coverage and the dealer (Master Marine I believe) is standing behind the motor so far. It can happen to anyone, even with a virtually new, modern engine. I guess the lesson is keep the kickers, VHF radios, DSC, cell phones, flares, extinguishers, life jackets, etc. maintained and ready! Mike.
 
I have had Suzukis for over 10 years and currently have a 90hp, they have been absolutely reliable but I can also confirm what Matt Unique said; water in the fuel will shut you down and you wont necessarily see any trouble code in the diagnostics.

Enjoy your engine and as Westward so sagely pointed out, keep your kicker and safety gear up to date and functional.
 
I had a similar shutdown with our Honda once last year and again just yesterday. In both cases it was the corner of the helm seat brushing against the key when swiviling to look rearward. Others with a 16 footer have reported the same thing happening.
 
I want to thank everyone for the time expended to offer your kind advice. My dealer has been working very hard on this problem, and is beginning to think it has something to do with the neutral safety switch circuit, and he plans to work on it further this week. I guess it doesn't matter what engine you have today -- they are all so complex, that once in a while these things happen. It's nice to know I have a dealer to rely on. Marc's suggestion that it may be a bad harness has merit, albeit I just learned that the dealer disengaged the old harness and throttle assembly and used a different one during the testing. Marty: you are right about that seat rubbing against the engine key -- why doesn't C-Dory move that seat over to the left (or back) 1/4"? I'm curious -- once other CD 16 owner's engines stop due to brushing against the the throttle assembly, can you effect an immediate restart? In my case, I couldn't get it started again. Thanks again! 8)
 
C-Nile":15mbkom8 said:
Marty: you are right about that seat rubbing against the engine key -- why doesn't C-Dory move that seat over to the left (or back) 1/4"? I'm curious -- once other CD 16 owner's engines stop due to brushing against the the throttle assembly, can you effect an immediate restart? In my case, I couldn't get it started again. Thanks again! 8)
Click to expand...

It's probably because the factory usually doesn't install the engines or throttle/shift controls. They are installed by the dealers, and they should be the ones to put those controls where this cannot happen.

Charlie
 
C-Nile":18mnt5vi said:
I'm curious -- once other CD 16 owner's engines stop due to brushing against the the throttle assembly, can you effect an immediate restart? In my case, I couldn't get it started again. Thanks again! 8)
Click to expand...

My engine is a Honda. It starts right up. One post above, however, notes that on the Suzuki the key must be turned to "full off" and then restarted.
 
C-Nile, I've had a lot of good tech-specific outboard assistance at the iboat.com forum. If you haven't been there, the bottom part is engine brand specific. C-Brats is a great site for most everything but I'm pretty sure there are only a limited selection of members who share your specific motor and problem. At least you can expose the issue to more possible input.

Chris
 
Thanks for your good advice Chris. Marty -- I went so far as to remove the key, reinsert and turn, but to no affect. I think what we're going to have to do is to see if it fails again. Meanwhile, we will have our 48 pound Yamaha 4 HP kicker as a back-up (as well as SeaTow). I did pass on the information to the dealer that the seat bumps against the throttle assembly. I asked my wife who was operating the boat during the motor shutdown, and she said she did remember bumping into the assembly at around that time. So we passed this information on to our dealer.

Thanks everyone, this is a great group of people, and this is the best run forum I've see thus far!

Rich (aka C-Nile)
 
C-Nile:
I have a 140 Suzuki on my other boat which had performed flawlessly until this year's launch.
The first time I put her in to do some trophy rockfishing on the Chesapeake
with some friends, it started up fine and idled at the dock for 15 minutes Then I pulled out into the creek and gave it gas
and it died. Could not get it started again.
Took it in for service and they drained the VST, started it, pronounced it ready to go.
Picked it up and am already to try some more fishing, get 2 miles from my ramp and it dies. Won't restart.
WTF Had to go get @C to tow it back!
Hauled it, took it back to service and it turned out to be a pinched fuel line. The line runs next to to cowl after it comes into the motor.
Can't wait to put it back in the water to see what happens this time.
Service dealer did run it under load, at more than idle for half hour and no problems.
Service said he'd seen the same problem in older motors but not the newer ones.
Don't know if I did this when winterizing or if the
dealer did it when doing the repair.
Just something of all us Zuke lovers to be aware.
Good thing, they did not charge me.
Bill C
 
I would not blame the Suzuki-they are very reliable engines. As others, my guess is it is an electrical problem. When this happens, there are several things to do--and it is all helped if you have a kicker to get you going and out of danger--if in shoal water, anchor. We have often gone way out of range of any "sea tow" assistance.

First, work the shifter back and forth--since the neutral detent is often the probelm--and if you are not in neutral, it will do just what you described, then check all electrical fittings, incuding under the engine cowling. Next disconnect the battery for a minute, and allow any computers to reset (you can use the isolation switch for this). Of course check the fuel filters, be sure that there is fuel to the engine (squeez the bulb).

Have a plan, and the tools to impliment it. Having a shop manual aboard is not a bad idea either.
 
Bob -- I tried the lever, wiggled everything you can think of, but did not disconnect the power. You are right: with these modern computer control modules, they can get locked up. That might have worked! And I should have realized this, because I deal with this sort of thing all the time in my line of work. As for a kicker, it is being installed this week -- particularly it will be valuable in situations where SeaTow is inaccessible.

Warren, Chris -- I am looking in iboats and have not found anything yet, but shall persist

Bill -- this is electrical, no question about it.

Actually, I think Suzuki makes a great engine, however, my wife and I are rattled not knowing when, where or if the engine will ever die on us again. However, we are looking at this positively now. Anyone with a single engine, regardless of how old it is, or who manufactures it, is at risk every time they take their boat out. They could spin a prop, get tangled in fishing line -- anything. My wife and I will be prepared next time. And one quick comment about anchor line -- I had a perfectly fine anchor with only 100 feet of line. This was foolish. My boat quit in the middle of a deep channel, and we actually needed another 180 feet to achieve a 7-to-1 ratio. An anchor is the best safety equipment one can have, and I won't make that mistake again.

Thanks everyone,

Rich
 
In iboats.com it is best to join up and ask your specific question. The search feature returns too many non pertinent threads (just like another boating forum I know). Someone will almost always try to answer within a few hours.The moderators are usually pretty savvy with the brand but I do think they generally tend to be more experienced with older models. But it sounds like maybe you've found your problem.

chris
 
All,

Our dealer finally got to the bottom of the problem with our Suzuki engine: there was a manufacturing defect in the wiring harness in which a gray wire was not properly seated in its connector. This was a very difficult problem to find, because it was so intermittent. The engine would shut down at full throttle, and would not restart. There was no power to starter, but the power trim/tilt motor and gauges were powered. Eventually, the problem would clear, run for several miles, then fail again. Only in the last two weeks did it fail to a point where the problem could be successfully diagnosed. It was a devil of a problem to find, and it sure looked like the engine kill switch at first. What made it eventually fail was the consistent use of power trim/tilt motor, which caused flexure of the wires and an eventually hard failure of the connector. We've run the motor for approximately 10 hours since it has been fixed, and we've had no problems. The engine is running like a top!

Rich
 
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