Water in the fuel. The carburetor. Those were the two most-suggested sources of problems with the outboard. Changing the fuel and changing the carburetor did not solve the problem. So now what?
I have had problems with the outboard since soon after I bought it last November. On one of the first outings, the outboard started quickly with the choke pulled out, then idled easily at the dock. Leaving the dock I went to add a little throttle and the outboard stopped running.
There were issues with it starting on the winter trip down south. Then more issues, both with starting and also with simply stopping in the middle of a run, on the spring trip.
Returning home from Chestertown, I dropped the outboard off with my mechanic. He said there were only a few drops of fuel in the carburetor bowl and the spark plug wasn't sparking (that was one of four spark plugs I used on the trip). So he put a new spark plug in and changed out the carburetor. It ran, but no reliably. Starting involved having the throttle set high and leaving the choke pulled out for an extended period. This is not the way these outboards are meant to start, plus it left a lot of carbon on the spark plug. But at least it would start this way. When I used it on the river a little over a week ago, the outboard started up and I headed down the river. After about 20 minutes, the outboard died. It started again after three or four pulls. I had a couple of hours of good sailing. Then I lowered the sails, started the outboard and headed to the dock. In the middle of the shipping channel - fortunately no traffic in the channel - the outboard simply quit running. On this day it was two strikes and your are out. I came home, got online and ordered a new outboard.
The new outboard, the same exact model, starts as it should. Throttle set at the "start" mark, choke pulled out. Pull the starter cord. Engine starts, after a few seconds push the choke in and it runs at idle. I've run the new outboard, both on the river and at home, for a few hours and it starts and runs reliably. So I think I am good.
I've set the trouble-some outboard aside and will look at it more this fall. After doing some research online I have begun to wonder if the issue is the fuel pump. Suzuki 2.5 four strokes like this at one time did not have a fuel pump, it was simply a gravity feed from the fuel tank to the carburetor. About a decade ago Suzuki added a vacuum-style fuel pump. I found a video on YouTube where a mechanic by-passed the fuel pump by running a short fuel line from the tank to the carb (making it a gravity feed like the older models). I think I will try this at some point. If it starts and runs properly with the direct line, then I will know the issue is the fuel pump. If it doesn't solve the problem, then I am not sure where I will go from there.
The important thing is that I have got an outboard I can trust for the trip to Maine. I will worry about the other outboard later.
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As for the trip to Maine, I had planned to drive up Saturday and Sunday. The forecast shows rain both days, and below is the forecast for Maine on Monday, the day I had planned to launch. I will wait a few days and head up when the forecast is better.
2 comments:
Steve,
As intermittant and unpredictable as the problem is, I would suspect an electrical problem. Not starting for many pulls, and then starting fine a few minutes later suggests an ignition problem. Best of luck tracking it down.
Roger
Enjoy Maine! You can't go wrong exploring the many coves and islets in and around Deer Island, hope you get a chance to sail there. And poke into the Wooden Boat School in Brooklin! A word on fog - after a while, you can SMELL the rocks and ledges. Always keep a dead-reckoning log going, so when (not if!) the fog closes in, you'll be ready. Fair winds!
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