Not to happy with new 15 hp Suzuki review

[tomme boy]

I bought this last year. It is the new EFI model. I had a couple of problems with it last year flooding out and would not start. They have replaced the evaporator ( I think that was what it was called ), fuel filter, injectors. Not sure if this has fixed it. It was at the end of the year when it was done. It would flood out and leak gas after a long run. Then would not start.

Now it has a oil leak. It is coming out between the lower unit and the midsection. They first told me it was the cover on the oil filter was not tight enough. I have had it out 2 times since they "fixed" the leak. Oil has returned. I pulled the side cover and there is no oil coming from around the filter cover. None to be seen anywhere. Except between the midsection and the lower. It is engine oil not gear oil.

I am thinking it is the lower main seal. If that is bad, what are the chances that the main bearings are bad? The seal went bad, if it is, because of a reason. Seals don't usually go bad foe no reason. Especially on a new motor. Something else usually causes it. We will see what they say when they call next week.

It pisses me off as this is my first 4-stroke. I have not had any luck with this motor. This was one of the reasons for never getting one before this. I knew I should have bought the E-tec.

 

[thudpucker]

Take it back. Ask for a new/different motor.
If that don't work, take your sales contract to the Local Prosecutor.
He'll tell you what your options are.
Don't let it get out of the Guarantee period still broken.

 

[ccm]

thudpucker » 10 Apr 2014, 00:43[/url]"]Take it back. Ask for a new/different motor.
If that don't work, take your sales contract to the Local Prosecutor.
He'll tell you what your options are.
Don't let it get out of the Guarantee period still broken.

100% agree. Don't let this bad impression reflect on all four strokes. I say bad engineering on Suzuki's behalf.

 

[keelme]

had a merc 15 did about same the base gasket between power head and mid section around drive shaft had slid out it was taken back to dealer they said it was fixed but not I pulled lower I seen oil on drive shaft so I pull power head off found problem ..make sure your oil isn't getting gas in it it maybe getting to full and leak

 

[muskiemike12]

Your dealer sounds like the problem. Are there any other warranty service centers near you? If your dealer won't work with you, then you need to contact Suzuki directly.

 

[lovedr79]

have them swap the motor with a new one. you got a lemon.

 

[tomme boy]

Well I went out today and talked to the dealer. He is putting a call into the Suzuki regional rep. I also told him about the cavitation issues I have been having trying to get the prop to hook up. I have tried this motor on 3 different boats and it has a major problem with it hooking up unless it is at top speed. If you let off the gas at all the prop will break loose and the speed drops and it takes a little while to hook back up. The lower unit has 2 burn marks on the side from the cavitation. I had a local prop guy look at this and he said it is a issue with the design of the lower unit. He is one of the very best in the industry for prop repair and modification.
https://www.lindenpropeller.com/index.html

Anyway here is a pic of the burn marks on the side of the lower.



I am also a little concerned as the dealer kept saying "you didn't buy it here" And that I would have to take it up with the place I bought it from to see if I could get the motor replaced.

Anyone have a contact for Suzuki??

 

[muskiemike12]

https://www.suzukimarine.com/Contact.aspx

 

[Jim]

Let them know you posted your "problem" about the motor on this forum and that well over 100,000 unique visitors per month come to this site. I am almost positive some are eagerly awaiting a good end result with the motor from the dealer on up.

 

[DrNip]

This is terrible. I would take it back to the place you bought it.

 

[tomme boy]

Bought it over the internet at a place in Tenn. It was almost 1200$ cheaper than this dealer I am dealing with. I contacted the dealer I bought it from and he has a call into Suzuki and will be in touch tomorrow.

 

[Boat2fast]

tomme boy » 10 Apr 2014, 15:53[/url]"]Well I went out today and talked to the dealer. He is putting a call into the Suzuki regional rep. I also told him about the cavitation issues I have been having trying to get the prop to hook up. I have tried this motor on 3 different boats and it has a major problem with it hooking up unless it is at top speed. If you let off the gas at all the prop will break loose and the speed drops and it takes a little while to hook back up. The lower unit has 2 burn marks on the side from the cavitation.

I apologize in advance for these dumb questions. Is this a shortshaft motor being tried on a longshaft boat? Is the trim setting too far out? The cavitation problem is a 'thinker' but wanted to rule out some obvious stuff first.

About the dealer...These guys are rightfully sensitive about being undersold on the internet. Why should they have to clean up another dealers mess? They didn't get the profit from the sale and warranty work historically doesn't pay that well.

I really have to feel for dealers who wait all winter with no paying work to do. First day of ice-out there is a line of guys at the service counter wondering if their boat could be ready on Saturday. Now he(the dealer) is in the position where he needs to hire twenty qualified mechanics...for the next three weeks.

I sympathize with you AND the dealer on this one.

 

[tomme boy]

This dealer is not dead during the winter. They are also a boat manufacturer. They are busy year round. And it does not matter one bit that I bought it somewhere else. Lets say you buy a new chevy truck and are on a cross country trip. It starts leaking oil and the trany is slipping. You take it to a dealer in the town you stop at. They tell you to take it back to the dealer you bought it at as you did not buy it there.

How pissed off are you going to be???

When you buy a new car or truck, do you just go to the only dealer in town and say give me this? NO, I went to this dealer and he was 1200$ higher on a 1 year older model. I asked him to come close and he would not budge on his price. He said that there is no way that the dealer I bought this from was even able to sell it for that price and that he was going to check into why he can sell it for so much less than he was allowed to sell it for. I don't know if there is a MAP type of pricing, but that was how he acted. Suzuki is just a very small portion of his business. He mainly sells ProDrive mud motors on the boats he builds.

 

[turbotodd]

It's not uncommon for a dealer to "shun" a customer who didn't spend their money there. It happens more than people think. Think about it. If one purchases an item at a particular place, that place made the money. But if you are out of town, or purchased it somewhere else because it was cheaper and then you need a repair, the dealer you chose (which isn't the selling dealer) made NOTHING on your motor, and in fact most of the time loses a little. Especially with warranty repairs. Warranty typically only pays a percentage of MSRP for parts and a percentage of posted labor rate. So if a dealer spends an hour on a repair, many times they only get paid 70-90% of that hour's labor. The technician who is on commission doesn't care much to work on it either because he won't make a dime. Then if parts are involved, they're only getting THEIR cost + 25% (if that....). Automotive dealers share the same deal, BUT the automotive industry is quite a bit more streamlined than powersports because it can be. There is a LOT more money in automotive than powersports. You "think" you got a great deal on that new Chevy truck that you got $10,000 off of the sticker. But the dealer still made $10,000 on it. Powersports isn't that way. If the powersports dealer makes 20% he's doing well. That's why most powersports dealers are multiple-line dealers. I can see the dealer's side of this story. And I can see your side. I sympathize with both.

That said, a dealer can't REFUSE a warranty repair, as per their dealer agreement. But they can send you elsewhere without denying warranty, and they can put your motor in the back of the backlog, putting their customers first. It's not acceptable from the consumer standpoint one bit. But it happens.

This type of behavior from dealers when dealing with non-dealer internet purchases is unfortunately common, and exactly why it's always a better to buy local if possible. If nothing else, but to support the local small businesses.

 

[Loggerhead Mike]

Your quickest resolve to this problem is to get a hold of the regional rep YOURSELF and raise hell. It really gets things done quickly.

You also learned why you shouldn't buy off the internet

 

[Boat2fast]

I'm still wondering if the transom height was correct for the motor? Was the tilt pin set way out? The 'cavitation' problem may just be ventilaton from incorrect set-up. Is the cavitation plate roughly an inch or two below the bottom of the boat? Is the tilt pin adjusted so the cav plate is roughly parallel to the bottom?

 

[muskiemike12]

I'm wondering the same thing. Usually cavitation burns are on the prop. I think there might be something else going on here. Can you have someone who is knowledgeable with motor set ups take a look at your whole rig?

 

[tomme boy]

The pin has nothing to do with the problems. I have taken it to a couple of people. This is one guy that is very respected. https://api.viglink.com/api/click?f...xt=https://www.lindenpropeller.com/index.html I have talked to another guy I know that used to race for Tahatsu. He has numerous world records for speed. He thinks the same thing

He mentioned that something might be wrong with the lower case it self. Causing a flow issue. Like I said, I have tried this on a couple of other boats and it was doing the same thing on ALL of them. The problem follows the motor.

I am waiting on the dealer I got this from to hear back from his regional rep. He has not returned a call yet to him.

 

[turbotodd]

Interested in seeing the outcome. I've personally never seen cav burns on something that sub 80 mph. But I have not been around the block like a lot of other smarter guys, either.

 

[Boat2fast]

Is this a short shaft motor? Are they longshaft boats you were trying it on? Need to rule this out.
Is the tilt pin set way out? Need to rule this out.