Tohatsu 35 dies after running for a while

"I have a 3.5 that has a chron

"I have a 3.5 that has a chronic problem. It will run for about 2 hours, then it begins to “die”. Throttle setting does not seem to matter. Happily just chugging along and then engine will sputter, then die. If I grab the choke and pull it out before it dies, it will pick back up and run for 3-4 more minutes then repeat.

I feel it is a fuel starvation issue. And yes I check/filled the gas tank. Full or partially full seems to make no difference.

I have had it to two different authorized Tohatsu dealers, one said there was no problem, the other replaced the carburetor.

Still doing it.

Things I have considered:
Didn’t turn the fuel valve on – checked double checked, and then replaced with an inline fuel line connector. The fuel line downsizes from the tank to the carburetor.

Didn’t open up the vent in the gas cap: Fully open, half open, loosened the gas cap, made no difference.

Vapor lock: This term, that I am not completely familiar with, used to be the fuel in the line becoming warm enough that it would turn into gas, not liquid, and there after that not “pump” into the carburetor. It could also be similar to a vacuum lock, where there is insufficient pumping power to pull the gas into the carburetor. I don’t know how to cure this either.

Anybody have any idea why the little engine would starve out?

Is there an overheating cutoff switch? (oil level is good, water coming from the tube)


It gets one more round with authorized dealers and then I am giving up on it. If any one can think of anything that would be causing this problem please help.

Thanks."

"Hello Dallas,
this is an iss

"Hello Dallas,
this is an issue that tohatsu refuses to admit that they have a design problem on this engine. They have a design issue on this engine and they simply want to blame the user for their problem. I have one also and it is the same thing. It ran fine for about a month after I bought it new and then it started the very same thing as you described as well as other problems. I took it in to the dealer and fix after fix was done. I had it in the shop about 10 times in two months and still it has a problem. They claim that a fix is to re-jet the carb, but that is a joke. Don't waste your time on it even if it is under warranty. All that will happen is you use more fuel. It simply will not fix the issue. Then they claim that the engine is being run on the wrong boat. (wrong transom angle). That too is just another way to blame the owner. Mine run fine for about a month then it started acting up. I have changed the angle of the engine to every angle possible and it still will not run properly. When I was using this engine I actually had three different boats and it did the same on all three. They changed the coil two or three times and nothing would correct the problem.
There is no over heating switch. And yes the engine does run too hot due to a very poor cooling system. In the manual that comes with the engine they recommend that the water pump be changed every year. Believe me you will have to do it more then that if you use it very much. At one point mine got so hot that it melted the oil fill plug and the plug exploded from the port, nearly causing a fire. At that time the engine was only about 5 month old. As usual Tohatsu blames the user. They claimed that I had some blockage (plastic bag over the inlet) and the pump could not pump, but I was actually looking at the pee hole when this happened and it was pumping fine. Before this I had on several occasions told the dealer that I felt the engine was running hot, but he would not listen. Finally I gave up. If you notice the water coming out the port will be very cool and then all of a sudden it will be scalding hot for a few seconds and then cool again. The cooling system simply is faulty if you try and run the engine any sort of time you will experience overheating. I suggest that you forget about the authorized dealer and take it some place else and have the thermostat downsized or removed all together. That will at least help it to cool a little better, but you will still have to change the water pump yearly or even more often if you use this engine very much. I found that just because water comes out the pee hole does not mean that it is getting enough cool water to the engine. I now have a Yamaha and the Tohatsu engine sits. Now I simply warn people about that engine. Also there are those of us who are seeking to sue tohatsu in a class action suit over this engine so if interested let me know and I will add your name and contact you when we go ahead."

"Dallas,

I would contact To

"Dallas,

I would contact Tohatsu directly at 972-323-6003 and ask them where to take the engine and what they think the problem might be. An intermittent problem is always the hardest to find so be patient and they will determine what is going wrong.

Let us know what the final result is....If you want me to look into your case you can email me your serial number and I will review what the two dealers claimed they did/didn't do and give you an opinion."