Bobby Sharrock
New member
Hey there. I'm new to this forum and it looks like there are some helpful folks. I have an issue of Suzuki as follows. Any suggestions on how to proceed. They just tell me your fault. I have had this motor since April and haven't been able to use it yet. Ruining my summer plans.
- Timeline:
- Owner brought engine to Inland Marine Co. in Antioch, CA with issue of engine tendency to stall when the throttle was engaged with any load. Inland Marine Co. replaced Carburetor under warranty. No explanation of why carburetor was defective.
- Owner had working engine for first test in standing water. Owner stored engine in proper order for a 3-4 week period and tested again. Initial Issue was present. Owner took engine back to Inland Marine Co. for diagnostics and service August 5[SUP]th[/SUP], 2011.
- Inland Marine offered to replace carburetor at owner’s expense without looking inside carburetor. Bad fuel blamed because of varnish smell. Owner refused service while taking possession and bought additive recommended by Inland Marine to clear of ethanol. Attempt was to clear possible build-up in carburetor.
- Customer service gave options to take engine home or replace carburetor again but under Owner’s expense.
- Under Owner care and the replacement of the old fuel with new quality brand gasoline plus the new additive, engine had same issue with additional issue of shutting off on own accord. Shut off started occurring about 5 – 10 minutes after startup yet became more frequent until engine runs last for 1 to 2 seconds. Engine idles well when engine is running.
- Suzuki Customer service suggested taking outboard back to Inland Marine for a third time so carburetor can be taken apart and proved to be varnish. Why not before I picked it up? They changed their options once I had to drive again.
- Customer service suggested replacing spark plug for dead motor issue. Spark plug was fouled but replacement did not improve performance.
- Taken to service twice.
- First visit: Flat spot at beginning of throttle commonly causing motor to stall instead of rev. Warranty replacement of carburetor. No mention of Varnish in gasoline.
- Second visit August 5[SUP]th[/SUP] 2011 - August 12[SUP]th[/SUP] 2011: Same problem as first visit. Varnish in gasoline concluded as cause of problem. Problem immediately accompanied by motor dying with new gas and varnish clearing additives.
- Replaced gas with new “good” gas from Chevron, of which was researched to be suitable by Suzuki standards at around 10% ethanol level, plus Mercury Precision Cares Fuel Treatment for all grades of gas and ethanol blends, recommended by the Antioch service department to clear possible varnish deposits.
- Runs well and idles well yet now after good gas and additives, the motor will not run. The day the motor was taken by owner after second visit it ran for 10 minutes until it quit and over 4-5 attempts at running motor, the length of run time before shutdown declined until the motor became non-operational. The carburetor seems to be idling the motor as expected, the system just has issues with initial power with load and now dies. The motor did not just die for no reason before it was taken to Inland Marine Co the second time.
- The carburetor (Aluminum) will not degrade under exposure to 10% ethanol as the clerk at Inland Marine Co. Antioch.
- Chevron gas contains 10% ethanol.