Suzuki DF140?

garbubba · #1 12-09-2010, 07:24 PM

I went to pick up my boat with the still broke merc200 on it & may have sold my truck to the boat guy!

I saw a Suzuki 140 there & was interested, I like that it's light & small. Anybody have one?

Doug

spareparts · #2 12-09-2010, 08:32 PM

great motors in fresh water, corrode pretty bad in salt, have some one look it over hard if you buy it

phatdaddy · #3 12-09-2010, 10:27 PM

are you talking 2 stroke or 4? spare's right on the old 2 strokes and corroding. the new 4 strokes are a little better.
nevermind, just noticed the df in heading.
heard nothing but good about those motors..

spareparts · #4 12-10-2010, 06:20 PM

I haven't seen any improvemnt in the four stroke suzukis over the 2 strokes as far as corrosion goes, its a shame, other wise the four strokes are great engines, I tend to prefer them over the Yamahas

SkunkBoat · #5 12-10-2010, 07:22 PM

I have a 2004 DF140 that I bought new. I absolutely love it.

Its a great fit for my V20. It is so smooth and quiet.

The problems that I have had are;
In the first year there was an intermittnet connection in the fuseholder that caused it to appear that the battery was dead. The Tilt didn't work and it didn't turn over. Found the problem by wiggling the wires inside the cowl. Fixed by dealer ASAP.
The cooling water "piss aimer" fell off. Replaced by dealer. (That appears to be common with Suzukis)
There is some bubbling of the paint on one of the cowling clips. I see no other problems with corrosion.

I have 520 hrs on it. I'm in salt from May thru Nov. Motor up & out of water when docked.
I always flush it with freshwater for 2 minutes while I'm cleaning fish...

Aside from the fuseholder problem, it has started on the first turn of the key for 6 years , no matter how cold or how long it has sat.
I can't imagine that any other motor could be any better. I know my old Mercury 150 was a loud, blue smoke spewing, sputtering, stalling, not starting in November when the Stripers are running, piece o' crap.

Maintenance parts for DF140 are available on Boats.net

garbubba · #6 12-12-2010, 07:55 AM

Thanks guys , especially skunk, I'm not even sure I hve the truck sold now, we'll see. They quoted me 11k for a df140 + controls, mounted, hows that sound? It's more than I was looking to spend, I should have asked more for the truck!

Doug

BuilderFL · #7 12-12-2010, 09:28 AM

garbubba, check for comparative prices at Ed's Marine, here's the link;
http://www.edsmarinesuperstore.com/suzuki_outboards.htm
Make sure you find out what rebates are being offered by the factory and goof luck. I've been looking at Suzuki myself after seeing them being used by many of the commercial boats in Miami, specially the tow boats.

SkunkBoat · #8 12-12-2010, 01:21 PM

WAIT!!!! Forget what I said!!! I just got a call yesterday from my dealer who was doing the annual maintenance before I covered her up.

Says there's a tiny hole corroded in the exhaust. Leaking exhaust under the cowling. My six year warranty was up last March.

Gonna cost $1800 to fix right. "...Corroded from inside-out so you can't really clean it up and patch it. Have to take the head off to get at it so might as well replace the part....."

I 'm going to look at it this week. I'll get the details and take pix and post for future reference.

Wouldn't you just know that literally the day after I say "never had a problem with corrosion." I'm screwed...

I sure hope you don't read this the day AFTER you bought it.

Now I get to stew all winter

All that being said, I've heard sad stories about every make of motor. So when it comes down to it, you pay your money and you take your chances.

As for price..
In 2004 mine was $9525 before NJ Tax, incl installation, SS prop, & 3 yr ext of warranty. Which was more than $3k less than a Honda 130 at the time.

Good Luck with whatever you get.

C

Destroyer · #9 12-12-2010, 07:38 PM

Real sorry to hear about your engine Skunk. But just to add to what you said about paying your money and taking your chances... I have a 91' 200 HP Merc sitting on the back of my 21' Cruisers cuddy....and aside from a faulty temp sensor on the left head it's never given me a problem... Can't say it starts on the very first spin, but she usually starts within the first few seconds of cranking. My point being that I completely agree with you.. you get good and bad with almost anything... it's like life.. it's a crap shoot.

spareparts · #10 12-12-2010, 08:08 PM

thats the kind of corrosion we see around here, by te time it sufaces, its too late. AS far as warranty goes, I doubt it would be covered, Suzuki declared this area too corosive to be included, so no corrosion regardless of how old it is. I've got a 140 over at a friends shop that corroded thru one of the water jackets into the oilpan, pumped oil/saltwater thru the whole motor, its nothing more than a pile of scrap now. Suzuki makes a great motor, they just corroded bad, Yamaha makes a good motor, they just don't corrode as abd as Suzukis. From what I've seen, older Mercurys hold up the best from corrosion, I can't say on the newer ones as I don't work on many Verado series, knowing they are making more power heads in China now, I'd say they are going to crap as well. followed by pre 99 Johnrudes. Bomb changed the aluminum mix some time around there and they got worse. regardless of which motor you buy, salt is going to get it sooner or later.