Suzuki DF140?

[SkunkBoat]

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]

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]

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.

[bradford]

For what it's worth I had an older Suzuki 50 on a McKee Craft that was corroded so bad in places I was surprised it ran. The foot and midsection were beyond sanding and painting they were pitted so bad. If they're rusty on the outside they're sure rusty in the inside.

Saltwater will rust tupperware.

[randlemanboater]

Dang..... hope mine doesnt get a hole in it.

[Blue_Runner]

Guy that did work on my motor said to spray down the head with CRC 656 (as well as any area that might corrode like trailer coupler, etc.) a couple times a year and it will make a big difference. Makes sense to me.

[SkunkBoat]

OK, I looked at it today and got the scoop from the dealer. Here are some pix to show the problem area.
There is a plug in the port side of the "engine holder". This part is on DF90 thru DF140. The plug is ferrous metal in an aluminum housing that has hot exhaust behind it. It was intended as a potential place for service to install an O2 sensor which they ended up never using. The corrosion is from the inside out. Its not salt corrosion because there's no water there. Its bimetalic corrosion and clearly a defect in material or design. My guess is cheap chinese stainless steel plugs and some get lucky, some don't. Hence, Suzuki has stopped tapping/plugging the hole in newer models. I didn't ask what year. Mines's a 2004.
The dealer said he has seen it in 3 older engines. One was in a twin configuration with one motor badly corroded so they took the other apart and it was fine.
Estimated cost to repair $1800 ($1018 for parts). Hopefully he doesn't find corrosion in the head or oil pan.

By the way, I got the picture off The Hull Truth site where someone else had exact same problem but looks like a Johnson 'cause its white.