Suzuki owners - question

S

Sealife

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I have twin DF - 50 Suzuki outboards 2005 and have discovered after almost 1000 hours that they have internal anodes that should have been checked and replaced long ago. My servicing mechanic was unaware of them, and believe it or not, there is absolutely no mention of them anywheres in the Suzuki Service Manual or in the small Owners Manual. I am now experiencing water in the engine oil, which is likely caused by corrosion attributable to the lack of anode protection. Does any other owner have information or experience with this? I'm contemplating suing the mechanic and Suzuki.
 
I have a 90hp Suzuki. If it wasn't for this forum I would never know that it has internal, on the power head, anodes. They are not mentioned in the owner's manual. Good luck.
 
Mike you might be looking at new powerheads .I would definitely call the marina or business the mechanic works at and call suzuki We sold our 22 cruiser with a 90 (06) suzuki which ended up blowing the cowling off because of corrosion thats what the new owner told me . We had purchased the 6 yr protection and the new owner called Suzuki and they gave him a new motor for $3500 I believe .Good Luck Jim
 
A judge will get a good chuckle over a suit referencing 11 year old outboards with 1000 hours.
Especially one based on conjecture.
Be prepared to spend alot more money than simply repairing or replacing the outboards .
Its no fun to have a mechanical failure . There are a myriad of possible reasons for that, perhaps you should spend money to have a " "forensic teardown"
It would still be good money after bad................
Marc
 
I wrote response without looking at it was an 05 motor with a 1000 hours .Yes Marc at Wefings is right I don't think you will get much sympathy from them . But the mechanic /marina should have known and if not don't use them again and let everyone know. Good Luck
 
Marc et al,

I have already spent $3000 in "forensic" tear downs trying to find the source of the temp alarm going off without the engine actually overheating, but on the last sea trial, it suddenly blew with the check engine light coming on. On checking the oil, it was full of water. Probably a hole in the water jacket. The cause, I'm sure is corosion caused by lack of protection from the engine anodes, which were completely gone. I have pictures. First mechanic should have known, which he admits he didn't, and Suzuki was negligent in omitting any mention of them in their service manual and owner's manual. It certainly would have been included in my routine maintenance along with routine replacement of external anodes. Understand, also, that I have twin 50's, so the likelihood of the same problem happening to the port engine is high. Those anodes were also disintegrated. Suzuki, when contacted by the first mechanic trying to diagnose the problem, told him to sell me a new engine, so I have no sympathy for Suzuki.
 
It does seem very frustrating, and I don't think any responsible person would chuckle about it. You keep up on your engine maintenance, often involving the transfer of wealth from yourself to the servicing dealer, with the reasonable expectation of longevity and reliability. You expect a dealer to know how to service the products they sell. You expect support from the manufacturer to both owner and dealer. 1,000 hours of glitchy life isn't very satisfactory for a regularly run and serviced outboard engine, unless the engine is inherently flawed, which Suzuki would not likely agree with. Of course "things happen", but this seems abnormal and preventable. You may not have a legal remedy but with the right approach you might be able to get a drastic reduction in price for a replacement. Otherwise you should absolutely switch brands and dealers, perhaps to the lighter Honda 50 EFI. In this day and age of internet reviews and fickle economies, the court of public opinion may be able to accomplish what a legal court cannot.
 
To CBGALE:
Yes, Browns does show them, proving they are there, but the Suzuki Maintenance Manual does not, but it should.

My engines have been babied, and well maintained. They should last well beyond 1000 hours. I agree that a non-confrontational approach may be best, and I plan to try that first, but frankly, my experience and Suzuki's reputation does not give me much hope for that approach.
 
Sorry you have a motor issue , but Ill just mention 2 things .
You catch more flies with honey than vinegar , and any one that mentions attorneys or threatens to sue is immediately fired as a customer on the spot . It makes the hair on my neck stand up . We try really hard to take care of our customers.
We go to bat for a lot of our customers . Sometimes we win and sometimes we dont .
Until you prove what happened , you can't expect them to do anything for you on 11 year old motors . And you still cant bank on it.
Its the same with all manufacturers BTW.
Every one of them including Honda.
Also if you bought them used [and I truly dont know if you did or not] then you saved big bucks ! But gave up big service !
Just a few thoughts .
Marc
 
Good luck with Suzuki. Check out some of the previous threads on Suzuki corrosion problems in the exhaust system.......also Google it and you will find that this is a well known and documented situation, particularly with engines of your era.

I had a 2005 Suzuki 90 with corrosion problems and went to Suzuki, their local BBB, the WA State Attorney General and both local TV consumer advocates; no help anywhere.

Now if you want to start a class action suit, I will be happy to join.

After much agonizing I re-powered with another Suzuki mainly for $ reasons so thanks for the information on the internal anodes.
 
I took the advice of a previous blog and checked out the IPB on my 2.5hp and 6hp Suzukis. I could not find an anode in the 6hp, but the 2.5hp has an internal in the head. Who knew!!! Pretty irresponsible not to mention this in the Owner's Manual. Still, I love these motors.
 
anchorout":2psfe449 said:
I took the advice of a previous blog and checked out the IPB on my 2.5hp and 6hp Suzukis. I could not find an anode in the 6hp, but the 2.5hp has an internal in the head. Who knew!!! Pretty irresponsible not to mention this in the Owner's Manual. Still, I love these motors.
Click to expand...

I've also got a DF6 and couldn't find one either, but there is one in my DF15. I also just checked all the parts diagrams for my Tohatsu 50 (a 2014 model) and found no less than 10 anodes throughout the outboard! I was online ordering a prop anyway, so decided to get all the anodes as well...all this talk about manufacturers and service departments not being trusted has me scared now!
 
Hey Folks,
I've been following this thread for a couple of days. I have a 2007 DF 50. I purchased a SELCO Suzuki Outboard Repair Manual 1996-2007 just after I purchased my C Dory.

There was enough info in the manual that I was able to locate the power head anodes. On the 2007 DF 50 they are on the starboard side of the power head, just forward of the fuel filter. They are easy to access and replace if necessary.

The manual states, "The number and location of the anodes used will vary greatly by model and rigging, so greatly it can be prohibitive to try and list them all here (but we'll do our best). For starts, keep in mind that these motors will be equipped with as few as one anode or as many as a DOZEN or so..."

Hope this helps a little. Be safe.
 
Our 2006 DF150 has 5 internal anodes; small, round aluminum discs about 1.5" in diameter. I bought a service manual when we bought the boat and it is mentioned in there. I change them every two years. They disintegrate much more quickly than the external ones.
 
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