Just put a new 200DF on my Stratos.

[billnorman1]

Well the day has come (and went) and I got off a big part of my life savings. Chunked down $15K+ and had a dealer install a new 200. I sold him my 175DF for $1650 and felt good about it for a while, then got thinking about it, and If I had the room in my junked up garage, I should have kept it, one blown cylinder and all.

I really did not like this motor when I started to break it in. The Computer controls way too much. If you hit the starter it does not start until it does a pre-check. After the beep goes off you touch the starter and the computer takes over cranking it. You don't hold the key, just bump it. You have to let it idle 5 minutes before putting it in gear or the over rev light comes on. That's on initial new start. After I let it warm up I put it in gear to move away from the ramp, the rev light came on the instant I touched the gas. Had to idle in gear for 15 minutes.
The first hour you are limited to 3000 RPM, You can exceed 3000 to get on plane. The next hour the RPM goes up to 4000 limit. After that the manual says don't run it on red line for more than 5 minutes at a time.
Well, it has a 6 year warranty so I guess those Japanese engineers must have a master plan. We will see.

[booter]

Did you get a regular DF200 or did you get the 200SS? I see that the only real difference is that the 200SS has the 2.00:1 gear case and the regular 200 has the 2.5:1 gear case. Hopefully once you get it broke in, the silly alarms and stuff will go away. I don't remember getting half of those alarms when breaking in my 250SS.

[billnorman1]

I saw no mechanical differences in the MOTOR of the SS and the regular 200DF. I did see the $1000 difference. I presently have the 16 x 23.5 x 3 blade prop off my 175 on it. Alas, it will be a while before I can see how it does on top end. I have a prop ring ordered to try out a 4 blade 14&1/4 inch 27 pitch prop that I have. I am sure I can get 60+ with the present prop, but the computer will tell on me if I try to do it now.
Suzuki highly recommends non-ethanol fuel in the owners manual. What are you running for fuel?

[booter]

I run pump gas with ethanol along with a fuel stabilizer and use a fuel water separator and had zero problems so far. The problem with me is that there no ethanol free gas stations near me and and when i do find one, I usually fill up my 2 10-gallon emergency saddle tanks in the back. In regards to your prop ring, I'd try running it without first and see how it does. I did that with an older 4 bladed 28 P turbo OT4 prop and it actually ran better IMO.

[PolarKraft195]

Well the day has come (and went) and I got off a big part of my life savings. Chunked down $15K+ and had a dealer install a new 200. I sold him my 175DF for $1650 and felt good about it for a while, then got thinking about it, and If I had the room in my junked up garage, I should have kept it, one blown cylinder and all.

I really did not like this motor when I started to break it in. The Computer controls way too much. If you hit the starter it does not start until it does a pre-check. After the beep goes off you touch the starter and the computer takes over cranking it. You don't hold the key, just bump it. You have to let it idle 5 minutes before putting it in gear or the over rev light comes on. That's on initial new start. After I let it warm up I put it in gear to move away from the ramp, the rev light came on the instant I touched the gas. Had to idle in gear for 15 minutes.
The first hour you are limited to 3000 RPM, You can exceed 3000 to get on plane. The next hour the RPM goes up to 4000 limit. After that the manual says don't run it on red line for more than 5 minutes at a time.
Well, it has a 6 year warranty so I guess those Japanese engineers must have a master plan. We will see.

besides turning key in "on" position, and waiting till "pre check" beeping is done, which takes a whole 2 seconds, to then turn key, and let computer start engine, my 2017 DF 140A did none of the rest of the rpm limiting & stuff yours does...???

[onewalker]

Booter, how many hours you have on your 250 now? Tomorrow I think is the day for me... bout to drop the $$$ on a 2020 250SS to order and hope to have installed in next 2 weeks. Bye to the HPDI and hola to the Zuki… haha..

[booter]

Booter, how many hours you have on your 250 now? Tomorrow I think is the day for me... bout to drop the $$$ on a 2020 250SS to order and hope to have installed in next 2 weeks. Bye to the HPDI and hola to the Zuki… haha..

I have around 80 hours on mine and have owned it for almost 3 years. I usually run to a stretch and be on the trolling motor for the rest of the day. Plus the main river where I fish is only 12 to 15 miles long, so I'm not running that far either.

[billnorman1]

With my new 200 DF not the SS model. The only difference I found between the 2 was the L/U ratio and $1000. Anyhow I have a 27 pitch 4 blade with the smaller hub and ordered a prop ring for it, haven't tried it yet. Still using the 3 blade 16 inch diameter 23.5 pitch prop. I haven't passed the 4000 RPM time yet, but as of now it gives me about 1 MPH per 100 Revolutions. At 3000 it does 30 GPS, 4000 gives me 40, and I suppose 61 MPH at 6100, but I haven't opened it up yet.

[gbruce]

I always run non ethanol fuel in my DF200A. I have tried the 4 blade prop you have and I could not turn it 6100rpm like the 3 blade 14.5 25 pitch prop that came with my boat.

[Warhawk]

besides turning key in "on" position, and waiting till "pre check" beeping is done, which takes a whole 2 seconds, to then turn key, and let computer start engine, my 2017 DF 140A did none of the rest of the rpm limiting & stuff yours does...???

I had a 2014 DF90 that was the same, I loved the motor just not the boat it was on.

[Moonlighter]

Bill, have you asked your dealer if all those alarms you mentioned are normal?

“You have to let it idle 5 minutes before putting it in gear or the over rev light comes on. That's on initial new start. After I let it warm up I put it in gear to move away from the ramp, the rev light came on the instant I touched the gas. Had to idle in gear for 15 minutes.”

Dont baby these motors too much early days. Need to get the rings seated nicely, and running them fairly hard sooner rather than later is the way to go. Glazed bores from too gentle running in = “making oil” where fuel gets past the rings.

And how else other than running them up to WOT can dealers make sure that the engine is propped right when they have first installed the engine? The Florida offshore guys are doing that every time.

(note: the ecu records the minutes run at each 1000rpm band. So it shows x minutes at 0 to 1000rom, y minutes at 1000-2000rom and so on. So that is all the tales it can tell. Doesnt tell when it did the rpms either, no dates attached to the rpm like there is to fault codes and over-revs and the like).

[billnorman1]

Well, I was out last week with my old 3 blade 16 inch diameter 23.5 pitch prop, and with a full tank and water in one livewell, my 300 pound ass, it would take forever to get on plane. I am not sure where they hung my motor, on which holes. I will have to measure. I put my 4 blade 14 inch diameter prop on, 27 pitch, and it still went nose high, took forever to get on plane plus I can't see where I'm going. Yesterday I put in my second new livewell shutoff valve, and although I hated to do so, drilled the cav plate, took off the trim tab, and bolted on my old whale tail.
It does pretty good now. I have another tournament later this week, and I'll get more information with a full livewell. One thing, as the motor gets more hours, the induction system seems to be getting louder, like running a car with no air cleaner.

For those interested, I have not tried top speed yet, the most revs I have called for is about 5500. I would anticipate low 60's, as the pad gets less contact at speed, maybe mid 60's.

[billnorman1]

Well, it was still a sick dog even with the whale tail when running the 4 blade prop. Discouraged, I put the original (to me) 16 inch diameter 3 blade 23.5 pitch prop back on. Wow. With that combination, the whale tail and the 3 blade, it got back its hole shot and pretty well quit the excessive nose high on start. Midrange it's eager to accelerate. I can even have it slightly trimmed up and with a slight wheel input, it jumps up. I will settle for 1 MPH per 1000 RPM, I ain't a speed demon anyhow, I will probably top out at about 62 MPH at 6100.
Now I have an excess of those used 3 blade props, will probably get them reconditioned and sell the 4 blade.

[basscat21]

Bill what hull are you running?

[billnorman1]

1998 dual console Stratos Pro XL 285, 19 feet 5 inches. I weigh about 285, 6 inch manual jackplate.

[booter]

Well, it was still a sick dog even with the whale tail when running the 4 blade prop. Discouraged, I put the original (to me) 16 inch diameter 3 blade 23.5 pitch prop back on. Wow. With that combination, the whale tail and the 3 blade, it got back its hole shot and pretty well quit the excessive nose high on start. Midrange it's eager to accelerate. I can even have it slightly trimmed up and with a slight wheel input, it jumps up. I will settle for 1 MPH per 1000 RPM, I ain't a speed demon anyhow, I will probably top out at about 62 MPH at 6100.
Now I have an excess of those used 3 blade props, will probably get them reconditioned and sell the 4 blade.

Bill, what are the sizes of your 3 bladed props? I think that I'm gonna sell my 4 bladed Suzuki 14.5 x 28 prop which has the smaller barrel and taller rakes. I just had it blue printed and just don't like how it runs on my boat and I can get more speed out of the one 3 bladed that I have anyway.

[billnorman1]

I would have to look, but they are either 23.5 or 24.5 pitch. I think I have 4 or 5, genuine Suzuki Stainless Steel props. Most have a nick in a blade and could use reconditioning. I wish I had bought more.
What really matters to me is getting up on plane with a full gas tank and full livewells. Reasonable speed, and reliability next.