Dead in the water 9 miles from the ramp

[billnorman1]

Any thing can happen to any part at any time. My tournament partner and I were having a frustrating day, it was 12:30, tournament over at 3 and we didn't have a fish. I decided we had hit every good spot with zero results so I was going back upstream to start there. I put my 2021 Suzuki 200DF in gear and hit the hotfoot. We shot out of the hole, got to about 30 M P H and it stopped dead.

I cranked it and it never hit a lick. Pulled and reset the kill switch several times, crank but no start. Finally I opened the back bilge hatch and squeezed the bulb until it got firm. It started right up. I put it in gear we went about 100 feet and it died again. Long story short my partner and i took turns laying on the back deck pumping the bulb and doing about 4000 R P M back to the ramp. We did catch 5 keepers but were just out of the money.

I checked the design of the motor and surmised the low pressure fuel pump had failed, ordered one last Thursday ($175.00) and installed it yesterday. Checked it out on the water it worked fine. The old pump lifter was stuck in the "up" position. It runs off an overhead cam lobe.

The motor is under warranty, but if I had to leave it at the dealer it would have probably taken two weeks to get scheduled. Really glad I had a partner that tournament.

[booter]

That sucks to hear about your mishap Bill. I'm not sure why Suzuki didn't put an electric fuel pump on the 200 like they did on the 250SS.

[billnorman1]

Well, it should have been very reliable, but the "lifter" got stuck in the bore. I'm disappointed, but what the heck. Now if this new one goes bad I'm going to have a bone to pick with Suzuki for a design issue. I have about 150 hours on the motor, just changed the oil and filter. The oil is clean and clear 10-W-40.