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  1. Member
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    #21
    Quote Originally Posted by billnorman1 View Post
    Did this issue ever get resolved? It's bad for us fellow Suzuki owners when other boaters see a boat with a Suzy on it being towed. I don't brag on mine, but other guys in my club always comment on how quiet it is, and if they ask, I always say it ain't fast, but it has (so far) always gotten me back, which is to me, the most important thing about an outboard.
    I dropped it off at Jeff Jones Marine in Frankfort, KY last Thursday evening with a typed out detailed chronicle of my issues. I got there just before closing time and met an employee who took my info and showed me where to drop it. It looked like a heck of a BassCat/Suzuki dealership for sure. I haven't heard anything back yet but will keep you updated. All brands get towed in some time or another. But my story over the last 5 months is pretty laughable. It's possible all my continued issues are all coming from the same problem or combination of problems. There are a few authorized dealers closer to my home, but I've been strongly recommended to these folks. I think they will get this figured out. I'll wait as long as it takes. I have to admit I've had a VERY frustrating start with this rig. But it's exactly what I wanted after years of considerations. Thanks for reaching out.

  2. Member eliteangler's Avatar
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    #22
    Quote Originally Posted by BassCatKev View Post
    I dropped it off at Jeff Jones Marine in Frankfort, KY last Thursday evening with a typed out detailed chronicle of my issues. I got there just before closing time and met an employee who took my info and showed me where to drop it. It looked like a heck of a BassCat/Suzuki dealership for sure. I haven't heard anything back yet but will keep you updated. All brands get towed in some time or another. But my story over the last 5 months is pretty laughable. It's possible all my continued issues are all coming from the same problem or combination of problems. There are a few authorized dealers closer to my home, but I've been strongly recommended to these folks. I think they will get this figured out. I'll wait as long as it takes. I have to admit I've had a VERY frustrating start with this rig. But it's exactly what I wanted after years of considerations. Thanks for reaching out.

    Glad to hear you are getting them to look at it. Hopefully you will know something soon. I know you will love that rig once it is resolved. I would venture to guess that it is something very simple, yet hard to find.
    Sam Dunaway
    2005 Triton TR-21X
    Powered by Suzuki 250SS

  3. Member
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    #23
    I agree. Lord knows you, Booter, and others did all you could to help me find it😂. Sometimes one has to admit an issue is out of their league. Thanks for the help.

  4. Member
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    #24
    Kevin hopefully this all gets fixed up for you. Wasn’t this an Elite Series pro’s ride from Michigan? If so, I cannot imagine he had all of these issues. Was something changed on it before you bought it? Again hopefully this all gets figured out and you can enjoy your rig for years to come. Good luck

  5. Member
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    #25
    Yes it was basscat tyler. But I speak with him regularly and he's always accessible and helpful and puts me in contact with people who can really help. I would recommend anyone interested in buying a 1 year old premium model boat/Suzuki motor to him because he was more than patient and workable with me during the buying process. And continues to be to this day.
    I was from another state and needed to make 2 trips to test drive and purchase. Hopefully I just have some issues that are warranty related that will be resolved. 10 years ago I sold my boat at the time to someone after a test drive. Less than a month later they started having one issue after another. And you have my word that I had never witnessed any of those issues while owning the boat. I always felt bad because I'm sure the guy thought he was fooled. But that was not the case. That was a much older boat. In this case I think I've had so many problems revolving around the same issue. As far as somebody changing something on it I guess it's possible. But that would have been done by a service crew of some kind maybe. He said he never had any issues with it on tour and I trust 100% that to be true. Thanks for the kind words.

  6. Member
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    #26
    Sold a Basscat to a friend and (he said) when he drove it the L/U went out. I paid 50% of the repair bill but when I owned it I never had a moments problem with the L/U.
    Some times these things happen. Some times parts don't talk.

  7. Member
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    #27
    Update: I received call last Thursday(Aug 30th) *that they wanted to replace the water pump. I approved that to be done. They're saying the issue is still overheating*(even after water pump replacement)*according to their diagnostics. I asked if they ever heard the 3 beep alarm (or any alarm) go off and was told they turned engine off once diagnostics showed a temperature issue.
    Today they called to say they are still seeing an overheating issue. They pulled the thermostats and found grass on them. They also found shellrock-like material on the pop off valve (if I heard that part name correctly) of the lower unit. A Suzuki rep has been on site to check it over. As of now there is no guarantee this will be warrantied.**But it possibly could be.* I have been told I have a huge problem. He said the next step was to remove some plate under the motor to see if a gasket is blown.

    An hour after this conversation they called back to ask for permission to take boat to a different mechanic in Somerset, KY at the request of the Suzuki rep. I approved. It was explained that this Suzuki rep sends some special cases there and they can find the problem quicker at that location. The Suzuki rep will determine if all this is warrantied or not. The boat will then be brought back to original dealer for the C-10 gauge and other issues in my write-up to be addressed. Very disappointing news to say the least. I'll stay positive for now for I know I did my homework before purchasing this motor and choosing a dealer to address issues.*

    As for the rock and grass in the motor, I've primarily ran the boat on Lake Cumberland (deep water). I have NEVER had the skeg within feet of bottom while engine has been running. And certainly never ran some extensive crazy shallow sand bar or thick grass bed. I'm just not hard on it. Just deep clean water.

  8. Member
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    #28
    Gosh. Maybe now you are on the way to a solution but it sounds painful to hear the issues your motor has. The warning system seems to be functioning and I hope it has prevented more serious (of course the things so far are serious) damage that cannot be completely eradicated.
    I abuse my 175DF fishing very shallow water in the local tidal (spelled mud) rivers. Last week I went into a feeder creek with my 80# trolling motor on high kicking mud, with the tide going out. I was fishing a tournament but I knew there were fish there and they were. Time was running out and I had to get back out quick with the water fallen even further. I had to tilt the Suzuki to get the pump input underwater, start it and put it in gear, go to the front and steer it out with the trolling motor on high and my Suzuki throwing filthy water all the way (100 yards) out to the main river and then hammer it at 6000 RPM's 5 miles back to weigh in.

    They are pretty tough in my opinion. Many times I've kicked up tons of mud, and I just had the L/U off and the water pump off to change the driveshaft seals and the pump and impeller looked great, but I changed the impeller and a couple of gaskets anyhow.

    Bottom line, I hope they get your motor back to 100% of the way it should be. They seem to be well engineered.

  9. Member
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    #29
    I hope so too. I don't come close to putting mine through what you described. Thanks for your support and past advice.

  10. Member eliteangler's Avatar
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    #30
    Quote Originally Posted by BassCatKev View Post
    I hope so too. I don't come close to putting mine through what you described. Thanks for your support and past advice.
    Well... you did buy the boat off an Elite Series Angler. I will say that as much as they do take care of their equipment, they are also quite hard on it. I bought my boat from an Elite Series Angler as well. The guy is super nice and all, but I really believe that's why my Mercury had the problems it had. However, the Suzuki you have will probably be as strong as ever after you get it back. One way to look at it that you had the problem somewhat early in ownership and you are getting it taken care of. That's a good thing.

    Now, to clarify, I am not dissing Elite Series Anglers. I just know they don't have to worry about the cost of repairs like we do. Their job is to do whatever it takes to get to the fish, so they are gonna drag their boats through hell and back if that's what it takes. Make sense?
    Sam Dunaway
    2005 Triton TR-21X
    Powered by Suzuki 250SS

  11. Member
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    #31
    Yes Sam I agree for the most part. I knew I was buying a pros boat and that they ran it hard. I knew I was getting a boat with a tad over 200 hours on the engine. According to my homework on these Suzukis that does not make it a heavily used engine. I do realize it's the TYPE of use that really matters and I'm sure it was driven aggressively a few times. I've had alarms, shutdowns, and blown fuses repeatedly most everywhere I've gone with the boat. I replace fuses and when the C10 worked I would look at the alarm and correct the issue the best I knew how. I bought this boat last November before it started getting cold. I feel like I've barely used it. My C10 gauge has not worked for months but I would bet I haven't put 8 hours on the engine. And of those hours I haven't done anything but slightly bump one stump one time that I know did not result in all of this. Everything I've done has been in deep open Clean Water. The one consistent thing all Suzuki reps I've ever talked to have told me is that you can't hurt this engine. I did everything I knew how to find the C10 issue and finally just decided to wait until late fall when I took the boat in to a dealer for yearly warranty maintenance. And I realize when they say that you can't "hurt" it they mean that, if something is critically wrong the engine will shut itself down. I had one string of days in April where the boat ran flawlessly and I had time to forget all the issues and run the lake like someone owning a boat like this should not hesitate to do. Other than that, it's one problem after another. These alarms go off and I do whatever it is to correct them and the engine runs fine again for a while before shutting down at some inopportune time on the lake. Even with the C10 gauge not working I was reassured the engine still has built in safety measures because the C10 is an optional accessory in the first place (I loved it when it worked btw and you helped me so much on eliminating possible cause ) . Of course I'm not going to mention the premium price I paid for this premium boat and engine. But I will tell you it pushed the limits of my budget. I can own that. But with that purchase also came and extended 6-year warranty 5 years of which are still remaining. And I'm being told that it's possible none of this will be warrantied as they continue to break the engine down and move it to different parts of the state to figure it out. That is somewhat concerning to me. I realize that all brands have their issues and that I'm not the first person to be frustrated by them. I can only report my experiences with my Suzuki and they have not been good at all approaching the first year of ownership.

  12. Member
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    #32
    Well it's been well over a month. I'm still waiting. I was on vacation last week and am going to call my dealer this afternoon during lunch. Before I left I was told Suzuki was having someone pick up the heads and block to be taken to one of their people to be checked for any possible hairline cracks. Apparently they cannot figure out WHY exhaust is keeping water from flowing through the driver side head. There is exhaust in the water cooling jacket. But no heads are blown and no bad gaskets. They've had multiple people check specs on the head, block etc and they're all good. Currently the engine is taken apart awaiting Suzuki's go ahead to proceed. I've had a few PMs asking what's going on with this. Appreciate it.

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    #33
    You should demand a new power head.

  14. Member
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    #34
    Quote Originally Posted by rocket man View Post
    You should demand a new power head.

    Since they had some specialist pick up the head from the dealer and examine it, I'm hoping they run every extensive test they can to see if it has a problem. Can there be issues with a power head that are undetectable? I'm not a mechanic by any definition.That's why I bought an almost new engine with years of warranty that's known for reliability.

  15. Member
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    #35
    Man I feel for ya. I think overall Suzuki builds one of the most dependable outboards. I sure as hell hope they make it right by you

  16. Joe4d
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    #36
    I was bored so I looked it up,,, not that it matters much now that ur engine is apart. Found the page from the owners manual,,, the 3 beeps is just telling you the engine shut off for some reason,, could be any of the shut downs or any fault. You get 3 beeps.

    Engine stalling caution system
    This System informs the operator when the engine stalls while it is operating.
    When the engine stalls for any reason the caution buzzer sounds 3 times.

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    #37
    Thank you Tyler. My research indicated the same statement you made in regards to reliability. Yes Joe I learned of the 3 beep alarm eventually afterward. I have been reassured many times over the reason for shutdown (and 3 beep alarm) us overheating. I was having c-10 gauge problems before that and thought maybe it was triggering an alarm but have been assured the problem is overheating.

  18. Member
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    #38
    Apologies in advance for the long post. I've had several PMs the last several weeks and want to give a fair and accurate update on this situation.
    Suzuki has returned the block and heads to the dealer my boat is located. This took several weeks. I don't know why so long and probably never will know. Apparently they did not find any cracks or dimension issues. They did re-machine the surfaces. My boat has been sitting at a dealer for over 2 months now. Even though the shop is an hour drive away, I decided it was time to make a personal appearance. So my wife and I did so last Monday evening after work. My friends had been telling me for weeks that I was way overdue to make a personal appearance. I'm patient to a fault with certain issues I suppose.

    The mechanic that I met with unlocked the unit the boat was being kept in so I could have access to it. He spend a solid hour with us explaining the situation and gave his best effort to answer all of our questions (I don't have a motor repair background). We definitely appreciated that. I wasn't ready for the effect it would have on me seeing my outboard disassembled completely. What a sight!!!
    I realize you can access the original issue in the above posts to this thread. But just to refresh the memory of those that have been following this and new readers, I had an alarm or various alarms that were shutting my boat down at the most inopportune times most everywhere I went. I would feel like one thing was resolved then it would be another. So months ago I took it to an authorized Suzuki dealer. They found the cause to be overheating due to no water flow through the top starboard head. This sets off the alarm due to there being 2 sensors on each head. When the zinc was pulled, exhaust was discovered in the jacket. I was told this SHOULD be pure water only.

    Keep in mind that during this entire breakdown process there is not only the dealer mechanic present, but a Suzuki rep as well. Upon discovering the issue, the Suzuki rep calls their boss (whoever that is) and is instructed to break the engine all the way down. During this process, nothing is discovered that can explain WHY this is happening. All the gaskets are fine. No discoloration on surfaces. and obviously no sign of something blowing at all. In this mechanic's experienced opinion, there was nothing that can be found to correct the issue. Now that Suzuki has returned the "re-machined" block and heads they have been ordered to put everything back together and see what happens. These people have fixed many Suzuki outboards and have NEVER seen a situation like this. He was honest with me in saying that he isn't excited about putting it back together because they haven't found anything wrong. I asked about the re-machining that Suzuki did. He explained that 7/1000ths of an inch was not going to make a difference in anything given the torqueing process they use to put this back together. It is irrelevant to anything in his opinion and experiences. He feels that Suzuki's engineers should want this engine moved to their tech team for observation and analysis and get a different one mounted on my boat and get me on my way. He's disappointed in Suzuki and says he is sorry to me (the customer).

    I do not question the dealer's ability to put this engine back together. But he has "never broken one of these down this far." In fact, he's waiting to hear from Suzuki on whether to reuse the same bolts in a specific area or have them send new ones. These bolts I mention are for some part of the engine that rarely ever needs taken apart (excuse my mechanical ignorance).

    This guy does not feel confident that anything will be fixed once he spends all the time putting the whole thing back together. I appreciate his honesty. He said pictures and dimensions were taken during the entire process. He said this engine has been discussed all through the Suzuki chain of command. And he's very disappointed they haven't taken a different approach.
    One thing is for sure. My confidence and piece of mind have taken a hard hit even if this thing is deemed repaired.

    But enough with the self pity. Hopefully when it is reassembled the alarms and limp mode will subside. Putting emotions aside for a moment, I realize (and people reading this need to realize) that Suzuki has a process on how they handle issues. They say they found nothing wrong with the block or heads. So now they are ordering the dealer to put the engine back together and see what happens. The dealer will do so. All of this has been covered by Suzuki. That doesn't help with the fact that I haven't had a boat for months and likely won't for another month. But it still needs to be noted. And if the same thing happens again, I'm sure Suzuki will proceed to the next step. Regardless if it's a Suzuki, Mercury, Evinrude, Honda, or any other brand, they all have a unique one that baffles those involved. I'm certain I have that one from Suzuki. But I still think they will eventually make this right. I have called customer service and established a case#. I am attempting to speak with someone from Suzuki who is relevant enough to have a say in my situation. That will be a long if not impossible process by just cold calling their customer service line. But I have to start someplace.

    Please PM or respond in this thread if you see any inconsistencies in my comments (which are possible due to my mechanical ignorance) or any suggestions.

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    #39
    Damn man that’s a bummer. I guess hopefully it runs like a top once you get it back. Keep us posted

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    #40
    I used to work on airplanes. Sometimes on the flight line, sometimes in the intermediate repair shops where things taken off the planes and replaced were repaired and placed in storage to be used again. These units were labeled R F I or ready for installation. Some times the bench tests would not show any defects. These bench tests were performed strictly by an approved and controlled publication.

    We had an autopilot command module that always tested 100% good but showed up way too frequently in the intermediate shop labeled as bad.

    One day after I sent it out as serviceable it came back. It had been accidentally run over by a 20 ton aircraft towing jenny. It was done.

    Edit: What the above says is even though a part, in this case the Suzuki motor, tests good and has nothing wrong in all the disassembly and tests, it still may have a problem that only shows up on the boat, and operating in the water.

    The flight line chief in the above incident took matters into his own hands, rather than use a part that had frequently failed in flight he "accidentally" ran over it and it never gave him any more trouble because it was smashed beyond repair.

    The hardest problem to fix is one that is intermittent. In my factory once we had issues with new parts from one of our South American factories. They were hermetically sealed inside a metal can. They shorted out occasionally, we found out the lid on the sealed can compressed at our altitude due to atmospheric pressure at 100 feet above sea level, but tested good at the altitude they were sealed at which was at about 3000 feet.

    I hope it now works as advertised.
    Last edited by billnorman1; 11-03-2018 at 04:14 AM.

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