1998 Suzuki 60DF "Water in the Oil"

[McSpadden]

Dick,

I was all prepared for a fishing trip on Wednesday, had everything ready to go but decided to check the oil as I was getting in the truck. Good thing I did, it was full of water. I had changed the spark plugs about a week ago and noticed that Number 4 was wet with water. By the way, there was not water in the oil at that time, I normally check the oil at least once a week.

I am thinking head gasket, going crazy as I could not get a manual locally and had to order one, just not familiar enough with outboards to tackle something like that without one. There went my two weeks of fishing prior to back surgery.

The motor looks to be well cared for, I just bought the boat last November, and I am a little surprised to have this problem. I think the motor was put into service in 2003 but do not know for sure, I am the third owner and the guy I bought the package from was not sure why the 2003 boat had an older motor, I suspect the first owner got a better deal with a leftover.


Any thoughts on the motor, I understand there is a plate under the powerhead that could be suspect as well as possibly an exhaust baffle. From looking over the manual at the dealership it looks like I have to pull the powerhead, so will get a look the plate and will probably have to pull the exhaust manifold as well. I plan to go bug my favorite dealership here in town and try to talk them into letting me order an service manual but borrow theirs, if they are not in the middle of a project, until the new one comes in. Hoping I can work a deal as I am pretty sure I can get back on the water for a day or two before I leave if I can get started and parts are not to hard to find. Any thoughts or hints will be greatly appreciated.


Dave

 

[Dick@merrittmarine]

Dave, I'd put my money on a head gasket.

Dick

 

[k9reno]

Dave
Not to rub salt in an open wound, but was the problem present before the encounter with the trees. If not do you think it could possibly just be somthing having gotten knocked loose or out of place?? just a thought

 

[McSpadden]

Dick,
Now if I can just get my hands on some tech data and get started. Thanks for the quick reply.

K9Reno,
I had water on the number 4 plug prior to the tree incident, I have tried to remember if the motor spun up, prop out of the water during all the bouncing but don't remember it doing so, it may has escalated the problem but I don't think it produced it. Thanks for the reply though, it is always good to go over all the options, especially when it involves such a big job.

Dave

 

[McSpadden]

Took the motor apart yesterday and found a spot around the number four cylinder on the cylinder head corroded, it had not eaten into the cylinder but made the head gasket fail for that cylinder. After being in the motor, it was definitly not well cared for at some point in it's life. Water lines clogged with salt and sand, just nasty, as if it were run and put up instead of running some fresh water through it. I was not sure what I would face, thought I might need a new head so put in a call and found out it would be $1100.00 dollars at the dealer. Did some research online and could not find any used parts on ebay or anywhere else for that matter.

Decided to go ahead and take the head in to town this morning, BJ's Marine had mentioned a Cylinder head shop in Millville that they use for all of their work so I gave it a shot. Tim took and look and said, "No Problem," I asked how long, and he said, "You will be back on the water Saturday. Called me up about 12:30 and told me to come get it. Put the motor together and fired her up about an hour ago. She sounds great and fired off as soon as fuel pressure built. Everything looks good, I plan to put in the lake tomorrow for further operational checks but don't expect any problems. By the way, Tim charged me $62.90 to weld in the corroded area and surface the head. Did a great job on it.

See ya on the water!!!

Dave

 

[Dave LeGear]

Glad to see it was a fairly simple and low budget fix Dave
I would also consider using this product http://www.saltawayproducts.com/OutboardFlushingPage.htm to help keep it all nice and clean since flushing with water alone may not keep it that way...

Tight Lines!

 

[McSpadden]

Operational Checks were good, probably my imagination but I think the motor runs quieter now. Maybe just adjusting the valves took out some play. I am starting to like four strokes more and more. They are built like a car motor, my motor was designed after the Suzuki 1.3L engine and I have been tinkering with those for most of my life. The hardest part of the job was rerouting all of the wires, took the entire harness off during the tear down, and cleaning out all of the smaller water lines.

Putershark, Will order me some of that saltaway, looks like a great product and while I run primarily in fresh water, we do get out on the bay and gulf here in Panama City and like to keep things clean afterward.

See yall on the Water!!!!!
Dave