Engine Problems

[FredC]

Hi,

I have a 2002 21 ft Triumph 210 CC with a Suzuki DT 150 EFI engine that does not seem to stop overheating? I changed the water pump, thermostats, sensors and I am $850 in the hole already. The boat seems to run good at higher rpms but at low rpm's (i.e. 500 ) the temperature light goes on and beeps at 7 second intervals. This eventually leads to stall...
Should I continue to dump money in or pack it in and buy a new engine? And if I do save for a new engine what should I buy and how much will it cost me?

Sorry so many questions?

Thxs,

Fred

 

[Dave LeGear]

It's going to take a list to troubleshoot this one so hang in there

• Have you been doing this work or a dealer? If a dealer then take it back and state you are still having the issue, it is now on their dime in my opinion to give you a solid cause and repair assessment on this engine.
• If you have been doing this work then it appears some guess work has been involved and not enough testing with factory test equipment for sensor's don't fail as much as they go out of spec. A simple loose ground or low voltage condition can also report as a sensor issue when that is not the case. So as such, we need to now go back to ground zero and sort out if...
• Is the engine actually getting hot at idle OR a low voltage condition reporting such and the engine stalls out due to the lack of voltage?
• If the engine is really getting hot then I am surprised you have not lost a head gasket by now and it's ability to run at high speed be almost Nil...

Now that we have that out of the way here is what I would do

1. Check the entire charging system from the battery forward making sure you have a good starting battery, all cables are snug, all engine grounds are clean and tight and that the alternator output is correct at idle. Make sure that gauge wiring is also snug...
2. Once done with #1 run the engine at idle on a hose and see if it really overheats? If so you have a engine issue of some kind and I would look at plugged cooling passages, loose manifolds / gaskets, water pump sucking air, etc. Many overheat AND stall out conditions are from some kind of air fuel mixture lean out... Here again if the condition is present much past idle, the engine simply will not get much above idle without running very rough due to the lack of fuel for the amount of air going into the cylinders. Since it can (from what I can read) I do not think you have a serious engine issue as much as a reporting issue.
3. New engines are expensive and I do not see the need to replace it when taking it to a good dealer and fixing the one you have is more than likely your most cost effective route unless this engine has thousands of hours on it. If you do want to swap it out, then you lowest cost route due to the gauges and wiring involved would to be to stick with the same builder.

Keep us updated and let us know what you find

 

[FredC]

Thxs Putershark,

I purchased the boat used, from a private seller last year. All the work performed to date has been by a marina in Sneads Ferry, N.C. They seem to be taking the correct approach as far as I can tell. My concern at the end of this is can they fix it and how much deeper (pocket) can it go?
If I stick with the same dealer (i.e Suzuki) do you know if they discount a new engine if I give them my old engine?

 

[Dave LeGear]

Well I do not know if they are going down the correct path or not since they have swapped out sensor's that do not seem to be having a problem. If so, then the overheat readings would go away.

So I say we are back to ground zero and need to determine if you have a true overheat condition or not? I would advise you to start hanging onto some old parts for as in the case of these (so called) defective sensors IF they were defective, then you would no longer have the false readings they were (in theory) producing.

So how far can this go? Blown head gasket, cracked block, pretty deep IF it is a real over heat condition that is stalling out the engine. I don't think it will go that far, but I am not present with a meter in my hand and can hear how this engine is running. My thinking is if she was getting really hot that once she stalled out, your chances of it restarting it while hot would be very slim.

If the engine is found to have a mechanical issue, then you wallet will tell you if you need a new engine or not? I would not give the old engine away since it has some trade in value (the lower unit for one thing) pending what all is wrong with it of course.

 

[HighTechRedneck]

If i took my boat to a place to fix the problem and they worked on it and charged me money but the problem was still there i would demand my money back. you do not pay them to guess. you pay them to fix the problem. they should start the engine in their shop and see the same problem you are having.

just my rant
HTR