Crook 140hp Suzuki.

[suzygs1000]

Hi guys,

I recently had to spend $700 on my 50 hour old 140 hp Suzuki. The motor kept stopping after varying periods of running (10 mins to 1 hour) necessitating turning the ignition off, waiting a minute or so then restarting. Lucky there are no coastal bars up here!

It turned out to be a crook fuel regulator. I was advised by the mechanic that it was badly corroded due to the fuel I had been using. There appeared to be black gunk and whitish powder in the fuel system, and the fuel regulator was corroded beyond use (after 50 hours!).

I approached the BP service station owner where I had been buying my fuel (solely!).

He advised me that the he had noticed whilst servicing cars that the BP standard ULP appeared to leave a black gunk residue and white powdery substance in fule components, and that I should only use PULP, as it didn't have these additives.

As the Users manual states that standard ULP is ok, I have sent an email to the Haines group advising them that I am not happy with having to spend $700 every 50 hours to replace a fuel regulator which has corroded out due to the use of a fuel which their users manual recommends!

The regulator appears to be made from a material which looks to be susceptible to corrosion , and is $240. Its replacement entails the removal of the entire injection system.

I will keep you posted on Haines Group response.

A not happy Suzuki owner.

Dave.

[FNQCairns]

Mate not good, these things happen to people as 'very individual' what I mean by that is these types of problem are widelydivided due to population.

Effectivly a complaint that will never make a difference to any other person, business is business and government is government.
Wouldn't rule out the SS owner using fuel tainted with ethanol actually anything tolulene even.

Thanks for the heads up! 50h is no good! If it were mine and out of warrenty a 500:1 dose of tcw3 in the fuel could delay matters although one of the problems with warrenty is it's nigh on impossible to do the best by the equipment at times due to the risk of voiding it.

cheers fnq

[finga]

I'd be up BP.
If the servo operator notices the black gunk on cars it's pretty obvious the problem is the fuel not the outboard.
Fuel shouldn't corrode metal otherwise we're all in strife.

[bay_firey]

Now I could be wrong here BUT
Doesn't all BP Regular Unleaded petrol have ethanol in it ???
Not 100% sure that it is BP but I am sure there is a chain that DOESN"T offer unleaded WITHOUT ethanol and I tend to lean towards BP it has been brought up in one of the many threads with regards to ethanol in fuel and being used in a marine environment.

I know the book for my 50 4 stroke suzuki I had did say regular unleaded it also stated NOT to use ethanol

I am not suggesting that ethanol IS the problem but just worth a check on what you have been getting from the servo

[mik01]

i only go to caltex. gotta be better than bp, as I don't think caltex basic unleaded has any ethanol in it?

[peterbo3]

Suzy,
I do not know where you are but in Qld all ethanol pumps must be identified as such by law. Sounds like you have been getting bad fuel or a higher blend than E10. Can you obtain a sample of your fuel & have it tested? Will not cost $700 but most industrial testing labs will be able to check it for ethanol content or other contaminants. If the fuel is bad then you will have a case against the fuel supplier.
I doubt that the 140 is the problem. Do you a Racor type fuel filter on your fuel line? Some of the black gunk & whitish powder may be trapped in the filter.

If you have reason to think that the fuel may be bad, contact BP on 1300130027

[mirage]

I know the local BP servo Manager. I asked him ages ago if BP was going to offer the 10% ethanol in their fuel. He said " What do you mean, BP regular unleaded has had ethanol in it for ages"
So Mark, I think you are probably correct.
Dave, I suspect it's more BP's fault than Suzuki. Normal good fuel should not corrode a fuel regulator!
Cheers, Scotty.

[Mad-One]

Service stations don't have to declare that their fuel contains ethanol unless it is 10% or more. Try and get a lawn mower repaired around the gold coast and see how long it takes due to all the corroded carbies from ethanol blended fuel. Lawnmower repairers are making a fortune

Mad

[crab man]

not good guys is it ? dont worrie about the 140 mate heaps of us pros use them here they have upwards of 2,000hrs and never had a break down "touch woods" !! Craig

[Noelm]

you would kind of think that a new Motor would be OK with Ethanol, most new cars are OK and it has been around for a long time now, long enough for the outboard manufacturers to "get their act together" and make their Motors Ethanol proof!

[PinHead]

the manual for my new motor says it is fine to use E10..just be careful about what components the fuel tank and lines are made from.

[Scott nthQld]

I only buy my fuel from caltex, as the Ethanol blend is clearly marked, they call it E10. All their other unleaded fuel are just that, petrol, as far as I'm concerned E10 is the best thing for the economy, if you don't count all the people that have had trouble with it, that is. It certainly helps small business in all the repair or replacement work they are getting where ethanol is to blame.

[marco]

who knows what you get from bp sites these days , look at the bp ballina distributer , 14 sites which includes bp cannon hill and he has been selling ulp through the pulp bowser . fined 470 k and had to sell his sites or be debranded by bp . how many other sites are selling shit fuel ?

from what you guys are saying i would bet ethanol is in this fuel and cleaning all the shit out of the system hench the black gunk .

[BM]

Too true Marco......

And sadly for us repairers it makes our job a shit load harder.....

You tell a customer, "mate, its detonated due to stale fuel" and he says "its only 1 week old from "X" servo" and the public generally believe that what comes from a servo will in ALL cases be good fuel.

But it is simply and sadly not the case... But of course the repairer looks like the bad guy cos the general perception of the public suggests "surely a servo won't sell bad fuel" or even worse "they won't doctor their fuel with toluene or some other solvent to boost their profits".........

There are MANY, MANY service station owners who are in reality criminals. Their actions may not in the short term kill auto engines but they kill many outboard engines and leave owners with no recourse, even through their insurance....

Not good........ In fact absolutely ####ing shit.....

[stevenc]

Gday fellas, first post here and a newbie to boating (waiting for boat to be ready) anyway, so be gentle with me :) re ethanol. Although not a big fan of it, mainly due to fact of lots of conflicting info on the product. In the USA they really only have ethanol blended unleaded available over there for many years now and I would have thought most major engine manufacturers would have these outboards setup to accept this type of fuel since that is the market most are chasing. Hopefully Haines can help you out a bit, like someone else said maybe doing a fuel test to help your case might be not a bad idea for piece of mind.
Who knows what is in the fuel these days.

[Far side]

I have the Service Manual here
Allowable Maximum Blend of a single Additive (not combination)
5% Methanol 10% ethanol 15%MTBE
Suzuki Highly recommends that you use alcohol free unleaded Gasoline with a minimum octane rating of 87. However blends of unleaded and alcohol with equivalent octane may be used.

[jon80]

Dave,
As a mechanic i ask if you really think this is a engine fault ? You only get out what you put in , I think your local servo after admitting fault should be presented with repair bill ! Also it is recommended not to run blended fuels in all outboards . Good luck ..................

[Noelm]

would any of you guys spend an extra couple of cents per litre if the Fuel you bought for your Boat (or car I guess) was guaranteed to be "proper" unleaded/premium and filtered to ensure no crap was in it??? I do not mean this to be a dig at anyone, just a "for instance" that if a Servo near you provided this, would you buy it?

[peterbo3]

Noelm,
In Qld the E10 blends are two cents cheaper than regular ULP.

[marco]

Noelm,
In Qld the E10 blends are two cents cheaper than regular ULP.

not so true peter , it should be even cheaper as there is no duty on ethanol so it should be 3.8 cents cheaper , but some of the thieving pricks stick it to everyone . bp is the worst for it as they from the start charged the same as ulp and there are some others that in brisbane are 2 cents cheaper but in toowoomba for instance are the same as ulp .
they just do what ever they think they can get away with .

[marco]

would any of you guys spend an extra couple of cents per litre if the Fuel you bought for your Boat (or car I guess) was guaranteed to be "proper" unleaded/premium and filtered to ensure no crap was in it??? I do not mean this to be a dig at anyone, just a "for instance" that if a Servo near you provided this, would you buy it?
yes i would everytime , but who could you trust ?

[Bonus]

Stick to shell fuel and you should not have any problems. A friend of mine is a 63 year old pilot and he will only use shell in his cars and boat. I dont think we can blame Suzuki for this one.
Russ

[marco]

Stick to shell fuel and you should not have any problems. A friend of mine is a 63 year old pilot and he will only use shell in his cars and boat. I dont think we can blame Suzuki for this one.
Russ
shell petrol in brisbane comes from bp unless it is pulp which comes from caltex . different in other states

[Spaniard_King]

Hi guys,

The regulator appears to be made from a material which looks to be susceptible to corrosion , and is $240. Its replacement entails the removal of the entire injection system.

I will keep you posted on Haines Group response.

A not happy Suzuki owner.

Dave.

I wonder if the dealer in question contacted suzi and asked for warranty??? Is the fuel system not capable of filtering foreign matter ??

I cant see why this is not a warranty issue? Exessive corrosion can be a warranty issue.

Warranty is a lot of times up to the dealer and is painfull for them as there is extra paper work and time waiting for payment. It's too easy to just lump the owner with the bill saying it's his fault.::)

[suzygs1000]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies.

At the time of the problem, I did have a Racor filter fitted between the tank and the engine, but it was one of the small ones, and not the type with the tap on the bottom. The blurb does say that it separates water however. Seeing as how the Suzuki has three filters in the system also, I thought this would be enough. Obviously not!.

Haines were contacted by the dealer on a number of occasions re warranty, but it was decided that the fuel was the culprit.

I am not blaming the engine, but as a layman looking at the part that failed, it does appear to be made out of that goldy type of zinc plated sheet steel that is commonly used.

I would also have thought that the three filters integral with the fuel system would have kept the regulator and injectors free of rubbish, but not so.

Mercury Quickclean was run thru the motor on a couple of occasions to try to clear it out prior to the engine being dismantled, but it did no good, probably because the regulator had deteriorated too much by that stage.

The filters did not appear to separate anything, as there was also water evident in the system.

I still have the Racor filter. How can I have it tested to see what the contaminant was? How can I have fuel from that servo tested?

Thanks again to all those who responded.

Dave Morgan.