Flushing & de-salting engine

[Mullet]

Are there any particular areas of the Suzuki 150 that require special attention as far as flushing/washing due to saltwater.

I was instructed by a Johnson mechanic years ago to throughly was the motor mounts at the lower end of the unit.

Are there any other areas to pay attention to that nead a good flushing?

[briscoe]

use earmuffs

Absolutely, use earmuffs and idle your engine while flushing. If you use the wash out fitting on the side of the engine it won't ensure your thermostat is open. I flush long enough for engine to warm up and the pee stream gets good and warm. Twice a season I pull the four internal anodes and clean them off. They cake up with crap and I just like cleaning them off, so they are sure to work.
Just something I do to take care of my DF140.
Briscoe
Galveston Bay

[Moonlighter]

As well as giving my engine a good flush with the engine running on the earmuffs, as soon as that is done I also, on my mechanics recommendation, put the hose on the flushing port and let it run thru there for 10 minutes.

And yes, check the anodes and clean twice a year.

Cheers

ML

[Harper]

The pee stream in your DF150 will not ever get warm with water being forced in by hose using the muffs, and will not get very warm even with the lower unit immersed in water. The water coming from the pee stream has not gone through the engine water jacket, but comes directly from the pump housing. It is an indicator of a working pump, not a working thermostat. The water comes out warm/hot from my prop hub, but the telltale always stays cold. You can use SaltAway for the flush and wash down the externals on the engine, too. Pay attention to the tilt/trim mechanism and the mount. And by all means, open up the internal engine anodes and scrape or brush the buildup off these (5 of them on the DF150/175) to keep them doing their job properly.

[Mullet]

Flushing Inlets

There apear to be 2 flushing ports.
One on the port side and one in the front.
Should you flush both of these.

[Harper]

The best way to flush involves neither of these ports. It's best to use muffs on the water intakes that are just above the transmission bulge on the lower unit. Using muffs on these intake ports with a good flow of water from a hose, run the motor at idle for 15-30 minutes to insure that the thermostat has opened and you've flushed all the water jacket. Also ensure that you have flow from the telltale during the flush so that you know your pump is working and you have adequate water supply to the motor. Under no circumstances do you run the engine using the flush ports that you mention on the left and front of the engine cowling. You can flush through these, but they are used without running the engine, and as I said, are not as effective.

[briscoe]

Tell tale warmth is temp reference

Harper,
I was implying that you can get a temperature reference of the engine condition with the pee stream. When it warms up, the engine is usually warmed enough to open the thermostat, ensuring that the entire engine is washing out.
Thanks for clarifying that for me.
Lastly, a 15 -30 minute wash out may be something most people will not take time to do. As for me, I run it 10-15 minutes on muffs with the engine running and do so every time.

[Harper]

I knew what you meant, and it's a good idea to thoroughly warm the engine. But it takes at least 30 minutes for my DF150 to feel any warmth at all from the tell tale, and even then, it's barely discernable. I'll let it run that long in order to warm the oil, too, on those instances where I have to go more than a month between fishing trips, and I run the motor on muffs every couple of weeks just to keep it lubed and rust-free. The very slight warming of the tell tale is caused by the oil cooler. The oil cooler the only part of the motor that the water from the tell tale has passed through prior to exiting. It doesn't go through the water jacket of the motor. Some owners mistakingly think that it indicates that cooling system (thermostat and all) is working properly, when in fact it does not. That was the main point that I wanted to make. I think we're pretty much in agreement.