DT 55 Loud chirp at Idle then dies!

[g_craft]

hi, had the boat on the water today ran well off the start, i took it for a good drive then it seemed like I had a lot less power but it seemed to work it self out and continued to run fine. Once the engine was warmed up when i brought it back down to idle I get a loud chirp and it dies then fires right back up. It doesnt happen every time but sometimes even when i shut the engine down my self it would make this loud chirp again.

For some reason my oil injection system is not working so i mixed the fuel my self. could chirp happen from not enough oil or to much in the mixture.

I pulled all the plugs the top one was light brown with no oil the middle was light brown with a bit of oil and the bottom one was light brown with a bit of cruddy oil (more gunky) if that makes sense. I would really appreciate any advice.
Thanks

[Solarman]

chirping at low rpms

It's important to have the oil injection system working. The manual can tell you how to test that. It is possible that the chirping may be related to the flywheel magnets coming loose and starting to contact the magneto.this should be checked asap. If it is that, it will eat the magneto quickly. I would keep mixing oil until the problem is found. The magneto and flywheel for my motor (dt140) was almost $1.5k. Find the chirp, and get the oil system fixed, good luck.

[g_craft]

Thanks solar man. I do have a spare engine so i have parts i can access right away. Do you have any suggestions on how to find the chirp. like what am i looking for exactly in the flywheel area to know if the the magnet is hitting the magneto?
and by keep mixing gas till i fix the problem do you mean its okay to keep driving while mixing gas or should i stop using it all together till i get the oil injection system working? Is it possible to permanently get rid of the oil injection and just mix gas so i don't have to worry about it?

[keakar]

if the magnet is hitting the magneto it will be obvious in loose bits broken edges and debris so it wont be hard to tell but also look for a rubbing if its got any polished shiny spots because they aren't supposed to actually touch at all.

the combined engine power issues and chirping makes me think you have bearing issues going on there because it wasn't getting proper lubrication without the oil mixture system working correctly.

[g_craft]

over all after an hour of solid boating I had power issues for all of 3 mins.

by bearing issues do you mean that they are done and need to be replaced?
or if i get the injection system working properly that the chirping will stop?
(maybe i didn't mix enough oil)

I have a buddy telling me that if i mixed the fuel its the same difference as if the oil injection system was working.

if the engine is running lean due to dirty carbs could it cause this chirp? Mind you the plugs look ok.

[g_craft]

SUZUKI OUTBOARD BOAT ENGINE DT55 55HP!! - YouTube

this youtube video has the chirp im talking about in it at the 45 second mark only difference is mine does it then dies doesnt keep running and is a bit louder

[keakar]

most chirping issues I am aware of are from dry bearings and the chirp is a short high pitch squeak.

the motor stopping at the same time tells me its tight overheated bearings gripping the crank instead of letting it rotate and that's why it stalled.

since im not there I could be wrong but unless the chirp is coming from an alarm signal then its bearings starting to lock up which I would guess is from not enough oil.

once again im not there but if it didnt do any damage it should be fine once its gets properly lubed again but that's only a guess hoping for the best.

fix the oil system first before you run the engine again and if you mix the oil it should be 50/1 mix, and its written on the oil bottle how to measure. when in doubt always put more oil then less to be safe. too much oil gives you dirty plugs and it smokes more but not enough oil and the engine fails on you.

[g_craft]

ok thanks a bunch! Ya i was under the impression that the oil injection system was working, but pre mixed 100:1 ratio fearing it would get to much if the oil injections system was infact working as it should. so now i fear if i get it working that it will quit again and i'll have no mixed fuel. so i would rather mix my fuel a tank a head and always have that tank to switch to once the first is empty to avoid having to guess how much is left everytime i fill. Would really like to get rid of the injection system all together.

[keakar]

ok thanks a bunch! Ya i was under the impression that the oil injection system was working, but pre mixed 100:1 ratio fearing it would get to much if the oil injections system was infact working as it should. so now i fear if i get it working that it will quit again and i'll have no mixed fuel. so i would rather mix my fuel a tank a head and always have that tank to switch to once the first is empty to avoid having to guess how much is left everytime i fill. Would really like to get rid of the injection system all together.

I think there is more to it then just not filling it so you need to find what needs to be done to "properly" bypass the oil injection and always mix 50:1.

if you had 100:1 then the engine wasn't getting enough oil and that's your problem, hopefully you did no permanent damage to it.

[g_craft]

Hi, Ok I checked the fly wheel it looks normal no broken pieces or anything looks good. I mixed the gas 50:1 and took the the boat out for another good run. I put a notch on the side of the oil tank and it infact is going down! not by much but it is functioning so that probably explains the mass's of smoke coming from the engine at idle. My question is how do i know its getting enough oil from the injection system? also it was still doing the chirp but only did it once. I checked my plugs at the end of the ride and the bottom cylinder i could actually see a trail from where the gas/oil was running out. It was actually prettty thick.

[keakar]

Hi, Ok I checked the fly wheel it looks normal no broken pieces or anything looks good. I mixed the gas 50:1 and took the the boat out for another good run. I put a notch on the side of the oil tank and it infact is going down! not by much but it is functioning so that probably explains the mass's of smoke coming from the engine at idle. My question is how do i know its getting enough oil from the injection system? also it was still doing the chirp but only did it once. I checked my plugs at the end of the ride and the bottom cylinder i could actually see a trail from where the gas/oil was running out. It was actually prettty thick.

when you say you checked the flywheel, did you remove it? because what parts we are talking about are underneath the flywheel and cant be seen unless you remove it.

the bottom cylinder seams to be having issues if its that much different then the others but it may just be because it runs the coldest being closest to the water and often gets extra cooling from water hitting it when you stop or the wave action that comes up on the motor.

first, to clean the cylinders, remove all the plugs then spray carb cleaner in the cylinders (a good 3-4 second spray) and crank it over to blow out the carbon buildup but back up because it splatters carb cleaner full of black gunk everywhere coming out the plug hole and you may want to lay an old rag over the opening to catch it. do this a few times until your can is empty or you think you got most all of it out. then do a compression test on all 3 cylinders and get the average of 3 readings from each so you are sure its a good reading.

then start with a whole new set of plugs and use straight gas in the gas tank since you confirmed the oil system is working and fill the oil tank with oil. burn a full tank of gas through the engine, then pull the plugs and see what they look like and report back here.

im not saying you need to do this but on some engines I have seen where the bottom plug needed to be slightly hotter version then the top two plugs in order to get a good even plug color on all of them. sometimes its just to burn off the excess oil from a colder running cylinder, but that's nothing for you to think about needing to do just yet.

is your oil tank full? because the chirp may just be a low oil warning signal

also there is a filter for the oil system that looks just like the fuel filter so clean or replace that filter

[g_craft]

when you say you checked the flywheel, did you remove it? because what parts we are talking about are underneath the flywheel and cant be seen unless you remove it.

the bottom cylinder seams to be having issues if its that much different then the others but it may just be because it runs the coldest being closest to the water and often gets extra cooling from water hitting it when you stop or the wave action that comes up on the motor.

first, to clean the cylinders, remove all the plugs then spray carb cleaner in the cylinders (a good 3-4 second spray) and crank it over to blow out the carbon buildup but back up because it splatters carb cleaner full of black gunk everywhere coming out the plug hole and you may want to lay an old rag over the opening to catch it. do this a few times until your can is empty or you think you got most all of it out. then do a compression test on all 3 cylinders and get the average of 3 readings from each so you are sure its a good reading.

then start with a whole new set of plugs and use straight gas in the gas tank since you confirmed the oil system is working and fill the oil tank with oil. burn a full tank of gas through the engine, then pull the plugs and see what they look like and report back here.

im not saying you need to do this but on some engines I have seen where the bottom plug needed to be slightly hotter version then the top two plugs in order to get a good even plug color on all of them. sometimes its just to burn off the excess oil from a colder running cylinder, but that's nothing for you to think about needing to do just yet.

is your oil tank full? because the chirp may just be a low oil warning signal

also there is a filter for the oil system that looks just like the fuel filter so clean or replace that filter

Hi, No i didnt take the flywheel off. I will though, I must have misunderstood the post regarding the fly wheel.

How do i know the oil injection system is sending enough oil? I have cleaned the filter already. when i installed the engine it had no oil in the tank so when i hooked the battery up i heard the low oil warning and filled the tank half way so i know this chirp is not that. the weird thing is if i had to say a spot where it sounds like its coming from is the top of the engine by the fly wheel. so ill take the fly wheel off clean the cylinders and find a compression tester, might take me a couple days but i'll do as you say and report back.

when I had it out the other day at wot and giving it any throttle at all really seemed to run really well, it was fast lots of power. at idle though it would eventually start to sputter maybe let out a chirp and die

thanks very much i appreciate your help.

[g_craft]

OK I did everything as you said, cleaned the cylinders a compression test new spark plugs and tried to put a tank of gas through it. I drove around for a good hour without any issues. i thought i would throw a line in and try to catch a fish or two, after about a good two hour break i thought i would go for another drive well now the engine won't start, I took the hood off and worked the choke manually and it would fire and die fire, chirp, die, fire, die and eventually i was able to get the throttle up enough I was able to get to the boat launch. pulled the plugs they honestly looked fine they were light grey to brown. I took it home and cleaned all the carbs and lines took it out again started good the hole time and would idle but eventually would kinda start chugging and chirp and die. but would start right back up and run. I would give it throttle and it would almost hesitate and have surges of power and then work it self out and be fine again. Again i Pulled the plugs and they look fine. I had a buddy look at them he also says nothing wrong with them.

[g_craft]

oh compression was 117 118 117

[keakar]

I am at a loss as to what to do next because I just keep thinking, the way its acting sounds like the bearings tightening up when running is the cause of the surges and chirping and the starting issues (if you don't have spark when it happens) may be the ECM weather its doing it because its seeing a problem or just not working right. if you do have spark when it doesn't want to start then it could be a timing or still a fuel/carb issue.

I think you have done all you can on your own so its time to send it to the shop and see what they find, no one likes to pay those prices but that's why they are there and sometimes its best to pay them to solve these kinds of issues and be done with it.