Excessive fuel consumption on 2007 DF225

[Weirdfish]

Hi,

I am new to owning a Suzuki 225 and been really impressed with the engine, really smooth but have noticed I am burning a huge amount of fuel, just installed the interface between engine and ray marine plotter and this has confirmed 18lts and hour at idle, 40 litres an hour at 8 knots and 80 litres an hour at about 25-30 knots.

As an aside the engine is also not great at starting and often when warm can take two or three turns to get it going and even then sometimes need some neutral revs to fire...

The boat is a 7.5m rib

The previous owner had the same issue and has said cleaning the injectors fixed it but looks like the problem has come back, any advice or would you agree it sounds like injectors?

[Moonlighter]

There is no way it could be burning that much fuel, surely!! I strongly suspect a network software issue is giving you false data there!! 18 lph at idle (out of gear) is 10 times what it will actually be burning!!

Now that you have the network installed, have you filled the tank, done a decent run to use at least 1/4 tank, then refilled the tank again and compared how much fuel it actually took to fill the tank compared to what the network says (as shown on your plotter)??

This is the only way to know whether the network is working correctly and showing the correct fuel flow. Both fuel flow and fuel used are directly linked to the fuel data provided from the ecu, so if one of these bits of data is wrong, both are wrong.

This is a known issue - if the engine interface cable is running the wrong software version for your engine model year. Can be fixed by lowding the correct software version.

[Weirdfish]

i didn't realise the issue with the software just as I know it had been an issue before I have prehaps jumped a little too quickly to the conclusion about the injectors... time for a refuel and proper test, appreciate the advice

[Weirdfish]

The version fitted was 2.9 so from what I have read I should downgrade this to 2.5 or potentially 2.3. Do you know if this is possible from a Raymarine MFD? a67 model

Thanks again..

[Moonlighter]

No. The interface software cant be changed by using a Raymarine. No debate - thats just how it is!

The only MFD's that can upload software changes to the Suzuki interface or other Suzuki network devices are Lowrance or Simrad. Or, your Suzuki dealer can do it using their laptop and a emulator program available from Lowrance for free. (The cable to connect the laptop to the network is the expensive part!)

If you can borrow one, say a HDS, from someone, you can attach it to the network by using the network cable that the Raymarine is using. Just unplug it from the Ray and into the HDS. But you will also need the power cable for the HDS and have to connect it to power on the boat.

Did you run the fuel used test yet? Results?

I agree that V2.9.0 is not really suitable for your 2007 year engine and there is a very strong, almost 100% chance that this is why you are getting those bizarre fuel readings on the network.

2.5.0 should work for you, if it doesnt, then 2.30 will. You can download both from the link i put on the first post on the sticky thread on this forum about Suzuki networks. Simply copy the file to a sd card, put in the MFD, find it in the files menu, select and upload.

You will immediately know if this solves the problem : when you start the engine and let it idle for a minute or two to warm up, fuel flow should settle somewhere around 1.2-1.5l/hr. (My DF115 idles using about 0.8l/hr.)

So as soon as you see l/hr figures around that rate, you will know it is fixed.

[Weirdfish]

Many thanks for the advice, The only one that I managed to get working was 2.3 but thanks to your file I am now up and running... well almost. As it is a manual set-up with that firmware I got the engine bit but then it asked me some further questions I had no idea about (I think Centre and some numbers was involved) I am annoyed I didn't screenshot it) All seemed fine and ran for some time today and it said I had used 33 litres, sounds about right but I have not filled up yet to test but I checked the figure, it can be a configuration error message - I pressed use anyway it it jumped to saying i had used 166ltrs! The idle usage remained at 2ltrs which i think is nearer 1.6 but rounds up on the ray marine unit...

Can you advise me or know about the additional set-up questions?

[Moonlighter]

Again, you can only do the initial configuration on a Suzuki SMIs display or Lowrance.

Whcih one of them are you using to do the config process?

In the initial config you need to set:

Boat setup is first- number of engines, and location (centre) number of fuel tanks, this is done in drop doen menu, and enter fuel tank capacity.
Then
Engine model year (eg 2010)
Engine hp. (Eg 250)

The system needs all this so it knows what engine it is communicating with and to get things like alarms and fuel flow set correctly.

I would say you've done something wrong now.

You probably need to unconfigure the Suzuki interface (again this can be done on one of the displays mnetioned above), this will reset it back to factory, then start again doing the configuration process as outlined above.

Let me know what device (SMIS display, Lowrance or Simrad combo unit) you are using and I can walk you thru what to do. And, what NOT to do!

[Weirdfish]

Thanks so much, it was a Lowrance HDS 9 which I have not given back yet so will have a look today, annoyed i didn't take a picture of the error or config screen to make by last post make more sense!

I will have another look today

[Moonlighter]

Ok, the HDS makes the process heaps easier!

Turn the engine key on. Engine doesnt need to be running.

Turn HDs on. Menu/Menu/network/device list/select the suzuki, select unconfigure. Do that. This resets back to factory settings ready to be configured properly. It really is quite intuitive.

Then go out and back in again, this time select configure.

Using the drop down menus, select 1 engine/1 tank (assume thats what you have) then input tank capacity, set engine location = centre, then select engine year and hp. From memory thats about it.

Now while youve got the HDS there you can put the engine muffs on and start up. On the HDS press the pages button and select Info, this opens up engine data pages, you should see a virtual dashboard and the gauges should show all the available engine data. See my paper on the sticky thread that lists what engine data will be available.

Fuel flow should show in litres/hr. It should settle on about 1.8 litres per hour or thereabouts when the engine has warmed up a little. I am not 100% sure with the 225, but my DF115 idles at 0.8lph so that is a guide. If it is a sensible figure then you are looking good!

At that point you can take the HDS off the network and put your Raymarine back on (if you must! I prefer the Lowrance HDS myself!)

Now fill the tank to 100% full, and go for a run. Use at least 1/4 tank, then go to same petrol station and fill up again, try to fill it to same level. Compare what it actually takes to what the system says. If its within 3% i would leave it alone. If its more than 3-5% out, you can reattach the HDS to the network and calibrate the fuel flow. (You cant do this on the Ray - please don't even try!!)

to do this: menu/fuel/highlight set to full/enter it will ask if you want to calibrate, say yes, then input the actual fuel taken to fill. It then shows the calibration factor that will apply, accept that and complete the process. Done. You may have to do this process a couple of times when you refuel to get it close to a 100% perfect result. Then it will stay perfect.

Now remember every time you sdd fuel to go into the Raymarine menu and tell it you have filled the tank to full again or added some fuel but not filled. I dont know how that is done on the Ray but it must be in there somewhere! Fuel remaining should reset once that is done.

[J.Roos]

i recently bought a new df 140atl, the problem is the fuel flow is way to much.

I connected these to smis meters and to a lowrance elite via the NMEA2000 network.
now my dealer could not tell how I can connect the engine to this gauges because he had never done this before so I can not ask him any questions.

I have encountered similar issues several times on this forum and here they talk about updating the engine interface.
so i downloaded the file from the lowrance / suzuki page but as soon as i want to upgrade it just reboots with elite ti without making any changes even if I want to configure the motor I can only select until 2015

these are the data of the interface: software 2.3.0 rr31D model 3.0.0.

could this setup never work? because the new color displays have replaced the interface for the newer engines?

[Moonlighter]

For a current year (2020) model engine, you must run an interface cable running version 3.5.4 software.

The old cable that you have, from what I understand you said, seems to be running version 2.30. So, if that is correct, it will NOT work properly with a 2020 engine. And that old cable cannot be upgraded to the new version 3.5.4, they changed the cable design several years ago.

So you need to replace the version 2.30 cable with a new version 3.5.4 cable.

The good news is that the old version 2.30 cable is highly sought after by people with engines earlier than 2008, they are very valuable and you should easily sell it for more than the cost of the new cable.

[J.Roos]

Thanks for the info I am going to order a new one

[J.Roos]

990c0-88134-000
this is the cabel I have so this is the old one?. This is the cabel the dealer orders for me. What part nummer is need to order for the new 1?

[Moonlighter]

This is the cable you need:

https://www.brownspoint.com/store/pc...5-38p71395.htm

[J.Roos]

Thanks for the info again. Al works well
Now