DF300APW New boat / engine issues

[twolanzyk]

I am a new member to the forum and hope to get some information to better understand some of the numerous problems that I am having with my DF300APW. I took delivery of the boat in Feb. 2016 and love both the boat and the engine when it's running. The engine problems started before the boat was delivered and continue to date. Does anyone have any idea why Suzuki eliminated the provision of installing a water pressure sensor? This boat has a "porta bracket" jack plate and was designed to run shallow. It would sure be nice to be able to determine when a potential problem might be developing with sufficient cooling water before the engine overheats. The engine suffers from numerous other problems including: Intermittent engine codes, failure to charge both batteries, evaporative canister purge staining the motor leg, losing power (dropping a cylinder??) with all engine parameters in normal operating range (corrected by stopping engine and restarting), error codes resulting in engine entering "limp home" mode and stalling (generally corrected by re-starting engine. I don't dare take the boat any further than I can return on my trolling motor! Suzuki has been through the boat and has confirmed that the wiring is correct. The software was updated to the latest level last week and the performance has been worse than ever since. I realize that these are intermittent problems and as such are difficult to fix but my patience is wearing thin! I'm thinking that there might be a Yamaha 300 in my future

[Marty D]

***!!!!!!! Problems like that, I would tow, haul the boat where you bought it and drop it off in there yard. That's me. It's not answering your question. As a mech. You got a lemon. The right way is to start calling Suzuki warrant depart. I called them 2 X with overheating problems and they were great. Sent the boat to a Suzuki dealer and they replaced the defective water pump. I'm sorry to hear this.

[Moonlighter]

I agree - take it back to the dealer and tell them you want it fixed, properly!!!

Especially since you said the problems started before you even took delivery! Should have been fixed then!!

I thought water pressure was still standard on the DF300's - again get your dealer to check, it may actually be there but not showing for some reason. If not, it is generally available as an accessory fitting and can be connected to the NMEA2000 network, and given your boat setup, sounds like it would be an addition that any decent dealer would at least advise owners to fit?

You dont say what engine data displays you have? There have been some issues with the latest 2016 engines throwing false codes with the Suzuki C-10 displays fitted.

Your dealer should talk to their regional Suzuki technical rep if they are unable to sort out all of your issues themselves.

And i dont know about that evaporative canister issue - is the canister a part of the engine or part of the boats fuel system, ive heard stories about the new EPA systems causing issues? That and some of the other issues like stalling do sound like they could be fuel delivery issues.

Just one other thought from me - make 100% certain (eventhough they may be new batteries .......) that the start battery is actually fully charged and tested and that the engine cables are clean and tightly connected. One thing these engines don NOT like is bad power supply, they do all sorts of weird things when they have dodgy power supply. It made me wonder whether there might be some issue with the boat's wiring/battery connections when you mentioned trouble charging both batteries. Something definitely sounds weird in that battery-wiring area, and it may be the cause of some/all the other issues. So that's an area I would definitely want looked at thoroughly, perhaps by the Suzuki regional tech rep.

So many of these sorts of issues turn out to be related to the installation or the boat rather than the engine itself. Not saying that there may not be engine issues here, but really make sure that whole installation/wiring has been done properly before making any other decisions.

[Marty D]

Moonlighter is 100 percent right. I have seen battery's, new ones, that are bad and will not take a charge and that will give you codes on the motor and drive the mech nuts. Can I ask what state are you in? I found a Suzuki dealer here in the Hamptons that #1

[twolanzyk]

Moonlighter thanks for the input. I can shed some light on at least a part of the problem. The water pressure sensor option was eliminated from the ECM in my S/N and later engines. In the past there was a connector that was intended for a pressure sensor kit that was eliminated as well as the ECM inputs. My Suzuki tech. was told repeatedly by Suzuki that the earlier pressure sensor kit would fit but after interaction with Suzuki N.A. they finally admitted that the feature was discontinued. I can not get an answer from Suzuki that makes sense for the change.

The evaporative canister is a part of the boats fuel system. The EPA requirements are for a sealed system until tank pressure hit 3 psi and then the tank is supposed to vent. In this case the tank vented to the engine mounted evaporation canister and the canister over flowed. My understanding is that Suzuki had a solenoid in the past that would not allow the canister to purge unless the engine was running and then the fuel would be directed to the engine. Suzuki eliminated the solenoid and the Suzuki tech has seen this happened several times. Suzuki is replacing the stained panels and Suzuki, Dorado and the fuel tank manufacture are working to come up with a permanent fix. since Suzuki is paying for the stain clean-up I'm assuming that they know about the problem and are accepting some responsibility.

The gauges are the round 4" gauges made by Lowrance. Several software updates have been preformed by the Suzuki tech. and he will next try a hardware update that has seemed to correct the false error codes in other engines.

The battery issue relates to charging when the fuse is in the optional position in the engine fuse block. This feature allows for the engine to charge two batteries concurrently. In this configuration one battery charges and the other does not. When the fuse is in the standard position (charging one battery at a time , depending on the position of the battery switch everything charges normally). The fact that the battery charges normally in the standard position and the same battery comes to full charge and holds same when connected to an external charger causes me to think that the battery is probably ok. Does anyone else have any experience with the dual battery charging configuration?

The bottom line is that I'm just frustrated and trying to get my boat running. The local Suzuki tech is very good but grossly over worked and seems to be going from problem to problem. The regional tech. has recently retired and the position has been open for several months. It appears as though Suzuki N.A. has communication issues with the guys in Japan building / designing the engines. The boat is located in Florida where Suzuki is trying to gain market share and doing a great job of selling motors, however it would appear that their support for the sales has yet to develop.

[Moonlighter]

Who is your dealer?

While I am not in the US, i have heard of two Suzuki dealers in the Florida area that are well respected - International Marine, and Outboard Specialties.

If they are anywhere near you perhaps reach out to them, both have a reputation for knowing pretty well everything there is to know about these motors. I have spoken via email with both of these dealers previously and IMO they know their stuff.

Regarding the SMIS gauges, it is not so much that they are running the LATEST software, it needs to be the CORRECT software! Make sure your dealer matches the software version they are running with the correct engine interface software version. Refer them to this link for details on what is recommended:

Suzuki - LOWRANCE | Marine Electronics

Also, again Id suggest you assume nothing about that battery! Have it checked and load tested, so you KNOW that it is in good shape.

One other point regarding the engine temp issues and your comment that it would be good to know when the engine is getting hot, but before it overheats and goes into safe mode.

The SMIS system allows you to set alarms including for temp and im fairly sure you can set it at whatever level you want, it is quite customisable - you could set the temp alarm to come on the SmIS displays at whatever temp you choose. Might be a good option in the absence of the pressure sensor. Look in the gauge menu under alarms and im pretty sure you will find it.