DT 225 quandary

[dickpam]

I purchased a 1992 Grady White 228 last fall with a 2003 DT225. There were some obvious things that needed attention and a lot that were below the surface. The seller was less than honest about most everything I discovered.

Long story short, the Suzuki ran fine under a load, but rough at idle. I took that to be normal for this 2 stroke. The engine looked like it had been left out in the open uncovered with top cover off for a long time. The seller had painted the cowling from top to bottom and put on new decals. The engine was badly corroded in spots and the cowling was full of leaves and debris, so about 2 weeks ago, I decided to take a wire brush to the bad spots and touch them up with some black paint. The bolt pattern looked strange on the starboard bank and after closer examination, I discovered that there was a head bolt missing but disguised with some sort of goo. Those bolts are there for a reason, so I decided to take the head off and remove the broken bolt and replace with a new one. To my disgust, I found two more bolts broken and just being held in the holes with corrosion. I managed to remove two of the bolts, but on the third one, a piece of the cylinder broke off with very little pressure applied. I don't know if it was weak or I applied more pressure than I thought, but it is what it is. The pistons and the cylinder walls look good. The seller said that the engine only had 153 hours on it, but the hour gauge said 550.

I found a used power head in St. Pete a couple hours up the road from me. The seller is a used parts dealer and they have sent me a video of it running and still pics. The power head looks good and they did a COLD compression test with the port side 85, 95, 98 and starboard side 98, 98, and 98. I know a cold test is not nearly as accurate as a hot test and can't find what an acceptable variation might be. They want less than $1,000 for it. The comments on their Facebook are positive.

Since my boat and motor is on a lift and not on a trailer, I do not have the ability to do the swap myself and even though I have a trailer, it is not allowed in my driveway, so I will have to tow the boat to a marina a short distance away and have them do the swap.

Or I can buy a new cylinder assembly for about $865-$915 and have them replace the broken one not knowing just what kind of shape the port bank is in as far as broken bolts. I have not checked them to see, not wanting to open Pandora's box. I wonder if the cylinder assy. can be replaced without completely disassembling the engine. Can the rings be compressed from under the cylinder to scoot them up into the cylinder assy.?

There is my quandary. Any comments or suggestions would be most welcome.

Thanks

[Solarman]

The entire port cylinder can be replaced, the mechanics would use proper sized stainless hose clamps to compress the rings for all three cylinders, then slide each piston into its cylinder, pushing the house clamps back as the rings slid in. As each piston goes into its cylinder, they remove the loose hose clamp, until all 3 pistons are in their sleeve.

My concern is with the rest of your original motor? I might opt for the entire power head, thinking it may be in better shape all around? As well as having all the better condition remaining parts you need for the work.

Another question is, if they showed a video of motor running, why not a pressure test right then? Instead of the cold test?

The pressure test of 85, 95, and 98, is close, but it is more than the 10% variance (from 98) between any two cylinders (if it read 88, or 89, that might be close enough to the cylinder with 98 to accept it), so that set of rings/ or sleeve (85) may be worn too much to last very long.

It would be much easier to replace the rings and/or sleeve while powerhead is off, if that is the cause?

You certainly don't want to go through this entire problem again without a getting 4-5 (or more) more trouble free seasons out of it.

Good luck, post back how it's going when able.

[dickpam]

Thanks Solarman for the response. There is certainly enough to think about. I wonder if there is a replacement insert for the individual cylinders. I did not see any in the parts breakdown.

I will ask for a hot compression check since it appears to be on a rack. They supposedly did a bore scope on each cylinder, but apparently the scope malfunctioned.

Anyway, I'm going up and look at the motor on Tuesday and see for myself. I believe I could replace the cylinder assy. on my current engine myself since it would not entail removing the powerhead. The hose clamps are an excellent idea.

I'm also wondering if one should replace the rings on the current motor while replacing the cylinder assembly. I would think that if both sides are worn a little now, new rings on the starboard side would make an imbalance.

[dickpam]

I drove up to St. Pete the other day and looked over the goods they had. Quite a lot of Suzuki parts on hand. They had a Stb. cylinder block that was in great shape except the top cylinder bore had a good score in it. The block had never been bored for an insert, so I picked it up and plan on getting a sleeve from L.A. Sleeve and having that cylinder bored to accommodate it. This is taking longer than I had anticipated, but I guess slow but sure is the best way.