No water out tell tale 2015 20hp Suzuki

[islander]

Thanks ahead for any help.
I am trying to do an oil change and want to heat up the engine.
Put leg in a garbage pail filled with water and nothing is coming out of tell tale.Also tried with muffs.

There is water coming to fuel cooler as I pulled that hose off put nothing is coming out of fuel cooler.
Tried sucking on the tube coming out of fuel cooler and it is totally blocked?
Any ideas?

Islander

[Moonlighter]

Few thoughts

Make sure the leg is deep in the drum of water. Needs to be WELL over the anti-vent plate by at least 3".

If using muffs, the small round ones (old style ones first used years ago for Evinrudes) are the best by far.

With the engine running on muffs or in drum of water, have you tried running some heavy nylon line or weedeater line up into the telltale hole, to try to dislodge any sand and grit that might be stopping the water flow? Can push it in quite a way.

[islander]

The water line from the tell tale to the fuel cooler is clear I can blow through it
The blockage is in the fuel cooler.I do not know how this fuel cooler really functions,as far as water flow goes?

The water inlet is on the tiller side and there is water to it as it comes out of that hose when I disconnect it.When I disconnect the outlet side which is towards the telltale there is nothing coming out from the fuel cooler
I do not know if there is some kind of internal flow that is restricted by design or if water needs to be flowing through it all the time.I tried putting a wire through it and it stops.
I do have a three ft garbage container so the leg is in a couple of feet of water.
It would be great to have a water schematic,I have searched the web to no avail.
Thanks

[artdf175]

have you tried removing the thermostat?
was the engine ever run without the wAter pump submerged?

art

[islander]

no to both questions.

I can check the thermostat tomorrow
Thanks

[redlowrey]

The water line from the tell tale to the fuel cooler is clear I can blow through it
The blockage is in the fuel cooler.I do not know how this fuel cooler really functions,as far as water flow goes?

The water inlet is on the tiller side and there is water to it as it comes out of that hose when I disconnect it.When I disconnect the outlet side which is towards the telltale there is nothing coming out from the fuel cooler
I do not know if there is some kind of internal flow that is restricted by design or if water needs to be flowing through it all the time.I tried putting a wire through it and it stops.
I do have a three ft garbage container so the leg is in a couple of feet of water.
It would be great to have a water schematic,I have searched the web to no avail.
Thanks

'''''''It is a heat exchanger, the fuel cant return back to the fuel tank and it gets hot, so by having cool water flowing around the outside it takes heat away there will be one on the vst and inlet manifold, see if you can blow it out with high pressure air.

[artdf175]

Red
your comment re heat exchanger
there have been some posts mentioning vapor lock
if the water is not cooling these two areas properly - would that be something that could be a cause for a fuel problem, that would then make it difficult for an engine to start until it cools down?
Art

[islander]

Thanks Art,
I am just wanting to warm it up for an oil change.
It runs fine in the bucket.

I am just wondering if the fuel cooler has some internal way of stopping the water tell it warms up.Or should water come out of the telltale as soon as it is started?
Islander

[Harper]

To your last question....water should come out as soon as the motor is started (within a second or two). Try redlowrey's suggestion of high pressure air through the water path in the fuel cooler. Disconnect both inlet and outlet hoses and try it in both directions. In fact, do it in the reverse direction of flow first.

[islander]

Resolved

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions

The 20 hp suzuki is my boss's whom I am doing maintenance for and wanted to use,as my motor 60 hp etec broke down.I live on a small island so a boat is essential.
It was only during the oil change that I discovered the problem...

The fuel cooler was totally blocked with salt,hardened so much that it took more than air to get it out.
I started with a plastic tube from a wd 40 spay can.I poked it firmly in the hole and when I took it out I noticed a whitish substance jammed inside the plastic tube.
Feeling more enthusiastic I poked away from both sides of the fuel cooler and each time more whitish stuff.I then took a much smaller drill bit and inserted it into the hole and twisted gently and lots more white stuff stuck in the drill bit.
I did this from both ends and until it was clear,then i used another bit just smaller than the hole and cleaned it totally out from both ends.It turns out to be a straight line from the inlet to the outlet of the fuel cooler which I was unsure of and why I started with plastic.
I can now use his boat to go and get the part I need for my etec which another forum helped to trouble shoot.
I really appreciate the helpful sharing the internet gives me,especially since I live remote
Thanks again everyone
Islander

[Harper]

And we thank YOU for the follow-up, the findings about the water passage through the cooler, and your solution. Glad you got it fixed.

[redlowrey]

Red
your comment re heat exchanger
there have been some posts mentioning vapor lock
if the water is not cooling these two areas properly - would that be something that could be a cause for a fuel problem, that would then make it difficult for an engine to start until it cools down?
Art

''''''''''''It is possible art, Suzuki have gone to a lot of trouble trying to keep fuel cool, but I think you would have to have an extremely hot engine to boil the fuel after you have turned the engine off.

Back in the day's of carbies I dealt with it plenty of times, but with port fuel injection where the fuel is squirted towards the inlet valve you have eliminated most of the inlet manifold evaporating the fuel. Even if the fuel boiled dry in the vst and rail,you would think with the key in the start position and the fuel pump at 100% duty cycle it would not take long to pressurize the rail again.

It is possible the fuel could evaporate in the low pressure pump and fuel line on the engine to the vst.

[artdf175]

Red. thanks for the lesson
yes I agree it would be difficult
The VST, at least on the 175 is held off the main engine being just bolted on with not much to transfer heat
the low pressure pump could prove to be more problematic, but like you say the engine would have to be seriously overheated
not familiar with the smaller HP engines like the 20hp that Islander was having trouble with. His appears to have been solved and probably caused by not rinsing or flushing the engine with fresh water.

appreciate your feed back
Art

[Moonlighter]

Red. thanks for the lesson
yes I agree it would be difficult
The VST, at least on the 175 is held off the main engine being just bolted on with not much to transfer heat
the low pressure pump could prove to be more problematic, but like you say the engine would have to be seriously overheated
not familiar with the smaller HP engines like the 20hp that Islander was having trouble with. His appears to have been solved and probably caused by not rinsing or flushing the engine with fresh water.

appreciate your feed back
Art

Islander & Art,

If that much salt/calcium buildup was in the fuel cooler, I can only imagine that the internal cooling passages in the engine cant be very good.

This engine sounds to me like a good candidate for a thorough vinegar flush as we have discussed previously on this forum?

Not all that familiar with that model, but presumably it also has internal anodes, you would definitely want to pull them out, check and replace if necessary.

[islander]

Thanks for the parting thoughts.

Yes this motor was not flushed to my knowledge,It has been used for three summers in the salt water and then sits for nine months without use.Now that I am doing the maintenance I will make sure to flush it before it sits.

Thanks also for the mention of a vinegar flush,I will search this forum for the instructions,and follow up for seeing if there is internal anodes.

Islander