'99 Suzuki DT150 opinions...

R

reyb

Junior Member
I see a local shop selling 2 '99 Suzuki EFI 150s (I'm assuming DT 150s) at $6k. Anyone have opinions on this motor? I don't know how many hours on them just yet. I'm getting tired of messing with my '89 150 BlackMax(idle problem mentioned on another thread). It's either buy a new motor, get a deal on a used motor or just sell the boat entirely.

Thanks,

Rey
 
I'd fix what you have, at least you know what you're dealing with, buying another used motor is just buying a whole new set of problems. Carburators get gummed up on mercury's just like Suzuki's, just like Yamaha's, just like all of them. there is not a specific brand out there that has no problems, they all break. Some engines excell in areas, but fall behind in other areas. I personally like Mercury V6 engines. You can't beat the power to weight with the money(nothings cheap about an e-tec), I know my way around them an generally don't have any major problems with them. Around here, Yamaha's are the king, they are good motors, but they have their faults as well. The Suzukis don't have much of a resale, but I know several people that have had good luck with them. Just be fore warned, buying another motor isn't necessarily going to fix all your problems, it may actually raise more issues.
 
What Spare said as usual is right on the money, I would add a couple of things, Suzuki's don't have a lot of resale, especially the older engines because unlike Yammi and others they did not have a big support network and parts were harder to get. That varied of course by where you were located. As far as quality and durability they are as good as any motor made, just like their motorcycle engines they are tough and hold up very well. A fellow down at my old marina had two of those engines you are looking at on his 24 foot CC and had over two thousand hours on them as of the last time I saw him. He was an older fellow and said he had had every engine make there is and that they were the most trouble free and reliable he had ever had.
In regard to parts now that has improved tremendously in most areas.
In regard to your specific engine you are looking at, unless they are extremely low hour engines, say under two hundred I believe he is way out of line price wise. I know for example that at the dealers that still have them you could by a brand spanking new Yamaha 150 two stroke carb for 6500 dollars. I was going to take a road trip to one of the dealers in I believe Virginia or Maryland to get it.
So keeping that in mind I would negotiate and investigate real close that deal, and I would talk with guys like Skools and Big Shrimpin and see what they had available. Especially if a mercury and BS went over it, or if Todd(Skools) had a Evinrude/Johnson available.
Those along with Ferm and Spare and others on this site are who I would seek out first.
 
I guess I'm a little dejected from yesterday. I was able to get the motor idling at home by adjusting the pickup timing(Thanks Spares!), but once out in the water it was still dying on me. It was better than before but again, still was dying. It wasn't fun going back to the launch at the end of the day and trying to back out because it was full of boats only to have my motor die on me and the boat start heading towards some rocks. Luckily, I was able to get it started in time and avoid hitting the rocks...whew! I've ordered a manual, but don't want to throw a lot of money at the motor when that money can be put towards a new(er) motor. I was envious of a guy at the dock that got in his boat and started it right up and it idled just fine; it was an *older* mercury motor than mine!

Yeah, I hear you about buying someone else's problems when it comes to used stuff. ~$10k for a new motor or a couple thousand for a newer used motor. Those Suzukis are 10yrs old compared to my 20 yr old motor. I guess age is not that big of a deal compared to condition.

Btw, would a set of carbs from a '84 Mercury 150 blackmax work on my '89 motor?
 
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I know what you are going thru, I went thru it with a Merc Black Max that cost me hundreds and hundreds of dollars to keep running for two years. When it ran it was sweet, but I spent many a day playing around with it on the water to try to get back and sweating when the next time it was going to let me down. It was a motor with less than 300 hrs on it too.
Sh!t happens.
If you think you can fix it after talking with these guys go for it. Cheapest way to go and you will be more knowledgable when sh!t happens again.
If not do what we said above and find a good low hour motor. If you can afford new your chances of being out all day with zero problems for years to come are much improved. if I had the money that is what I would do first.
If you talk with guys who are very serious fisherman and have the nice boats etc. you will find they buy a new engine and 6 months to a year before the warranty runs out they sell it or trade it in and put another new on it. That by far is the best way to go but you need to have the money up front to do it.
 
They are good engines, but ALL SUZUKI's suffer from corrosion issues(YAMAHA does as well but they use a better zinc bonding system to compensate for it). You MUST watch out for corrsion in the gear case where the exhaust comes out on the V-6 SUZUKI's, this is the weak area in ALL of there V-6 SUZUKI 2 strokers. The price does seem high for 10 year old 2 strokes. I would spend the money and buy a good manual and get somebody to help you set your current MERC up first if it was me.
 
THEFERMANATOR said:
They are good engines, but ALL SUZUKI's suffer from corrosion issues(YAMAHA does as well but they use a better zinc bonding system to compensate for it). You MUST watch out for corrsion in the gear case where the exhaust comes out on the V-6 SUZUKI's, this is the weak area in ALL of there V-6 SUZUKI 2 strokers. The price does seem high for 10 year old 2 strokes. I would spend the money and buy a good manual and get somebody to help you set your current MERC up first if it was me.
Click to expand...

Good to know about the corrosion...thanks.

I have a Clymer manual on the way and consider myself fairly mechanically inclined, so I'm hoping I can get it running in a decent manor.

"THEFERMANATOR" I frequent "TheDieselPlace.com" often and saw your name there and knew I saw it somewhere else....it was from here on this website. :)
 
I don't frequent the place much anymore. I spend alot of time at dieseltowingresource though. Alot of the DP guys went there after the place got bought out.
 
ditto on the corrosion issue, i think some of them are made out or "fizzies". california might be as salty as the gulf coast(I notice a lot of west coasties have painted trailers, last about a year down here), so it might not be an issue. i think what you have to decide is the boat worth it. i bought my 83 boat in 90 and was able to use it trouble free for 2 years, then it started overheating and i could not stop it. i changed everything in the cooling system, took it to 2 area dealers and still ran hot, no matter how much money i threw at it. the third season i had a boat that i was afraid to use. i wouldn't go unless another boat was along and was afraid it would let me down the whole time i was out. i had enough time in the boat I knew i would keep it a long time. i decided (actually my wife insisted) that i either get a new motor or get rid of the boat and get one we could use. i bought a new motor in 94 and 15 years later i'm still loving it.

long story, short message. find the hull you want and get a motor you can trust. lotta guys think we're crazy for putting $10,000 in a 20 year old boat.
 
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