Possibly buying a used boat have Suzuki outboard question.

[dandmtritt]

I've searched the forum and have read till my eyes are red about the debate on which outboards to buy or run. This is what I'm looking at, its a 1995 32' ALMAR Cuddy cabin or pilot house looks like the sounder they offer now. I haven't seen any of the papers on the boat yet and will be going on a test run tomorrow afternoon to see how she rides and performs. The I/O was removed and replaced with twin 300 Suzukis a couple years ago. This boat has been used for chartering here in Kodiak for pretty much its whole life, but has been well maitained and stored in the dry in the winter for probably the first 15 years. My question is about the outboards and others experiences with the Suzuki 300 HP engines. The motors on this boat have right around 1500 hours on them. The engine and lower unit oil has been changed every 100 hours and I have seen service records fo this. I will find out tomorrow but the owner says the most he will push the motors to is 3,000 rpm with a cruise speed of around 30 mph. He said hes never been above 4,000 rpm becuase 40 mph in a 32' boat was scary for him . I'm not scared about buying a almost 20 year old boat but the hours worry me. there is a guy here in Kodiak that has 6,000 hours on twin 300 Suzukis and the only thing hes done is change oil, water pumps, impellers, and stuff like that. He says it burns plenty of oil as well but 6,000 hours is a bunch of time. So does anyone have experience with Suzuki 300 HP around 1500 plus hours?

[potbuilder]

I wouldn't worry to much about the hours but i would worry that the owner will not show you what the WOT is on the engines?? You need to know that it is propped correctly.

[dandmtritt]

Tomorrow morning I'm going to the company that did the repowering from I/O to outboards and ask about the boat and see if they did any sea trials after they finished the work, I would be shocked if they didn't but I guess you never know.

[Paul H]

Hopefully Dan chimes in, he's run a charter boat with twin 300 suzukis and as I recall had several problems with the electronically shifted lower ends.

Sounds like a great boat.

[Sobie2]

As the owner of a DF250, and hearing about big Suzuki motors, I can tell you that the DF300 has proven itself to be way more reliable than the V6 DF200-250s (sucking throttle butterfly valves, and head gaskets has blown most of these power heads). I wouldn't worry about the V6 300s. You could probably go 6,000-8,000 hrs on those motors as a number of those 300s have. Most people if they are normal recreational users are happy if they get 100hrs in a season of boating so you do the math. But really you will get the most hours out of your engines if you run it every day or more than once a week. Sitting is what kills motors and what kills longevity on these four strokes. Potbuilder is correct that you want the boat propped right. There have been a few four strokes of all brands that have died early from not being propped correctly. You want to be able to hit the upper half of the recommended top end range of the RPMs.

Sobie2

[Dan in Alaska]

My question is about the outboards and others experiences with the Suzuki 300 HP engines. The motors on this boat have right around 1500 hours on them. So does anyone have experience with Suzuki 300 HP around 1500 plus hours?

You're new, so I don't think I can send you a PM. I apologize for publicly displaying my dirty laundry....

I have not had the best experiences with these particular engines, nor would I ever choose them for my personal boat. I ran 3 or 4 different Suzuki 300's for 5 seasons, but I've never seen one make it to 1500hrs. We gave up on them long before then. I have no problems with other Suzuki engines, mind you, I just don't like their 300's.

We had problems with the electronic shift, electronic controls (factory recall), failure to start (the computer says it's in gear and refuses to start), a broken drive shaft (no, I didn't hit anything), two blown power heads (one only had 70-some hours on it), several lower unit issues, and various electronic fault codes and alarms. They were problematic engines, all around, and they were finally dumped and replaced with Suzuki 225's.

[dandmtritt]

So here's an update. I spent a hour or so talking with the guys at Emmerson Boat works this morning and asked many question about the boat and the 300 Suzukis.

For Pot Builder's response, The original owner of the boat that had the repowering done was pretty anal and wanted things right so the motors and work was all done by the Suzuki dealer here. After the break-in period the owner had the mechanis run the WOT tests on the boat and everything checked out good with a top speed of 55 mph.

I also asked about known issues with these engines or any major problems that they have had with the 300's. There are a fair number of these in the Kodiak harbor and they have never had any major mechanical failures just normal things like water pumps, coils , and stuff like that. They did say the more odd problems that they have seen with the electronically controlled engines were mostly on boats that were rigged by the customer and not them, I guess the wiring can be touchy with all the computer stuff and the marine enviroment.

Dan, I don't mind your dirty laundry these are the things that I was asking for. Were all the problems you had under warranty? If so did Suzuki take care of the issues or leave you hanging, I know they most likely didn't pay you for lost clients during the down time. Finally do you think the have gotten better since you had your issue? and have you heard of any others with the same problem?

The test run went great and the motors ran very smooth. Overall I'm very happy with its performance and with the boat in general, I kind of wish the water was a little rougher to see how she would do in some chop but its been very nice here in Kodiak and I'll take what I can get. Now to sleep on it and think about an offer. If anyone else has any info for me shoot it my way.

[Dan in Alaska]

Dan, I don't mind your dirty laundry these are the things that I was asking for. Were all the problems you had under warranty? If so did Suzuki take care of the issues or leave you hanging, I know they most likely didn't pay you for lost clients during the down time. Finally do you think the have gotten better since you had your issue? and have you heard of any others with the same problem?

The local dealer did a great job of taking care of us (which is why I take my personal boat them to get my Yamahas serviced). They went out of their way to make things right, but the engines themselves left us hanging quite a bit. After five frustrating seasons, the 300's were yanked and replaced with a set of new Suzuki 225's, which have been MUCH more reliable.

If I remember correctly, we had four different 300's. The originals were 2008 models, with two replacements purchased in 2009 and 2012, I think. They all had issues, unfortunately.

I saw one of the Whittier Charter boats (a big landing craft with triple 300's) dry docked a couple of seasons ago. I talked to him briefly, and he said had lower unit issues as well.

[dandmtritt]

Thanks fot the input Dan. I went to the competion's shop today and ask how many repowers they had done from Suzuki to Honda, or Yamaha and this summer they did six. Granted several were seine skiffs and I can only imagine how abused those motors were but still thats a pretty good amount of repowers and a few were from complete failure of the power head or the lower unit.

[potbuilder]

So your going to believe the guy that is trying to sell you a boat that the engines were ok 2 or 3 years ago ?? A lot can go wrong in that time. I'd be asking what size props were on it back then and what was the top rpm with a full fishing load on the boat. Whats size props are on it now and i'd insist we go for a ride with the the loaded at fishing weight and see what you get for WOT. Its your decision and hard earned money going into this boat i'd do my homework and want to see for myself that whatever they are telling you is true. If that boat was used as a charter boat just imagine the varying loads it carried daily, all sizes and weights of folks on it hauling how much gear and ice with them ?? Then add in how many different captains(term used lightly) ran the poop out of those engines with the loads on them, hey capt we have a dinner reservation can ya get us back quicker ??? All i'm saying is be careful.

[dandmtritt]

Yeah I'm being very careful thats why I posted the question about the 1500 hour Suzukis. I have no problem with the boat I have looked the hull over very closely and can't find anything other than some usual stuff scratches an dent or ding here and there no corrosion or cracks that I can find. It needs a few things but not much than a good cleaning and it would be fine. But I can't in my right mind propped right or wrong, charter boat or casual use boat, or what ever its been used fo but any boat with outboards that have 1500 hours on them I'm going to be wary of. Especially twin 300s thats a crap ton of money to repower. If I could buy just the boat and power it with new motors of my choice that would be the way to go but that aint gonna happen. Oh and I dont trust anything anyone says I like to gather everyones input then form my own opinion or decision. I did go buy the original owners house today to pick his brain but he wasn't there, going to try to catch him this weekend.

[potbuilder]

Yeah I'm being very careful thats why I posted the question about the 1500 hour Suzukis. I have no problem with the boat I have looked the hull over very closely and can't find anything other than some usual stuff scratches an dent or ding here and there no corrosion or cracks that I can find. It needs a few things but not much than a good cleaning and it would be fine. But I can't in my right mind propped right or wrong, charter boat or casual use boat, or what ever its been used fo but any boat with outboards that have 1500 hours on them I'm going to be wary of. Especially twin 300s thats a crap ton of money to repower. If I could buy just the boat and power it with new motors of my choice that would be the way to go but that aint gonna happen. Oh and I dont trust anything anyone says I like to gather everyones input then form my own opinion or decision. I did go buy the original owners house today to pick his brain but he wasn't there, going to try to catch him this weekend.

Make a offer like your going to have to repower it, ya can always go up !!

[Paul H]

The only way I'd buy a used charter boat is a price that would allow me to cover a re-power. No matter what guarantee I was given about how they babied the engines, I'd have to assume they were run hard and the reason they were selling the boat is they figured a repower was going to be needed soon and they didn't want to spring for one.

[kodiak kid]

make sure you do compression tests, cold and warm engines.

[dandmtritt]

The only way I'd buy a used charter boat is a price that would allow me to cover a re-power. No matter what guarantee I was given about how they babied the engines, I'd have to assume they were run hard and the reason they were selling the boat is they figured a repower was going to be needed soon and they didn't want to spring for one.

I hear exactly what your saying and this boat has been a charter boat its whole life, the owner upgraded to a bigger boat this summer and this one is sitting making no money so he needs it gone. Like I said before my issues are only with the engines and I have a game plane and went and got quotes for repowering with twin Honda 250's and that aint cheap at all twins two new top mount controls and I'm looking at around $43K ouch (250 Yamahas and the 250 Suzukis are close to this as well). So I'm gonna throw out a low ball offer and explain my situation. I have my high number that I will walk at and if he takes the offer we will have a boat pretty soon, and I will run the Suzukis until theres an issue and then I'll go from there with repowering, no need to fix something that aint broke. If he don't like it I may go to Deweys and buy one of the 260 Pacific Cruisers they have. I have my fingers crossed and I'll keep you posted.