New Outboard Motor?

[Interloper]

Christinaki had a lovely cruise yesterday across the James River and then she humiliated me by having the motor cut out and refuse to restart just as we were turning into the dock. Fortunately, this was at low speed and serious damage was avoided. Christinaki is a Steiger Craft Block Island 23 with a 225 hp Suzuki 2-stroke. She was originally built for a transom mounted motor but a gill bracket was added later. Both the boat and the motor date from 1996. I believe the problem is that the motor will overheat if left at a low idle for too long, which I understand is a fairly common problem for old outboards. The motor was recently serviced. The thermostat and water pump impeller were replaced. She produces a steady pee of cooling water at higher speeds and an intermittent spit at idle. I am pondering the following cheap fixes:

1. Raise the idle speed.

2. Add a small outboard trolling motor of about 5 hp for use in emergencies. (This seems like a good idea regardless of what else I do.)

I am also pondering the following expensive fixes:

1. Replace the Suzuki with a new 2-stroke Mercury Optimax 225 hp.

2. Replace the Suzuki with a new 4-stroke Mercury or Yamaha 175 hp rather than 225 hp because the larger size 4-stroke would add about 100# at the end of the gill bracket, which would bring the cockpit drains close to the waterline.

3. Remove the gill bracket so that the motor is mounted about 30 inches further forward and replace the Suzuki with a new 4-stroke Mercury or Yamaha 225 hp.

There are several questions here:

1. Would raising the idle speed actually help with an overheating problem at low idle?

2. What size trolling motor would be recommended?

3. Are the advantages of a 4-stroke worth the hassle of perhaps having to remove the gill bracket?

4. Would a 175 hp 4-stroke be adequate for my boat? (We are picnickers, not serious off-shore fishermen. I seldom run above half throttle.)

Thank you for tolerating these questions on the Classic Parker forum even though my boat is a Steiger Craft.

 

[B-Faithful]

If it means anything to you. I love my OptiMax. I have had it over 3 years and 450 hours with an issue. the 12 years on the market knowing the bugs are out of the technology gives me a lot of confidence in her. I fully expect to get well over 10 years of worry free service from her. It is very powerful and fuel efficient. My only gripe is that she is not quiet or refined like many of new tech outboards.

 

[JWL]

2. Add a small outboard trolling motor of about 5 hp for use in emergencies.

I am also pondering the following expensive fixes:

1. Replace the Suzuki with a new 2-stroke Mercury Optimax 225 hp.

2. Replace the Suzuki with a new 4-stroke Mercury or Yamaha 175 hp rather than 225 hp because the larger size 4-stroke would add about 100# at the end of the gill bracket, which would bring the cockpit drains close to the waterline.

3. Remove the gill bracket so that the motor is mounted about 30 inches further forward and replace the Suzuki with a new 4-stroke Mercury or Yamaha 225 hp.

There are several questions here:

1. Would raising the idle speed actually help with an overheating problem at low idle?

2. What size trolling motor would be recommended?

3. Are the advantages of a 4-stroke worth the hassle of perhaps having to remove the gill bracket?

4. Would a 175 hp 4-stroke be adequate for my boat? (We are picnickers, not serious off-shore fishermen. I seldom run above half throttle.)

Thank you for tolerating these questions on the Classic Parker forum even though my boat is a Steiger Craft.

I don't think you should put any engine less than 225hp on that boat. A good rule of thumb is to have an with at least 75% of the max rate hp as rated by the manufacturer. The current Steiger Craft Block Island is rated for a max of 300 hp. 75% of that figure is, 225hp. Remember, it isn't that you normally run 1/2 throttle, it is what is need for boat that size and weight. I promise, that boat will grow in weight as you own it. Also, a larger hp engine will not work nearly as hard and will, as a result, last longer and probably use less fuel.

A kicker (gas trolling motor) is, to a certain extent, like having insurance, That said, most failure are a result of bad fuel or fuel delivery. If you large engine dies as a result of bad fuel your kicker will die also.

I would suggest one of two options. 1) find out why you are over heating at idle, fix that and run the Suzy until she dies. 2) Go with a 225 Opti Max or Etec and don't look back. Both are excellent engines and much lighter than a four stroke is the same size. I don't think you wan the expense of removing the bracket.

Remember all opinons you recieve on a message board are worth exactly what you pay for them.

 

[captbone]

Just my 2 cents.

The Cheap fix

Pull the thermostats, it will run fine in all but the coldest water.

Run a ton of Quick-clean or Ringfree fuel treatment.


The correct fix

Take it to another tech, as long as compression is good, that engine has a ton of life in it. Those problems are not the final nail in the coffin for that engine.

 

[Megabyte]

For what it is worth...

I have a 1997 Yamaha OX66 on my 1996 Parker 2520 MVSC.
When I bought the boat the motor had had quite a bit of "deferred maintenance", so I had the t-stats replaced along with the poppits and water pump.

The first time out in the spring I was trolling south on the Bay in an outgoing tide running at idle (600 rpms). After about 20 minutes the engine overheat alarm sounded giving me quite a start. :shock:

I stopped and raised the motor to see if I'd picked up a plastic bag or something, and found nothing. :?

I then called my dealer and spoke with the service manager. When I told him I was trolling with the current at 600 rpm, he said, "That's the problem". He told me that big block Yamaha OX66's can't pump enough water at 600 rpm to keep themselves cool. He said that you needed to be at 800 for them to remain cool on the troll.

For the rest of the day (6 more hours), I trolled at 800 rpm and never had another issue.

Maybe your Suzuki has a similar issue?

 

[Interloper]

Here's an update:

The owner of the shop that had serviced the motor made a house call. He removed the thermostats and found them caked with silt. I had evidently run the motor through some soft mud while making my final turn into the dock. The water passages on one side of the engine were blocked. He attempted to clear them but was unsuccessful. The engine continues to overheat when started. My wife and I are presently debating whether to try to fix the motor, replace it with a used motor, or buy a new one.

 

[gw204]

What did he try to do to clear the passages?

 

[Interloper]

What did he try to do to clear the passages?

That's a good question. He described disconnecting hoses to establish where water was and wasn't flowing, but I am not sure he had any means of pressurizing the passages other than gunning the engine and relying on the water pump.

I have no doubt that the passages could be cleared if the motor went back to the shop. What concerns me is that the passages clogged so easily. They must have been clear at the start of our trip, otherwise we would never have made it across the James River. The silt that we encountered in our creek should have run right through the engine. One of my neighbors builds piers for a living and he tells me that he literally plows trenches with his outboard motors. He presently has a Yamaha on his workboat but he favors the older Mercury two-strokes.

 

[Megabyte]

What did he try to do to clear the passages?

I was wondering the same thing.

My OX66 has a flush port on the port side under the cowl that I use to flush my motor at the end of every weekend.

Back when I bought the boat, I had an overheating issue and discovered that the cooling passages were salted-up, do to the fact that the previous owner never flushed the motor.

These days, when I'm done washing the boat and am having a 'work finished' beverage... I put the motor on the hose and flush for at least 20 minutes (or longer if I am able).

Absolutely no issues with the motor since I began flushing regularly.

If you have a flush port, you might try using that in addition to adding a Salt-Away treatment.

 

[gw204]

If he's flushing using earmuffs or a flush port, chances are he'll never get the clog out. It needs to be backflushed from the poppit valve or thermostat ports. Remove the lower unit and use a hose or compressed air to pressurize the cooling packages to try and force the clog out the way it came in. Put a bucket under the water tube to catch whatever comes out so you can see what it was.

 

[Interloper]

I thought I should provide an update. I didn't trust the 225 hp Suzuki 2-stroke that came with the boat and I didn't like the aluminum bracket. The bracket caused the boat to trim down at the stern and barnacles loved it despite the special aluminum-friendly anti-fouling paint. The bracket has now been removed and a rebuilt 250 hp Mercury 2-stroke has been mounted to the transom.

The one advantage offered by the bracket was that it allowed the transom to be closed off. To compensate for this, I had a short bulkhead added just forward of the transom. The center section of the bulkhead folds down to avoid interfering with the motor when it is raised. It decreases the usable deck area but it should help keep waves out of the boat and small children in the boat.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will have better luck with the Mercury than I had with the Suzuki.

 

[Megabyte]

Clean looking install.
Best of luck with the new package!

 

[gw204]

That Merc looks good on there! Best of luck with her.

What did you do with the bracket?

 

[Interloper]

...
What did you do with the bracket?

I left the bracket with the gentleman who installed the new (used) motor. If you are genuinely interested in the bracket, send me an e-mail and I will provide his contact information.

 

[DaleH]

Gotta admit the black motors look sweet on those hulls!

 

[Harpoon]

Just an FYI to add to this overheat post.

If your thermostats, waterpump and poppit valve are all fine it could be that you are getting poor heat transfer due to scaling and crap building up in your cooling system, especially at the heads.

I replaced my yammie head a few years back because of a stripped plug hole. The build up of scale where the cooling water was exposed to the aluminum was substantial.

If I had my cooling system all up to snuff and were still overheating I would pull the heads, clean them up and throw ne gaskets on. It is a fairly easy job. It took me about an hour to do one side while the boat was on the dock. Just get a decent torque wrench and be sure not to damage the mating surfaces when you scrape off the old gasket.

 

[rangerdog]

That's a sweet boat Interloper. Is that your own dock? My dad lives in Smithfield.