slips into neutral?

[55***dt]

My boat had been sitting for about four years. It has a Suzuki DT55, probably a 86'. I replaced the impeller, plugs and caps. Cleaned the carbs and replaced a couple gaskets.

It idles okay maybe a little out of sinc. On a test run, a couple times the engine RPM's shot up like it went in neutral. I shifted to neutral and back to drive and everything seemed okay then it happened again. It's like a clutch slipping.

Probably unrelated but also an issue I'm not sure about. Is around the same time the engine would die when shifted into gear. I can rev. the engine fine in neutral but as soon as I shift into gear the engine starts to bog down before I get to the throttle.

I'm not experienced with outboards but have mechanic experience.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[broadwayc]

Re: slips into neutral?

I am so glad someone else is having this problem. I had a similar problem this weekend with my 89' DT65. It idled a little rough but would push me around with just a small amount of throttle then I tried to juice it and it would bog down and cut off. Luckily it starts like a champ. Then when it was able to throttle up while in forward, it felt like the prop was slipping, the RPM's shot up quick but there was no propulsion. Kinda of wierd. Don't know where to start asking questions.

Although I did notice the tell tale struggling to expel any water most of the day while I was out. That has to have something to do with it, I checked the water intake and there was no clog so I assume the water pump impeller was clogged, I throttled it up in neutral at the end of the day and the tell-tale began to work great again.

I figure it's probably any expensive fix anyway you look at it. Sorry man, I feel your pain.

 

[James R]

Re: slips into neutral?

55 dt you have more than one problem. First it sounds like a bad prop hub. Not unusual. Pull the prop and look at the rubber core. If it is swelling out then the prop is probably slipping on the hub. The second problem is fuel related. Could be a number of things. Bad fuel for one, fuel pump for another.

 

[James R]

Re: slips into neutral?

Broadway please start you own thread.

 

[broadwayc]

Re: slips into neutral?

55 dt sorry if it sounded like I stole your thunder...I didn't mean for the post to come off that way, I was just sharing.

 

[55***dt]

Re: slips into neutral?

Thanks - James R, I knew there must be some rubber in there some where, I missed it in the diagrams.

I'll have to go through the fuel system again. I didn't think it was the fuel since it revved-up fine in neutral. And I assumed sitting at idle the float bowls would fill up and I would be able to get under way for a sort distance. Although earlier in the day I had to remove the gas cap, to get it to run, it's a new cap but I couldn't pucker enough to test it.

Thanks again - I'll update as soon as I get a look