Suzuki outboard frozen gear shift

[Sea Hunt]

About a week ago, my 2005 Suzuki DF 6 (6 hp/4 stroke) failed to shift into gear. I had hoped to take a day off from working on S/V Tadpole and just go sailing that day. Without auxiliary, and not comfortable sailing off of and onto a mooring, discretion proved the wiser course. Not wanting to drop parts, screws, etc., onto the bottom of the mooring field (I have an advanced degree in this skill ), I took my Suzuki O/B home thinking I could diagnose and fix the problem. As usual with me - wrong again .

In between a couple of medical issues and other commitments, I have spent the past week plus trying to diagnose the issue. No success so far. I have removed and inspected the gear box and lower unit and determined they are not the issue - at least I do not think so. The shift rod and clutch rod appear to be OK but I am not yet able to inspect the upper portions of these parts because of the power unit. I am reluctant to remove the power unit from the drive shaft housing because this involves a significant removal and disconnecting of parts.

Two questions.

First, any suggestions or recommendations on inspecting or working on the clutch rod, etc. without completely removing the power head From reading the service manual, it seems like the power head MUST be removed, but I am not sure.

Second, any thoughts on the root cause of the frozen gear shift

I have been reading several outboard repair website threads but do not see this issue discussed. The frozen gear shift was not a sudden event. While working on the outboard this past week I was thinking about it. The past 8-10 times (maybe more) I shifted gears (from N to F or N to R), it seemed to get "stuck". A little more effort (pushing or pulling) and it went into gear.

Because S/V Tadpole is on a mooring, the outboard is never really washed down and her innards are never flushed as are most outboards. I have always tilted her up out of the water to avoid increased oxidation/corrosion in the lower unit. Without yet having gotten into the upper gear shift rod, connectors, etc., I am just guessing that one or more of these parts has salt water corrosion and is frozen.

I plan on spending another few days investigating this issue. If unsuccessful, I’ll then take it to a local Suzuki dealer-disassembled parts and all. The Miami Boat Show and Strictly Sail is this coming weekend, 12-16 February. All of the Suzuki dealers (and mechanics) are working 24/7 to get boats and motors ready for the show, etc. None are available this week to do any repair work.

I guess this would be a good time to learn how to sail off of and onto a mooring. The big issue with this for me is the very close proximity of other moored boats. The sailing club’s mooring field is very nice and convenient. However, the sailboats are moored VERY close together. Me causing damage to S/V Tadpole is bad. Me causing damage to another sailor’s boat is unacceptable to me.

P.S. If anyone is planning to attend Strictly Sail in Miami, perhaps we could "walk the docks" together. As of now, my plan is to go to Strictly Sail on Friday, 13 February (yes, I know) and to go to the Miami Beach Convention Center (gadgets, gear, etc.) either Sunday or Monday with a possible second "walking the docks" of Strictly Sail Monday afternoon.

[Oswego John]

Hi Robert,

From reading what you described, I think that there may very well be some salt water calcium buildup in the linkage.

I'm wondering if you could pour or spray something like "CLR" into the upper linkage area to dissolve any possible buildup.

As to approaching your mooring under sail, yes, this is a good time to work on this skill. If you miss the mark, sail through and try it again.

As a last resort, maybe you could hail the tender operator to give you a tow to your mooring. A good tip ($$$) will work wonders.

Ah yes, salt in the shifting linkage is another good reason to only sail in fresh water seas.

Sweet water sailing rocks,
O J

[Sea Hunt]

Hello OJ-

Thanks very much for the suggestion. I had not thought of CLR. I had thought of squirting some WD 40 into the linkage but was hoping to gain access to the upper linkage unit before I did this.

The more I study this issue the more I would be surprised if it was just salt deposits that have "frozen" the linkage. It will not budge even with a good bit of force but not enough that I could break the clutch handle I would think that with salt crystals, they will work their way free eventually.

I know the prior owner who bought the O/B new was pretty meticulous in his care and maintenance as have I. I have lubed and greased all the recommended parts at the spec'd intervals. The lower unit looked surprisingly in pretty good condition with very little pitting, etc., especially around the raw water pump casing and bolts and shift rod.

I am now thinking about the possibility that somehow something is jammed in the upper clutch assembly unit (possibly a broken piece of metal ) and that is what has caused the issue.

Before I take on the task of trying to remove the entire power head I will give WD 40 a few tries over a 2-3 day period and then also CLR.

I have always had good luck unsticking bolts with WD 40 combined with patience and sometimes a mallet

Anyone have any thoughts on whether it is better to try WD 40 or CLR first or if they are somehow incompatible

[Dick Kobayashi]

Yes, do it. Adopting this practice developed a lot of skills when I owned a Ty, and I sail on and off my mooring now with my 25D. Even single handed.

There is an argument for motoring off the mooring - you know the motor will start.

[Big E]

I used to practice sailing off & on the mooring by using lobster buoys in open waters. I feel it's one of the most important skills a sailor can learn. Over time, it definitely gets easier. I sail on & off as much as I can now...I usually keep the engine running in neutral during these maneuvers just in case.

[John Vigor]

Sea Hunt, here's an easy way to grab a mooring when you're singlehanded.

Attach a snap hook or carabiner to the end of a line almost twice the length of your boat. Cleat the other end of your line in the cockpit.

Take the snap hook end of the line from your cockpit, forward over the cabintop to your bow anchor chock, through the chock and then aft, back to the cockpit, outside all the rigging.

Sail up alongside your mooring buoy, lean out from the cockpit, and use the snap hook to fasten your line to the buoy. If necessary, pass the snap hook through a loop on the buoy and hook it back on the line itself to form a closed loop.

Your are now safely moored temporarily and can relax while you sort things out and are ready to fix your usual permanent mooring arrangement . If you want, you can haul in the line in the cockpit, cleat it, and the buoy will move swiftly to the bow.

The line need only be heavy enough to hold you temporarily. The thinner it is, the easier it is to handle.

John V.

http://www.johnvigor.com/blog.html

[Sea Hunt]

Hello John, Big E, Dick and all:

I am grateful for the helpful "mooring" suggestions, etc.

I am going to try them out later this week, if possible. I had planned on practising while out in the middle of Biscayne Bay with a large plastic jug with a 15' line and a few diving weights attached. Never got around to it. My bad

The main issue for me is the VERY close proximity of the moorings (and thus the sailboats). I have been in other mooring fields mostly on the west coast of Florida and a few up in the New England area and they are much further apart. I am not exaggerating when I say the sailing club moorings are very, very close.

Over the past 7-8 months I have mastered the technique of picking up a mooring solo while under power and this has become fairly routine. However, on a few occasions I have misjudged the forward momentum of S/V Tadpole and have had to quickly reverse gear to avoid hitting one of four (4) sailboats moored within close proximity to my assigned mooring.

Being a true "tadpole sailor", under sail I am concerned that if I misjudge the glide distance before heading up into the wind to stall speed I will not have "reverse gear" to rely on. I have been told it is better to approach a mooring under jib alone because it is easier to let it luff than letting the main luff. I know how to backwind a jib as part of "heaving to". However, there is no way I am aware of to effectively backwind a jib so as to get the sailboat to "reverse direction" and back down into the same direction it came from. I have considered how I would backwind the main (we do this on racing sailboats to get rid of "junk" attached to the forward edge of the keel), but I am concerned that I would still not be able to control direction very well and am concerned about playing "bumper boats" with some expensive sailboats moored near me.

I have a friend at the sailing club who may be willing to teach me some techniques and tricks this week or next. I will tell him about your suggestions.

I squirted a liberal amount of WD 40 onto the gear shift lever and up as far into the bottom of lower power unit as I could get. I will try again tomorrow to loosen the gear shift lever. If not, it looks like I will have to physically remove the power unit. I sure hope a legitimate marine mechanic can put the pieces back together if (probably when) I am not able to do so.

[bill2]

Robert

Having but limited 2stroke experience , but more american hotrod experience I'd like to throw out another possibility that we'd get on stick shift cars. When newbies ( us ) would remove and replace a manual ( 3sp or 4 sp ) transmission sometimes we'd get the linkage flummoxed. The result was somewhat like you're encountering - the trans wouldn't shift. The problem ( and solution ) was that the linkage would be engaging two gears at the same time - and hence unable to work ( or shift ) in either gear. The solution was to readjust the trans linkage making sure that only one gear would engage at a time - ( forward but not reverse - or reverse and not forward ) .

Anyways just a thought to maybe help you diagnose your engine/trans . . .

Good Luck
Bill

[Duncan]

... under sail I am concerned that if I misjudge the glide distance before heading up into the wind to stall speed I will not have "reverse gear" to rely on. I have been told it is better to approach a mooring under jib alone because it is easier to let it luff than letting the main luff.

If you need reverse, I think you're probably travelling too quickly. I try to have not much more than steerage way once I'm up on the mooring.

I prefer the main, because it gives me more directional control. You can luff it by just heading into the wind, so the sheet is still fairly firm, and the boom isn't slatting around much. If you need to close the distance, you fall off a little, than bear up again.

It's hard to luff up into the wind under a jib, because the bow keeps getting blown off, and you skid sideways.

I often do as John suggests, coming up alongside the mooring. I use a line, as described, but when there's not too much wind, I just grab it with the boathook, and walk it forward.

Finally, if you stream a line of floats off your mooring ball or pennant, you'll find it gives you more to aim at and to grab onto?

[Sea Hunt]

I am sort of in a "holding pattern" waiting for replacement parts to be delivered.

The level of corrosion, etc. in the cooling system block and all the parts that come in contact with the raw water (salt water) cooling system was pretty amazing. The clutch rod arm, spacer, spring, etc. were so pitted it took a hammer and a lot of pounding (plus WD 40) to break it loose. Not pretty.

What is a good cleaning/flushing solution (chemical or other) to use to wash down and flush out the cooling system innards I want to do this before reassembling any new parts so it at least starts out with a fairly clean (i.e. no salt deposits) cooling system. Anyone use "SaltAway" to scrub down/flush the innards of an O/B

I have been trying to come up with a way to more frequently flush the engine cooling system with fresh water. Below is my situation.

1. S/V Tadpole is on a mooring at the local sailing club. This is the main problem. If she was berthed at a dock, the solution would be simple.

2. There is a service dock at the sailing club that does have a fresh water hose.

3. The O/B weighs about 60 lbs. and is attached to the transom with the traditional Spartan O/B motor mount. It is a minimum 2 man job to remove the outboard and place it on the club's launch/service boat and a 2 man job to reattach it to the motor mount.

I had thought of going to the club's dock, removing the O/B (probably still a 2 man job), filling a drum with fresh water and running the O/B for 8-10 min to flush salt water out. Problem is I would then reattach O/B and motor back out to my mooring with salt water filling back into the cooling system, rods, connectors, plates, etc.

The only "solution" I have been able to come up with is to remove the O/B at the mooring, take it to the dock (or take it home), flush it and then bring it back out to the mooring and reattach to motor mount. I think doing this more than once every 8-10 outings would become "troubling" to me and the sailing club staff. This does not seem like it would help much either since salt water would remain in the cooling system most of the time.

I would welcome any and all suggestions for a method to more frequently flush the raw water cooling system on this outboard. I have no desire to pull the power head every year or so to replace pitted and corroded parts, gaskets, etc. - at least not if I can avoid it.

Of course, I guess I could always move to a location with a fresh water lake. OJ, how are the zebra mussels in Lake Erie these days

[Oswego John]

Of course, I guess I could always move to a location with a fresh water lake. OJ, how are the zebra mussels in Lake Erie these days

*****************************************************
Robert,

Zebra mussels these days? Little if any concern. After all, it is mid February here in God's country. I think that people give too much attention to these little PITAs. For the most part, they only attach themselves to dormant objects, the same as blue/black mussels.

Around these parts, the prudent boatowner has bottom paint covering the submerged part of the boat. Hardly anything becomes attached to bottom paint, no grass,mussels barnacles, nothing. In my case, when sailing is done, I pivot my motor up out of the water to further prevent anything growing on it. I have always believed that when a motor is pivoted up, most, if not all water in the cooling system will self drain out. Just my theory.

As a further precaution, I apply and renew a thin coating of anhydrous lanolin on the exposed metal surfaces of my OB motor. At the end of the sailing season, my boat and motor come out as clean as a whistle (well almost).

I suppose that the motor that is on your boat came with it when you bought it. Being moored in Biscayne Bay, I also suppose that you have no severe river currents of tidal flows to buck. What I am leading up to is that many Ty owners use an outboard motor that is around half of the horse power that yours is. Of course, a smaller motor weighs less than a larger one. I'm in no way saying that anyone should use this motor or that HP. Which motor a person chooses to use is a personal choice based on a variety of reasons. I will state that a too heavy motor will change the profile and lines of the hull. And hull speed is hull speed no matter how big a motor one hangs on his stern.

I am now going to Google for a good recipe how to make zebra mussel chowdah. Last week I found an excellent recipe on how to prepare and serve coot.

Good luck with your engine,
O J

[Markst95]

I've been thinking about the same things for my boat and have been toying with the idea of using an air cooled outboard. The benefits are light weight and not having to worry about impellers, ect. There are some older 2 cycle motors in the 2 to 3 hp range and Honda makes a 4cycle 2hp which only weighs 27 lbs.

[Oswego John]

Hi Mark,

I used to have one of those low power Sears outboard engines, maybe 2 or 2 1/2 HP, don't remember. I used it on a tender to go back and forth to my boat moored in deeper water. It worked fine on a smaller size boat.

Your boat weighs a ton. It weighs a lot more than a tender and it has a higher freeboard which will be influenced more by any windy conditions.

When the topic of motor size came up previously on this board, I don't remember anyone suggesting going below 3HP. The owners that went as high as 5HP did so to get the advantage of F-N-R gears. Many of the smaller, lighter engines only had F-N gears. I think that for approaching and departing a mooring, reverse isn't all that necessary.

In calm to moderate conditions, some owners of smaller engines mentioned the fact that they could attain hull speed with less than full throttle and that they felt that 3HP was adequate in all but the most adverse conditions.

There is one thing to be aware of. When you hang an outboard engine on the transom of a Ty, make sure that it has a long shaft suitable for a sailboat. As a rule, two stroke engines tend to be lighter in weight than four stroke are. I don't know about the present day but most smaller engines were air cooled.

Also when you look at smaller, air cooled engines, make sure that they are compatible for salt water use. Case in point; Briggs and Stratton makes an air cooled engine no bigger than 5HP. It is a well made unit. However, it explicitly states that it is to be used in fresh water only.

Good luck,
O J

[Sea Hunt]

Mark:

Suzuki also makes a 2.5 hp which weighs about 27-28 lbs. I'll try to do some research on "air cooled" O/Bs.

If and when I get another O/B my first priority will be one that has a minimum 25"-27" shaft. From my limited research, there are not many made. My Suzuki 6 hp/4 stroke (2005) has a 20" shaft which is the longest most O/Bs have. I believe the standard is 15".

OJ:

I agree that 6 hp is probably a little more than necessary for Biscayne Bay most of the time, but see below. If I recall correctly, the prior owner was debating between a 4 hp and a 6 hp. They are basically the same weight, external dimensions, etc. He logically went with the 6 hp as I would have done. I am not sure a 2 hp (Honda) or 2.5 hp (Suzuki) would be enough power in some conditions.

I recall motoring out of our "hurricane hole" channel last August. There was a flooding tide going into the channel and there was a 12-15 kts wind from the East also going directly into the channel. As I cleared the hurricane hole and got out into the channel S/V Tadpole basically lost way and steerage. Her "little" 6 hp could not overcome the flooding tide and the wind on the bow. I saw myself and my sweet Tadpole getting pushed into the channel piling markers with no way to avoid them. Not pretty. I did not have a main or jib. The main and boom were stored below for the hurricane. The hank on jib was at the house. Even if I had sails, it would not have done much good in that situation. I thought about reversing course, going back to the hurricane hole and waiting for an ebbing tide or "another day".

I gunned it full throttle and just barely, and I mean just barely, got out of the channel after about 10-12 minutes of full throttle (usual time 2-3 min). It was not an experience I care to repeat. It reminded me of the phrase "don't bring a knife to a gun fight". Well, don't bring a tiny "put put" to a flooding channel with head winds.

I am no expert but I am confident a 2.5 hp or even possibly a 4 hp would not have gotten Tadpole out of that channel in those conditions.

I am wondering what the CD 25 owners do with their O/Bs when on a mooring or even at a dock . Do they have any procedures for flushing the cooling system with fresh water to get rid of most of the salt They generally have a larger motor (8-9.9 hp) that, unless significant modifications, cannot even be tilted out of the water. My little 6 hp Suzuki can be tilted out of the water and the salt water drains out. Not sure this is all that great because salt crystals remain on the metal parts, they dry and crystallize and begin to do their damage If still in solution I would think they would do less damage.

OJ, my last dive in Lake Erie was several years ago (maybe 7-9). If I recall, we used a place in Dunkirk ( ) as a base of operations and then went looking for old wooden shipwrecks to document with video and still photos. They all had several layers of zebra mussels, allegedly brought into the Great Lakes by Russian commercial ships. Although these were great times, I am probably getting a little too old, too fat and too out of shape to be lugging around double steel tanks, deco bottles, etc. while stuffed into a drysuit. The couch, a cold Guinness, and good technical diving book look pretty good these days.

[Markst95]

I realize in some instances the two wouldn't be enough against a strong tide ect. But for just getting to a mooring and back it might be a good choice. It makes you have to be a better sailor, planning on tides, wind, ect. I know of at least one other on the board who uses one. With the benefits of less weight on the stern, easy on off if you have to take it with you or lock it up, and no problems with water cooling systems, I'm planning on at least giving it a try. Unfortunately I think the Honda is the only one available new but it does come in a 20" shaft.