Starter cord snatch

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jonjo

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I have a 2 year old 4-stroke outboard, it is a 2.5hp Suzuki.

During the last 2 months it has become difficult to start as it has developed the habit of snatching back on the starter cord against the pull. This snatch can be painful.

When I pull on the starter cord the engine seems to resist turning with high compression.

Is there a DIY fix for this?
 
Maybe it is an ignition timing issue as suggested but you will need to refer to a workshop manual to check and correct it .

I think it can only be adrift though if the flywheel has moved on the crankshaft but one would expect that to be keyed although it is possible that it is not. If it is keyed then for it to have moved the key must have failed, unlikely but possible.

To correct you may need to remove the flywheel. That will probably need a special puller.

Unless you are seriously into outboard maintenance I think this may be something best left to a qualified outboard mechanic.

If it is a problem with the ignition electronics then only an outboard mechanic will be able to test it.

However initially clean/check/reset or replace the plug.

It might be worth a question on the relevant board on the iBoats forums but the yanks are not much into small oriental outboards. Big Johnsons, Evinrudes and Mercurys yes but little Suzukis, no
 
This exact same symptom with the same motor was reported by a Drascombe owner. If your profile said you were from Lancashire instead of Cambridgeshire I'd have thought you were the same guy. His dealer suggested starting technique - pull over past TDC on compression stroke, release cord then one long pull and talked of this setting the "decompressor".

It started a discussion about starting aids built into different small outboards which might go wrong. These apparently include dual ignition systems - one for low speed and one for high (variable ignition timing is becoming common because of the latest emission regs) and a cam timing device that is illustrated but not described in the Mercury/Mariner/Tohatsu 4 to 6HP shop manual. A similar device might be the "decompressor" talked of by the Suzuki dealer.

If you can't get a satisfactory answer here or from a dealer, since you do not seem to be alone try to talk to the service manager at the importers. Let us know what you find.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If you can't get a satisfactory answer here or from a dealer, since you do not seem to be alone try to talk to the service manager at the importers. Let us know what you find.

[/ QUOTE ]
I phoned Ron Hale (Portsmouth) this morning but they were useless, claiming they could not provide telephone advice on something so technical. However their mechanic would be in at the weekend if I wanted to bring the motor in for an inspection/service. Ha Ha, as if a business that only sells outboards and inflatables knows nothing about starting up an outboard.

Ron Hale if you are listening, I have purchased two outboards and an Avon from you over the past 5 years but I will never return with a chequebook.

Time to talk to the importer as suggested.
 
philiphenson said:
My brand new DF2.5 has a dreadful snatch, did you get this sorted and if so how?
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That seems really strange. It's only a tiny little engine 65 cc or something so like a lawnmower or large chainsaw. If it's brand new, like mine was 2 years ago, I'd be very surprised if it's faulty. SWMBO is unable to start ours as it "pulls back" but she just doesn't seem to have the right technique of a steady pull at constant force once compression is encountered.

Richard
 
RichardS said:
That seems really strange. It's only a tiny little engine 65 cc or something so like a lawnmower or large chainsaw. If it's brand new, like mine was 2 years ago, I'd be very surprised if it's faulty. SWMBO is unable to start ours as it "pulls back" but she just doesn't seem to have the right technique of a steady pull at constant force once compression is encountered.

Richard
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It's a bit like kick starting a softer British single motorcycle - i.e. Enfield, not Gold Star - the trick is to get the engine just past the first compression so that your long steady pull builds up angular momentum in the flywheel for a revolution and 3/4 to kick over the ignition stroke. Also because the speed of the pull is relatively slow, the ignition will probably pop with the piston too far down the bore and hence the kick... Someone taught me the Enfield process once, and it became a very laconic sort of thing as opposed to the Goldie leaping 10 feet off the floor, hoping to land on the kick start, and hoping you'd remembered to retard the ignition, otherwise you were off into orbit!
 
A couple of points .
First some time like all small engine the woodwoft key can shift , it not the first time I found on an lawnmower that the key has a 1 or 2 mm on it leading edge .
Next to remove the fly wheel , if you put two levers under the the fly wheel and at the same time hit the nut on top this will some time pop the fly wheel off.
What I found works with any engine that kicks back is has said , pull the cord until TTC and release it and give it a good pull .
 
Drascomber said:
This exact same symptom with the same motor was reported by a Drascombe owner. His dealer suggested starting technique - pull over past TDC on compression stroke, release cord then one long pull and talked of this setting the "decompressor".

I think that what was referred to here was the fact that in pulling it over, past the the compression stroke, you are giving yourself the space of three strokes to build up energy in the pull, before you encounter the next compression stroke. If you put enough welly into it, and everything is functioning properly, it should fire.
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