Suzuki 2.5 outboard - oil issue

[Bart]

I have a 2.5 Suzuki (about 18 months old) very light use.
It is stored in the engine bay of our 35 motor boat, laying correctly on its side as illustrated in the manuel, ie on the tiller.

On two occassions when I have come to use the engine the pull cord will hardly move, it turns out that oil has moved up into the compression chamber.
When the spark plug is removed and the pull cord gently pulled oil flows out from where the plug sat!

After standing the engine up right for 24 hours and some gratefully recieved assistance from the guys at MDL Mercury the engine worked again.

Has any body else encountered this issue? and if I raised the engine head by a couple of inches when its laying on the plate in the engine bay would this help?

Many thanks
Bart

 

[oGaryo]

did a little reading up on this via google as I've been told store upright but I have found statements about storing on the horizontal too... this was the most significant thing I found in your case:

With a four stroke outboard engine make sure it’s lying with the tiller handle side down otherwise oil could enter the cylinder from the sump which will leak out and could cause damage.

 

[VicS]

The best way to store a 4 stroke outboard is upright.

If you lay it down on its side then be absolutely certain it is as shown in the manual. Usually that is on its tiller but it is not universal.

Also make sure that the prop end is never raised higher than the power-head.

Also be careful when handling the engine that it is always kept the right way up and that it is never tipped so that the prop is higher than the power-head

 

[beyondtheblue]

Exactly the same happened to mine. Took it to the boat on its side, when I got there it wouldn't pull like yours. Took it back to the shop, they put it on a stand and phoned me the following day saying it was fine. Took it back to the boat on its side and it wouldn't pull again, left it overnight and all was well, been OK ever since.