Weak flow from water indicator Johnson 6 (Suzuki DF6)

N

NickC

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So far I have:
  1. Changed the impeller and associated parts
  2. Removed thermostat housing and scraped out all deposits
  3. Soaked thermostat for a couple of weeks in descaller to get it unstuck and working again
  4. Hosed out cooling tubes from top to bottom and every way possible
  5. Run whole unit in a dustbin of Sulphamic acid to remove any remaining scale and residue
Now seems to run fine but still only a weak output from the water indicator jet, constant but weak compared to other outboards.

Any suggestions?
 
Have you tried poking a piece of wire up the piddle pipe? Usually works on my Merc 2.5. Only time it didn't work, it needed the head off and a grand rake out!

Neil
 
I had the 5hp-same enjine different jets in carb. Sorry but mine was so bad at blocking up a
that i sold it and voweed newer to buy another one
 
NickC said:
Now seems to run fine but still only a weak output from the water indicator jet, constant but weak compared to other outboards.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Any chance of water leaking from the water tube top or bottom grommets.

Top and bottom water pump plates not worn , or did you replace them

Sure the water passages in the top of the drive shaft housing and into the power head are clear of deposits or other obstruction?.

Any indication that the engine is overheating. Ie too hot to touch and maintain brief finger contact or discoloured paint work.
 
Last edited:
VicS said:
Any chance of water leaking from the water tube top or bottom grommets.

Thanks for your thoughts VicS,

Top and bottom water pump plates not worn , or did you replace them

Sure the water passages in the top of the drive shaft housing and into the power head are clear of deposits or other obstruction?.

Any indication that the engine is overheating. Ie too hot to touch and maintain brief finger contact or discoloured paint work.
Click to expand...

Bottom grommet changed when water pump was off. Top grommet does not look like it is accessible without a full engine strip down.

Top and bottom water pump plates both changes as a matter of course when doing the impeller.

Water passages are as clear as I can get them but cannot get to the passages in the top of the drive shaft housing to clear them.

Not indication that the engine is running hot, seems to run fine. However not had a long run under load yet so don't really know. Might see if I can find one of those laser temperature guns to borrow.

Nick
 
Sometimes if you block the piddle pipe with your finger and then relase (a few times) it clears obstructioms like scale or debris.
 
NickC;4875358. said:
Top grommet does not look like it is accessible without a full engine strip down.

cannot get to the passages in the top of the drive shaft housing to clear them.

Nick
Click to expand...

These are the areas that you may have to look at if it is overheating.
 
NickC said:
I'll give that a try.
Click to expand...

I had this problem with mine that really baffled me... I'd poke wire in telltale and flow would improve, to return to a dribble.
On my df6, on the telltale pipe was a plastic restrictor on the end which I took off and ran the engine....cured. presumably there was a small bit of scale sitting on this and acting as a nasty little valve.
Ps... mentioned this to a chap at Blyth s.c., and it sorted his also.
Such a simple possible cure, that its worth a try.
Good luck.
 
Mine is very sensitive to the depth of water. It doesn't seem to self prime very well so if I run it in my big bucket at home it just dribbles out but when it is on the boat and sunk down a few more inches I get a good flow.
 
ECLIPSE said:
I had this problem with mine that really baffled me... I'd poke wire in telltale and flow would improve, to return to a dribble.
On my df6, on the telltale pipe was a plastic restrictor on the end which I took off and ran the engine....cured. presumably there was a small bit of scale sitting on this and acting as a nasty little valve.
Ps... mentioned this to a chap at Blyth s.c., and it sorted his also.
Such a simple possible cure, that its worth a try.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestion Eclipse, however have already tried running without that restrictor nozzle in place and same problem.
 
Anyone know what is involved in removing the leg from the rest of the block so I can clean out that top grommet area properly? Is it just a case of removing the six or so bolts and pulling the leg off.
 
NickC said:
Anyone know what is involved in removing the leg from the rest of the block so I can clean out that top grommet area properly? Is it just a case of removing the six or so bolts and pulling the leg off.
Click to expand...

I did all this to try and cure a similar prob. Taking the power head off is pretty simple (rather than puling the leg off) Just need to find all the bolts and not forget the gear linkage. In our case changing the impeller did give the correct flow, but the engine was a constant pain. Random stops with no real reason. Never solved, even by the area agents. I would avoid the model.
And it did show signs of discolouration on the block when I first looked at it. The impellor seemed fine, but didn't work. So I assumed some over heating.
 
DownWest said:
I did all this to try and cure a similar prob. Taking the power head off is pretty simple (rather than puling the leg off) Just need to find all the bolts and not forget the gear linkage. In our case changing the impeller did give the correct flow, but the engine was a constant pain. Random stops with no real reason. Never solved, even by the area agents. I would avoid the model.
And it did show signs of discolouration on the block when I first looked at it. The impellor seemed fine, but didn't work. So I assumed some over heating.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice DownWest. So if the power head is taken off will I then be able to get to the top grommet to clean that out or is that still hidden inside the top of the leg?

What about the hose adapter hole, is it possible that I could clean this out further with flexible plastic rods inserted through that.
 
CreakyDecks said:
Mine is very sensitive to the depth of water. It doesn't seem to self prime very well so if I run it in my big bucket at home it just dribbles out but when it is on the boat and sunk down a few more inches I get a good flow.
Click to expand...

Yea, we noticed that when running in a barrel, rev it a little and nothing comes out of the water indicator except steam must be a gas build-up in the bottom of the barrel. Now found that putting it in gear while running at idle solves this and gives regular but weak flow from indicator jet.

CreakyDecks, what was the flow like you got from the indicator jet on yours. strong or weak.
 
NickC said:
Thanks for the advice DownWest. So if the power head is taken off will I then be able to get to the top grommet to clean that out or is that still hidden inside the top of the leg?

What about the hose adapter hole, is it possible that I could clean this out further with flexible plastic rods inserted through that.
Click to expand...

On stripping it, there was no sign of any obstruction to any of the flow channels. IIRR, the tube from the pump/impeller was housed before the joint to the power head, so relied on the gasket to seal. Since the engine had spent it's life in mostly fresh water, I was not looking for salt build up. Could have been wrong... One of the probs was the lack of agents for bits. I tried a UK outfit, took the money, long wait, admited they didn't have the impeller, so re-imbursed me. Finally found one half way up the Il d'Oleron, so a two hour drive for what was essentially a favour.
Not sure about your hose adaptor hole, but probably a side show. Pulling the power head shows up several bits, including that. As for the gasket, I just cut one out of 1mm material.
 
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