On May 15, 8:33*am, wrote:
On Wed, 14 May 08, Jay *wrote:
stuck the shaft in
a 5-gallon bucket of water,

For a motor that small, maybe that's deep enough. I dunno. Just be
sure the water level in the bucket is higher than the water pump
impeller. You want the "impeller" under water... I've run into people
who think all they need is to have the prop in the water. Not so. Most
outboard water pumps are not good at sucking water up from a lower
level. Even slightly lower.

Rick

Rick,
I'll check on that but we had the shaft pretty submerged. Tomorrow
I'll measure how far up the shaft the water was and let you know.
Thanks for the heads-up.
-Jay

On May 16, 3:34*am, wrote:

As long as you got a stream of water out of the pee-hole, you have no worries
about how deep of a bucket you used.

So that's what those two little tiny adjacent holes higher up on
the shaft are called? There was a stream of water coming out of
them. Why is water coming out there? If you guessed I'm an outboard
newbie, you guessed right.
-Jay

On May 16, 6:34*am, wrote:
On Fri, 16 May 2008 04:53:24 -0700 (PDT), Jay

wrote:

On May 16, 3:34*am, wrote: As long as you got a stream
of water out of the pee-hole, you have no worries about how deep of a
bucket you used.

So that's what those two little tiny adjacent holes higher up on
the shaft are called? *There was a stream of water coming out of them.
*Why is water coming out there? *If you guessed I'm an outboard
newbie, you guessed right.
-Jay

The pee-hole, also called the "tell-tale" is a single hole or little rubber tube sticking out on the underside of the engine cover. It should always ALWAYS have a steady stream of water coming out of it from within about one second of when you start the engine and whenever it is running at any RPM. If not, immediately shut down and investigate. I think you had better put everything on hold and go read your owners manual very carefully before you break something.

Actually, the two tiny adjacent holes I spoke about that are 19"
above the center of the prop and about 4.5": below the motor are
apparently the so-called "pee holes" and/or "tell-tale" holes on that
particular model (DF2.5) of Suzuki outboard. And yes, as I stated
before, water is squirting out of those during test operation in the
water bucket. And from what I've surmised, this ejection of water
through those two little holes indicates that the water pump is
functioning correctly and if it weren't, then, since it's a water-
cooled motor, serious overheating and/or damage could occur. Am I
right on these points?

Now don't be jealous because I have TWO pee holes on my outboard
and you only have ONE on yours. LOL.
-Jay

"Jay" wrote in message
...
Now don't be jealous because I have TWO pee holes on my outboard
and you only have ONE on yours. LOL.
-Jay




I just read the specs and that thing is way heavy. 30 pounds for a 2.5 HP?
YIKES!

https://secure.suzuki.com/marine/_m/brochures/df2.5.pdf


I used to have a 3.5 HP Mariner two-stroke vintage 1995. It weighed 19
pounds. And they call this four stroke heavyweight progress? Gimme a break!

Wilbur Hubbard

On Fri, 16 May 08, Jay wrote:
Now don't be jealous because I have TWO pee holes on my outboard
and you only have ONE on yours.

My entire life I've heard the expression "Lucky as a two dick dog" but
I don't think I've ever heard of a 2 pee hole outboard lol! Not saying
it's not possible though, I don't know anything about Suzuki. I have
a small Honda though with two holes like that but one is a tell tale
and the other is a carb drain.
But if you're tell tale is squirting water, your pump is deep enough
in the bucket. With only a 5 gallon bucket though, I'd make sure it's
spuirting back in the bucket and not on the ground. You could end up
pumping your cooling water out of the bucket ;-)
Sounds like you have it under control though. But I agree with the
suggestion to read your owners manual.

Rick

Okay, I took the advice and re-read my owner's manual and found that
Suzuki calls the two tiny holes I described earlier the "pilot
holes." And yes, they are what others have been referring to as the
pee hole(s) and/or tell-tale hole(s) as they serve the same purpose.

According to the manual, when water is squirting out of these two
little holes while the motor is running, it indicates the cooling
system is working properly. So it sounds like that mystery is
solved. Thanks again for the reminder.

-Jay

On Sat, 17 May 2008 00:09:12 -0700 (PDT), Jay
wrote:

when water is squirting out of these two
little holes while the motor is running, it indicates the cooling
system is working properly. So it sounds like that mystery is
solved.

Except for the part that says it's still ok when it's not
squirting.... unless severe damage occurs lol!
I think Salty said it best ... "Truly bizarre".
I think I would call a Suzuki mechanic (not a salesman) and get an
explanation that makes sense.. And pin him down if necessary. That
owners manual is as ambiguous as any I've heard about.

On May 17, 8:40*am, wrote:

Except for the part that says it's still ok when it's not squirting.... unless severe damage occurs lol! I think Salty said it best ... "Truly bizarre".

I don't recall that statement (...it's still ok when it's not
squirting.... unless severe damage occurs...) being in the manual.

I think I would call a Suzuki mechanic (not a salesman) and get an explanation that makes sense.. And pin him down if necessary. That owners manual is as ambiguous as any I've heard about.

I already did contact a Suzuki mechanic and he confirmed that
Suzuki calls them pilot holes, not pee or tell-tale holes and that
they serve the same purpose as pee holes and/or tell-tale holes. I
agree that sometimes things appear "bizarre" but sometimes they do
simply because some are not aware of them, not because they are
necessarily in error.

The manual states, "Cooling water is intermittently discharged from
the pilot water holes at medium engine speeds. Water is not normally
discharged at other speeds even when the engine is operating
properly. However, cooling system operation can be confirmed as
follows:

1---Place the shift selector lever in the NEUTRAL position with the
motor idling.
2---Increase and decrease the engine speed five or six times in
succession by opening and closing the throttle smoothly and without
stopping in any one throttle position.
3---If water is discharged from the pilot water holes under this
operating condition, the cooling system is working properly. If
water
is not discharged, stop the engine as soon as possible and consult
your authorized Suzuki Marine dealer."

It then states: CAUTION Never OPERATE (perhaps they are referring to
having the motor in GEAR, not NEUTRAL as stated above) your outboard
motor when there is no water coming out of the pilot water holes or
severe damage can
result. Before setting off, be sure that emergency stop switch
operates properly.

Perhaps there's a difference between having the motor idling in
neutral and operating the motor under stress in gear in regards to the
functionality and/or creating possible damage in regards to the
cooling system?

-Jay

On Sat, 17 May 2008 10:40:54 -0500, lid wrote:

I think I would call a Suzuki mechanic (not a salesman) and get an
explanation that makes sense.

The motor is working fine and a 5 gallon pail is more than enough.

I've run my 20 horse Honda in a 5 gallon pail when no other choice was
available.

On May 17, 4:21*am, wrote:
I just checked, and can't find the owners manual for your outboard on the Suzuki
website. It sounds odd that there would be 2 tell tales. Very odd. I'd really
double check that in the manual.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That's where I got it from...the Suzuki owner's manual, complete
with a diagram showing two streams of water squirting out of the pilot
holes. (Page 21 of manual). On that page, under "cooling water check"
it states, "Cooling water is intermittently discharged from the pilot
water holes at medium engine speeds. Water is not normally discharged
at other speeds even when the engine is operating properly. However,
cooling system operation can be confirmed as follows:

1---Place the shift selector lever in the neutral position with the
motor idling.

2---Increase and decrease the engine speed five or six times in
succession by opening and closing the throttle smoothly and without
stopping in any one throttle position.

3---If water is discharged from the pilot water holes under this
operating condition, the cooling system is working properly. If water
is not discharged, stop the engine as soon as possible and consult
your authorized Suzuki Marine dealer.

It then states: CAUTION Never operate your outboard motor when there
is no water coming out of the pilot water holes or severe damage can
result. Before setting off, be sure that emergency stop switch
operates properly.

You have now read exactly the same thing as I have read since I lifted
it word-for-word from the official owner's manual for the Suzuki DF2.5
outboard motor. The Suzuki owner's manual is part #99011-97J02-03B.

-Jay

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The tell tale does not completely guarantee
that the engine is being cooled, but it does show that the pump is at least
working and sending water up as far as the tell-tale. If the water passages in
the engine itself are blocked, the tell tale will actually pee HARDER. If the
pump is allowed to run while dry, the impeller is damaged or destroyed within
seconds, as in less than a minute. If I owned a motor that either was started
for just an instant without the leg in water, or saw no water from the tell tale
after a couple of seconds, I would automatically replace the impeller without
any further debate. I carry a spare impeller or two on the mothership at all
times. They are a lot less expensive than a motor rebuild or replacement.

You should plan on replacing the impeller every other season regardless of
anything else, including whether the motor was even used or not. It's not a hard
job, but it's an important bit of maintenance.- Hide quoted text -