"Tom" wrote in message ...
I have a new Yamaha 200 (ox66) outboard with just 22 hours on it. The other
day I took it out and noticed a slight metallic rattling noise while it was
idling, seemed to go away after a few minutes, then while running about
3600rpm's I heard a loud thud coming from the engine, no change in
performance just a loud thud... I stopped and checked everything over and
then continued, every so often we would hear this same noise..can't find
anything obviously wrong..just looking for some ideas before I take it back
to the dealer. Thanks... Tom


Have the dealer check shift cable adjustment and make sure you're
pushing the lever all the way forward. Sounds like it might be jumping
into neutral and back into forward under load. This can eventually
round off the dogs on the gears. I wouldn't worry about the metallic
rattle at this point. It's probably just a washer or something minor
in the rigging process.

Depending on where you're operating, if upon the Atlantic Ocean
or Gulf of Mexico there is a creature called a moon jellyfish which
is about the size of a basketball and will definitely make a thump when
you hit one. They can be quite thick at times.

Yamaha makes one fine motor.

CN