[Edfish]

Has anyone else had issues with the wiring/harnesses of their newer Suzuki?
I have an 18 month old manual start DF20A. I ran to a spot the other day and couldn't turn off the engine with the kill switch. I removed the cowling and found the negative wire leading from the kill switch no longer attached to the harness, it was broken. It appeared severed, no corrosion, no sign of any animal-related trauma, etc. I did not remove the cowling between the last trip, when it worked, and this trip, when it didn't, so I don't think there is any way I accidentally "snagged" the wire. I know motors vibrate, but to me it seems unlikely that vibration could have caused this.

Last year a different wire in the harness went, and that one left me stranded. The entire harness was replaced courtesy of Suzuki's warranty, and I have had no problems since then until now. That wire appeared severed, same as the current problem.

This time it was an easy diagnosis, and the motor still ran to get home, but I'm concerned about which wires will go next. I dropped it off at the mechanic today, and didn't think to take a pic before. I'll update when I hear from them what Suzuki will do about it. In the mean time, curious if anyone has seen something like this happen before.

 

[Edfish]

An update from the mechanic: A second wire broke while he was working with it. The mechanic said it "fell apart in his hands" at the pin while he was checking it. He can find no reason why the wires are breaking, and the Suzuki rep he talked to said there is nothing wrong with the harness and offered no explanation as to why the wires are breaking. Apparently the Suzuki rep declined to replace the harness and asked the mechanic to just fix the broken wires.

I'm pretty unimpressed with Suzuki here. This is a 1.5 year old motor, purchased new from a dealer and under warranty, and I have had two separate issues with wires in the harness breaking--once on the original harness and once on the replaced harness. To the best of my judgement, I've done nothing wrong with the motor--no modifications, no accidents, only taken to certified Suzuki mechanics. I expect a warranty to be honored, and I don't think Suzuki is doing a great job of that. I'll call their CA office and see what they say and update after that.

 

[jmrodandgun]

Do you have any pictures of the broken connections?

 

[Edfish]

I do not, which was a mistake on my part. I may be able to stop by the mechanic's tomorrow and take some. If so, I will upload shortly thereafter.
To my (uneducated, mechanically) eye, the wire break appeared almost clean-cut, and occurred where the wire was crimped into the connecting "pins". My speculation, which was shared by the mechanic, was that perhaps they were crimped with too much force, such that the integrity of the wire was compromised. Just a speculation, I have no idea if it is reasonable.

 

[mcraft173]

I have not had any issue of this sort with my motor. Keep us posted.

 

[lopakapence]

As someone who has spent years designing and manufacturing wire harnesses (for aerospace vehicles) I can assure you this is a classic example of over crimp. we used to calibrate our crimp tools before use, and after xx numbers of crimps, depending on size, wire count, etc. It is doubtful that Suzuki controls their crimping process as strictly as we did, but then we were not a commercial outfit, we were government procured, were profit is not an issue, but quality and reliability was an absolute. My suggestion....replace the harness.

 

[Edfish]

I really appreciate the posts. Here is an update.
I went to take pics of the wire on Wed, but the mechanic had already re-attached the wires, having found the appropriate "pins" into which the wires could be fit. This means I cannot provide photos, so kinda dumb on my part. Lesson learned, photo document first.

What the mechanic said was that Suzuki didn't want to replace the harness, but would if there were anymore issues. Given that this was the second harness in <2 years, my confidence that there will be no more issues is low, and I would have though better of Suzuki if they'd just replaced it. It seems reasonable that if some wires were crimped wrong, I assume others could be too. The one before this left me stranded, I hope the next one doesn't fail in a storm.

Since others haven't had any problems, can anyone think of something I could be inadvertently doing that might be leading to these problems?

 

[jmrodandgun]

If it were my motor it would develop more problems while being test run on the engine stand. That's just the kind of bad luck I have....

 

[John R]

I have a 2013 DF15A a wire had broken just above the neutral switch connector.a small black wire going into the wire harness. My theory defective wire, the standed wire is not twisted, so it has no strength. I was lucky finding a break this time, hopefully my theory is wrong and I don't have to deal with this again.
My thanks to my brother Dan for his help in the repair.

 

[Boatbrains]

While this is an old thread, I wanted to put in my two pennies since it came back up.
As a Suzuki tech, I can tell everyone that they do honor they’re warranty! I once had a customer bring in a df250 that clearly did not follow break in procedures and had two bad cylinders. This motor had over 2k hrs on it and never saw over 3500rpm! This is not good contrary to what some might think! The rings never seated and it started consuming oil. Suzuki sent me a short block for the customer at no charge and also paid full bill with one exception! The exception was that I had to do a proper break in and the customer was to pay for the fuel and time to perform the break in. Wasn’t too bad, we struck a deal with him and we all went fishing for the weekend. He footed the fuel, ice, food, bait, and beer! I ran the boat through proper break in procedures, down loaded ecm info and sent to Suzuki, Suzuki cut a check! Great motors! I am also willing to bet the harnesses are outsourced and that’s why some are having problems, and by some I mean the two I just read about. Not bashing either, but as a tech... 2 in probably 5-6k Zukes I have had the cowl off of since 01’ I will say that’s pretty good odds. Off my soap box now!

 

[John R]

While this is an old thread, I wanted to put in my two pennies since it came back up.
As a Suzuki tech, I can tell everyone that they do honor they’re warranty! I once had a customer bring in a df250 that clearly did not follow break in procedures and had two bad cylinders. This motor had over 2k hrs on it and never saw over 3500rpm! This is not good contrary to what some might think! The rings never seated and it started consuming oil. Suzuki sent me a short block for the customer at no charge and also paid full bill with one exception! The exception was that I had to do a proper break in and the customer was to pay for the fuel and time to perform the break in. Wasn’t too bad, we struck a deal with him and we all went fishing for the weekend. He footed the fuel, ice, food, bait, and beer! I ran the boat through proper break in procedures, down loaded ecm info and sent to Suzuki, Suzuki cut a check! Great motors! I am also willing to bet the harnesses are outsourced and that’s why some are having problems, and by some I mean the two I just read about. Not bashing either, but as a tech... 2 in probably 5-6k Zukes I have had the cowl off of since 01’ I will say that’s pretty good odds. Off my soap box now!

BoatBrains
That is awesome to hear. I have had great luck with Suzuki motorcycles for 43 years and that is why I chose the outboard I did. Have a great [email protected]

 

[Edfish]

While this is an old thread, I wanted to put in my two pennies since it came back up.
As a Suzuki tech, I can tell everyone that they do honor they’re warranty! I once had a customer bring in a df250 that clearly did not follow break in procedures and had two bad cylinders. This motor had over 2k hrs on it and never saw over 3500rpm! This is not good contrary to what some might think! The rings never seated and it started consuming oil. Suzuki sent me a short block for the customer at no charge and also paid full bill with one exception! The exception was that I had to do a proper break in and the customer was to pay for the fuel and time to perform the break in. Wasn’t too bad, we struck a deal with him and we all went fishing for the weekend. He footed the fuel, ice, food, bait, and beer! I ran the boat through proper break in procedures, down loaded ecm info and sent to Suzuki, Suzuki cut a check! Great motors! I am also willing to bet the harnesses are outsourced and that’s why some are having problems, and by some I mean the two I just read about. Not bashing either, but as a tech... 2 in probably 5-6k Zukes I have had the cowl off of since 01’ I will say that’s pretty good odds. Off my soap box now!

I appreciate you weighing in Boatbrains. For what it's worth, I haven't had any further issues with the wiring harness since that last post a couple years ago. Of course, I also haven't fished as much, but doesn't seem like it was a wear&tear thing. The Suzuki df20a did have a fuel leak this spring--either bad hose or clamp, I cannot recall right now. Generally it's been a good motor for me, and it seems most others have been happy with theirs. Not sure I'd buy one again as the customer service on the harnesses left me a bit disappointed, but I mean that literally--it seems like a good product and I'd at least consider a Suzuki in the future. A bigger issue for me recently has been finding a certified or experienced mechanic under 2 hours from Gainesville, FL. So if that's something you know about, I'd love some advice.

 

[Boatbrains]

I am a certified tech <2 hrs from G-ville lol! I am not affiliated with any dealerships or marinas any longer but still do some independent work. I can’t do warranty related stuff but might have enough pull at some local dealers to get it done.

 

[Edfish]

I am a certified tech <2 hrs from G-ville lol! I am not affiliated with any dealerships or marinas any longer but still do some independent work. I can’t do warranty related stuff but might have enough pull at some local dealers to get it done.

Awesome, that was sorta what I was hoping you would say but didn't know your situation. If it's useful and desirable for you to post how I or someone else might contact you for Suzuki work, feel free to do so. If you'd rather not post for any reason, feel free to send me a PM. I don't (think) I need any work now, but I'll save the contact! Motors out of warranty and I am er unskilled mechanically.

 

[Boatbrains]

Anyone on this site can pm me ir just start a thread! If it’s something I can walk ya’ll through, I will! It save you money. Don’t get me wrong, I like money too but I joined up so I can help when I can.