Suzuki DF20A DIY yearly service.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

you can get manuals through the dealer ive been told today

[emoji106] I bought mine legit via a dealer. Not cheap mind.

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

[emoji106] I bought mine legit via a dealer. Not cheap mind.

How much Dave

I got a disc off eBay for my 90 for £6 a few years back

[seadogdave]

Hi Folks, back to the forum after a break. Thanks to Fenlander for the servicing info. Great collation of part numbers etc. MY DF20 is 3 (nearly 4 years old now and has only had 2 services - the post run in and one other at a year old. It now has around 25 hrs on it and owing to it's age more than hours I'm going to give it an oil service and a check over. As I said back then, I'm going DIY at this stage of it's life.
I've recently bought a diagnostics interface and the parts to break into the ECU wiring to help me diagnose any issues that lay ahead. The parts cost me £20 and a bit of time and thought versus £200 from Suzuki.


I believe that my break out cable will allow me to supply the ECU with power for non start faults, though I note fenlander had access to info on powering the ECU via other means. If you could tell em more Id be grateful. I know Suzuki make an ECU power cable for £29 but I think you may be able to splice power into two of the pins on the diagnostics connector?
Anyhow, nothing bad to post this time. I'll let you know how my cable works out - I bought enough parts to make 2 if it's successful and anyone is interested..


Cheers for now,


Dave

[Fenlander]

Sadly the pin for 12v volts was shown in a diagram attached to an Ebay message from the guy who sold me the lead... and that has long gone from my emails.

Obviously need to be very careful where you introduce the 12v but is it something like a case that there are three pins on the OB plug but only two on the diagnostic lead... so maybe the extra one on the OB plug.....

[seadogdave]

Ok thanks for that. Strangely on the Non-electric start model it appears that unrectified AC power from an ECU power coil on the flywheel goes straight to the ECU where one assumes it is rectified internally? On the Electric start version there is an external rectifier / regulator that supplies DC to the ECU. once the flywheel is turning. In both cases this is to a different pin to the connectors that are associated with the diagnostics cable. I'll have a careful play but think that with my breakout cable I can apply 12v to any of these to power the ECU. I'll run the motor and see what's on the relative pins before injecting anything!

Connectors turned up from the states today so project on soon.

Cheers

Dave

[seadogdave]

In an effort to ensure that my breakout cable has large enough wires for the high current lines I looked at the ECU connection and tried identifying each wire then looking at the manual to see its function. Not easy! some of them appear to have the same colours and are not easily seen. It would be so much easier if Suzuki had added pin numbers to the drawing. Don't suppose anyone has access to a better drawing that gives this detail. The manual layout is totally random compared to the actual connector - probably to make the layout easier to draw with less crosses.


Any help appreciated.


Dave

[jeffstevens763@g]

Dave the drawings on the service manual for my 25 are pretty crap not sure if the workshop manual is better. Have you tried google images ?

[seadogdave]

Hi Jeff thanks for that. I found google to be deficient in anything for it however I did find better info on page 62 - 64 of the manual. Couldn't see for looking!
Only worry is that the wire colours don't appear to match mine but I think the actual pin assignments are unlikely to have changed so I'll tread carefully around that detail.

Surprising to see that the ECU differs between the Manual and electric start models so not only are the 15 and 20HP ECU's different from a programming perspective, but they carry different units depending upon the starter method. You'd think that they'd standardise to reduce spares costs.

Cheers

Dave

[jeffstevens763@g]

you could try Suzuki technical to solve the wiring colours before attempting worth a shot good luck

[AaronW]

Thanks for the great article. It's inspired me to do my own service.

You mention somewhere about the Suzuki software. Is this necessary to reset the service light or for any other part of the service procedure? Is it a read-only thing to show engine history? or can you write data to the ECU?, i'm imagining here that the dealership might be able to write a service date or something.

[Fenlander]

Hi and welcome to the forum Aaron. I think besides a modern car ECU diagnostics it's pretty simple. I'm not sure you could write to it without coding/software cracking ability... pretty sure dealers can't do that. I forget the exact method but yes you can clear the service light with some routine manipulation of normal user controls... diagnostics not needed.

As you would expect it gives a log of engine events and when running you can read live data.

Best source for lead and software is a guy from Latvia on Ebay if he's still about.

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

Hi and welcome to the forum Aaron. I think besides a modern car ECU diagnostics it's pretty simple. I'm not sure you could write to it without coding/software cracking ability... pretty sure dealers can't do that. I forget the exact method but yes you can clear the service light with some routine manipulation of normal user controls... diagnostics not needed.

As you would expect it gives a log of engine events and when running you can read live data.

Best source for lead and software is a guy from Latvia on Ebay if he's still about.

might be wrong but i think you press the kill switch 3 times to clear the service light

[Fenlander]

Ahh yes Jeff something like that rings a bell.

[AaronW]

Thanks fellas. Yes, you do that three press routine to clear the 'service' light. Scared the hell out of me when that came on what was essential a nearly new engine. Yes the latvia seller seems to still be active. He was my planned supplier.

I am not interested in hacking the code. What I am wondering is if the software is essential for the service?. Do you have to reset the hours-to-the-next-service light (in software) or is that information hard coded into the ECU anyway? Will the light come on after the next X amount of running hours regardless of the service?

If it comes on at fixed running-hours intervals that makes no sense when you consider that some services are 'annually'. The annual service time and service light time would not be related or synchronised in anyway.

Other than that I see the software as an excellent diahnostic tool.

Hope that makes sense?

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by AaronW

Thanks fellas. Yes, you do that three press routine to clear the 'service' light. Scared the hell out of me when that came on what was essential a nearly new engine. Yes the latvia seller seems to still be active. He was my planned supplier.

I am not interested in hacking the code. What I am wondering is if the software is essential for the service?. Do you have to reset the hours-to-the-next-service light (in software) or is that information hard coded into the ECU anyway? Will the light come on after the next X amount of running hours regardless of the service?

If it comes on at fixed running-hours intervals that makes no sense when you consider that some services are 'annually'. The annual service time and service light time would not be related or synchronised in anyway.

Other than that I see the software as an excellent diahnostic tool.

Hope that makes sense?

From the bit I know the software tells you only electrical info which you pay for a printout circa £20 so if you have no faults and just servicing I see no point IMO. I don’t think it records services because my book had to be filled out before a claim could be made under warranty. I had mine serviced well before time periods on date and hours eg first service is 20 hours or one month in the book mine was serviced at six hours.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

From the bit I know the software tells you only electrical info which you pay for a printout circa £20 so if you have no faults and just servicing I see no point IMO. I don’t think it records services because my book had to be filled out before a claim could be made under warranty. I had mine serviced well before time periods on date and hours eg first service is 20 hours or one month in the book mine was serviced at six hours.

I have the Latvian software & interface. Not absolutely necessary for servicing but a “nice to have” it allows you to read & clear fault codes etc. It’s pretty basic compared to the Etec software that I’ve used previously. I have 2 Suzuki engines so worth my while having it. The Latvian guy is/was fine to deal with & the kit arrived quickly & is good quality.

[Fenlander]

This is an excellent walkthrough the Suzuki diagnostics which is exactly the same as you'd get from Latvia...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Llxyy2YR5C0

[Da_q-ban_one]

Hi All,

New user here, very excited to have joined the community. Thank you for this invaluable post!! Surely an invaluable resource to have. With this incredibly thorough and useful post, I feel a lot more confident in considering a new or newish Suzuki OB 😁


Backstory (w/ my questions at the end):
I recently sold a mint condition 24yr old 15hp Johnson (2strk), with the intent of using the proceeds to invest in a newer model EFI 4stroke.

I'm considering either of 2 options: purchasing a brand new Suzuki DF9.9B and doing what a fellow youtuber recently did and changing out the ECU and fuel arrestor to turn it into a 20hp, given that they share the same displacement (327cc). This is ideal due the fact that where I reside, there are some lakes that have 10hp limit restrictions, so a win-win for me. This is also a more costly option, as I would have to purchase a brand new 20hp ECU (~$400-600) in addition to the brand new 9.9b (~2600)

The other option would be to purchase a used 2016 Suzuki DF20, which is the reason for my post. This would be much more economical, as owner is asking $2200, however, I dont yet know the condition of OB.

So question #1:
Is there anything in particular that I should keep in mind when I go see it; and more importantly, should I be concerned if the owner has no service records (of particular concern is the timing/drive belt)?

There's a high possibility that this service has not yet been performed, and while I have the technical know-how and confidence to do the regular service items, such as the ones outlined in this post, I'm afraid I would not feel comfortable with removal of the flywheel to change the belt myself.

From the pics I saw online, the OB looks to have a few nuts/bolts that look to have salt/sediment and/or rust deposits around the power head as well as a bit of discoloration/dullness on some aluminum parts, but it could just be bad lighting. I didn't want to ask too many questions via txt, as I would rather do so upon a more close, in-person inspection.

Question #2:
What items, red flags, or other questions should I be asking during my inspection; and how much of a price decrease should I potentially be ready to ask for if it indeed has heavy wear or signs of salt water use, as well as a lack of service records (again, particularly pertaining to the drive belt)?

Thank you all very much in advance 😁👍🙋*♂️ and very happy to have joined this forum.

[Fenlander]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Thanks for the comments on my service procedures.

I would be worried if there was no stamped service book and/or invoices.... unless the seller talks you through his own servicing regime and it seems to sound true.

If you can't tackle it yourself I'd find out the cost of a timing belt change plus a yearly service and factor it into a deal.

Re your possible corroded bolt heads... I'd not expect to see anything other than shiny new looking bits under the cowl.... even on an outboard over ten years old never mind this four year old one.

On a modern efi motor I'd not want it to look abused or corroded at any price.

[jeffstevens763@g]

Agree with David my 25 is nearly 6years old and brand new under the bonnet stored outside under a boat cover