Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I got the water temp gauge hooked up on my new Yamaha.

It involved drilling a hole in the water jacket and tapping it 1/8 NPT.
Then it was just screwing in the sensor and hooking up the wire.

You are one gutsy dude!

Ya got more balls then I do. LOL

Meh.... I dont think it was that critical. I couple of small shavings in the coolant path should not casue any significant issue. Certainly wont hurt the pump and the shavings would likely just go swimming.

I sucked it out with the shop vac after I tapped the hole. The pic was right after I drilled it. There really wasn't much left in there.

I am going after the oil pressure tomorrow. I am hoping the plug I see in the top, right there next to the new water temp sensor is in the HP oil path. It looks right, based on the hump that comes up from the oil filter.

I am really surprised that the oil path is not in the shop manual. My Merc 60 book had a great picture.

I will need a very low profile street elbow to get away from the belt tho. I am going to put some Prussian Blue on it, run the motor and be sure the belt is not swinging out and hitting it.

what is that belt driving? I hope it is a alternator and not the timing. I hate timing belts!!!

That is a timing belt. It runs the cam. I think all of the 4 strokes have them. It seems to be fairly trouble free. I replaced the belt on my 60 at about 5 years but it still looked perfect. This looks like exactly the same belt.
Outboards don't have a real "alternator". They use windings on the stator.

My Suzuki DF-90 has a timing chain. It's supposed to be "zero maintenance and self adjusting". I think most other four strokes have timing belts that have to be replaced on a schedule.

The Yamaha belt replace schedule is every 1000 hours. That is probably >10 years for most boaters.

It is pretty easy to do. You just need a 3 point wheel puller

yellowk9 wrote:My Suzuki DF-90 has a timing chain. It's supposed to be "zero maintenance and self adjusting". I think most other four strokes have timing belts that have to be replaced on a schedule.

Yes, of course that's what the Suzuki Sales Literature says.

And on my wife's Suzuki Grand Vitara, if you run ANYTHING BUT 5W30 oil, the timing chain tensioners go out every 40,000 miles like clockwork. Ask me how I know!

BobG wrote:

yellowk9 wrote:My Suzuki DF-90 has a timing chain. It's supposed to be "zero maintenance and self adjusting". I think most other four strokes have timing belts that have to be replaced on a schedule.

Yes, of course that's what the Suzuki Sales Literature says.

And on my wife's Suzuki Grand Vitara, if you run ANYTHING BUT 5W30 oil, the timing chain tensioners go out every 40,000 miles like clockwork. Ask me how I know!

Man, if I can get 40,000 miles on my boat with just basic maintenance I'll be tickled Does my 4-stroke outboard use the same technology as the engine in a Suzuki car? I'm sure there's some overlap. I use whatever oil the manual says to use (I can't remember right now). In my Toyota pickup I'm supposed to change the timing belt every 90,000 miles. The mechanic said it would be ugly if it broke (something about bending the valves).

yellowk9 wrote:I use whatever oil the manual says to use (I can't remember right now). In my Toyota pickup I'm supposed to change the timing belt every 90,000 miles. The mechanic said it would be ugly if it broke (something about bending the valves).

That's a good thing, and I would bet your Suzuki motor is an interference motor. That means if the timing chain breaks, the piston WILL hit the valves. Bending the valves is the BEST POSSIBLE outcome. Putting a hole in the piston is another possible outcome!

Well i have all ready put 67 hours on mine this season , grins

So there is no way to tap into the factory wiring and get a signal for temp ?

again -

I am out for my 100 hour since December