10/08/2026
The Carolina Skiff come in to the shop for a limp mode sympton. This 150 Suzuki is turning all cylinders! We first broke into it checking compression and ohming coil packs. From there I noticed that the spark plugs did not look right, they were the wrong plugs. Ordered in the new plugs and went to test. It would run as long as you pumped the prime bulb. So I brought it back to the shop. I pulled the fuel rail which houses the injectors for visual inspection. ( at this step I induced a symptom). I took primed the bulb firm and pinched off the line infront of the prim bulb. This showed me that the prime bulb was leaking back through the check valve. While I traced that line back it ran to a catch filter that to my eyes looked as if it has never been changed. I ordered in a new filter along with prime bulb. As I wait I pull the breather off the front and there is a mouse nest built inside lol I have no clue how this even happend but it was there! Went out today dropped her in. When I got back to the boat, Donnie Pendergrass was waiting on me. I could hear we were not running smoothly. It had a shake and an alarm. We headed out to start troubleshooting what the heck went on because this thing was running good other than the prime bulb issue. As I start to tie the bricks on my ankles and jump in the lake Donnie has a strong feeling we are missing on an injector. I pull the hood and start with injector 1, pull and we die. Fire back up and move to 2, pull and we die. Fire back up and move to 3, pull and we die. Fire back up go to pull 4.... and wouldn't you know, the dang thing isn't hooked up!!! I have Donnie kill it, I plug it back in and the alarm is gone and the motor has completely smoothed out. We bust her off and down the lake we went. With a couple of hot laps we load her and deliver her back to the customers driveway.
This project took extremely to long and I am the first to admit it. So as most know, I only order OEM parts. Some have their feelings about it and that's okay. So I order the prime bulb from Suzuki. It has the bulb online and says "In stock" after waiting a month for the delivery I make a call. They say someone will be back with me. A week goes by and finally someone emailed me saying they are looking into the part. Almost 2 weeks go by and they inform me the part has been discontinued for over a year, but yet it says in stock on their inventory!!!.... all this time waiting for a prime bulb that was never coming!!!! They superseded it gave me another part number and I placed that order while on this phone. That was I think Tuesday and the prime bulb showed up days later! This is super frustrating and I'm still pi**ed about the whole situation! Yes I could of put a cheap prime bulb in it, but I wouldn't do that to my own boat let alone a customers boat.
Thank you deeply to this customer for sticking in there as we battled the "prime bulb of 2026!"
