Plus the boat motor’s workin’ again! [cue rimshot]
I tell ya, that joke just never gets old. Anyway, the fine folks over at Jacobsen’s Marine wrapped up their work early in October. Special thanks to Service Manager Tim and Acting Service Manager Willy; you guys are great.
I’m feeling unreasonably pleased with myself because my own diagnostic conclusion turned out to be correct: exhaust was leaking into the engine enclosure.
The cause, however, was not something simple like a worn-out hose or a gasket. Instead, one of three midsection castings (the top one, named the “engine holder”) corroded through, allowing exhaust out into the engine enclosure, which had the effect of sooting up the engine and, more importantly, starving the engine for oxygen.
It’s “corrosion”, see, which is a maintenance issue, and thus the customer’s responsibility. It isn’t covered under warranty. Here’s the view from the inside: 
But hold on: the new casting is slightly different from the old one: it’s been beefed up, and a formerly removable plug has been sealed up completely with monolithic aluminum, PRECISELY where mine corroded through.
Hmmm. Apparently, there was some sort of trouble with this casting at this specific place. I wonder what it might have been? 
Don’t be too hard on Johnson/BRP, though. Remember, they didn’t manufacture this engine; Suzuki manufactured the engine, and BRP sold it under the Johnson brand. They sold these Suzuki motors for a few years while the E-TEC was under development.
My suspicion, unverified, is that BRP needed to fill the retail channel with something…ANYTHING! Seriously, it’s considered a major marketing boo-boo to disappear from the marketplace for a couple years while you develop a new product. You’ve got to maintain your presence. Maybe their own plants were offline, being retooled to manufacture the E-TEC, and they were forced to look outside for product.
Whatever the case may be, I’m giving BRP the benefit of the doubt, and I’m going to check with them one more time to see if they want to reconsider supporting a customer who just happened to get a bad part. Stay tuned!
Here are a few more pictures of the new and improved engine holder casting:
5 responses so far ↓
Marty P // Nov 19, 2007 at 7:51 am
Curious if this issue has been resolved. It seems to me you have proven it was a faulty part and it is Johnson’s responsibility to ‘make whole.’
Bad News From BRP | Navagear.com // Nov 22, 2007 at 6:28 am
[...] A disappointment, to be sure, but not a big surprise. They were able to provide a bit of background on the changes I noticed in the part that failed: [...]
New EPA Emissions Regs for Gas Engines | Navagear.com // Sep 7, 2008 at 8:55 am
[...] relatively quiet, relatively clean, and incredibly reliable. Except, you know, for the unacceptable corrosion failure mine experienced and BRP/Johnson’s clever-but-disingenuous liability-dodging on the issue. addthis_url = [...]
Kevin Hummel // Sep 18, 2008 at 1:23 am
I have the exact same problem with both of my 2004 Johnson 140’s– engine holder bolts in the adpater plate that have corroded, and are now allowing exhaust to leak– except mine have only 200 hours. I’d be very grateful for any advice or suggestions for a solution, and to know if anyone got any help from BRP since it is clearly a design flaw. Please email Kevin at khummel@bellsouth.net or call at 954-783-2585. Thanks!!
Pete // Oct 22, 2008 at 6:23 pm
I have the Suzuki DF115 version of this problem. My first exhaust leak was consistent with this post via the engine holder complete with stalling etc, as you described. Check Engine codes too from related emissions problems. Unfortunately at about 500 hours on the same engine the oil pan started leaking exhaust (next casting down) behind the water flushing plug. These are not corrosion problems. The problem is with the small exhast flow area through these two castings coupled with the exhaust being abruptly turned while it passes through this underisized flow duct. The exhaust has eroded a 6″ long channel-shaped path into the oil pan casting that finally poked through. With the engine disassembled to replace the oil pan its clear that I need to replace the engine holder again since the erosion has nearly worn through the same location again. Suzuki HQ has been unhelpful with this mess. If you have either of these problems make sure you have both of these locations carefully inspected during repairs. Both of these castings are expensive ($500 each) but can be replaced with the same work scope. Good luck.
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