Happy or Unhappy FORCE owners?

[happyzee]

Generally speaking; if you own or did own a FORCE 150 engine, were you happy with it. If not, why? If so, why?<br /><br />Color me curious..

 

[chads15]

Re: Happy or Unhappy FORCE owners?

I have a Force 150 92 and it has just do general maint. thermostat + Impeller + a water jacket gasket. i am totaly happy with mine. was sitting for 6 years. and was abused by its privious owners. and with the help of you guys and this board. its one happy motor.

 

[12Footer]

Re: Happy or Unhappy FORCE owners?

I had one briefly, but sold it. I wanted to keep it, but made an obscene profit from selling, so i did. Oh well...The more greenage to werk with when I retire and start my 'PennYan Project' I guess.<br /><br />I now own a Force 50HP,and it has been a very good, reliable engine.It let me down right after I purchased it,but that was my fault,trying it out before flushing the fuel system.<br />Since that, ok.

 

[moose211]

Re: Happy or Unhappy FORCE owners?

i have a 70hp force yr.95 i do not run it full throttle and i chang the impeller @thum every 2yrs runs grate

 

[mbb]

Re: Happy or Unhappy FORCE owners?

I sold a 91 150 with about 55 hrs on it. You dont have to ask what kind of boat it was on, they only came on one, and this was their "offshore" series.<br /><br />It cost me a powerpack ($200), starter brushes, and sea-tow ($300) in the ~4 hrs that I ran it. To be honest, I just plain didnt trust it anymore, and was also embarassed to be seen with it. (a force being towed is just too cliche')<br /><br />It was quiet, smooth, and ran great. The lower unit was undersized at only 13.25" prop dia. and couldnt take a large enough dia prop to make the boat perform adequately (not enough low rpm thrust). The motors only make 135 hp on good day too. Very overrated. The boat sucked too, so I parted with it 9 months after I bought it. I only held onto it that long because it looked very suspicious to prospective buyers to sell it 2 months later.<br /><br />After all, I discovered that the "showroom condition" boat and motor I bought had had the hull punctured and repaired in at least two places, The repair was so good, it didnt show up till several months later when gelcoat began to fade, then I looked too close and it was clear. I didnt even trust the boat to take into any kind of waves at all. I quickly buffed out the gelcoat and sold it to an unsuspecting fellow, God I felt guilty, but we each must learn these things for ourselves. At least I had asked the previous owner if he had any hull problems, leaks, etc. He had lied to me with a straight face. The guy I sold to never asked. I WOULD have told him, if he had.

 

[BSOrion]

Re: Happy or Unhappy FORCE owners?

Just two months ago I purchased a ski boat from a good friend of mine that has a ’89 Force 150. He purchased the boat new and from day one he took meticulous care in maintaining the engine. However, after only three years of moderate weekend use, the motor literally disintegrated inside. Something to do with a misaligned piston design issue (or at least that’s what the dealer told him). Fortunately for my pal, he was good friends with the service manager at the local boat dealer who installed a new upper unit with a Merc power head for an absolute bargain. Other than that one major issue, the motor has ran strong. Even after he stopped using the boat and it sat for three years (up until two months ago) the motor seems to be running great. <br /><br /> Although, since I’m writing this post I do have a question regarding the motor. Like I mentioned, the motor is running great, however I’ve noticed that after the motor is fully warmed up it tends to stall at the idle speed. Specifically when trying to dock and switching into and out of gear (which makes it especially difficult to appear like you know what your doing in front of your fellow boaters). I tend to think that it might have to do with the carburetors needing adjustment. However, I’m going to swap out the plugs next weekend and see if that makes any improvements. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this issue? I would like to hear them. Thanks.

 

[scubaman67]

Re: Happy or Unhappy FORCE owners?

BSO, Having EXACT same problem with my Force 125. Have been told that stator may be the problem since the stator has the charging coils for the ignition. I've also been told that could need link, sync, and decarb. I am in the process of replacing stator, having problems because my flywheel has developed an attitude. Hope this helps...

 

[chads15]

Re: Happy or Unhappy FORCE owners?

BSO I was having that issue lastyear. it was rare when it happend, but the last time was when I was putting it on the trailer, it was quite busy. and not a good time to act up. But anyway.. Spark plugs fixed that issue. I hope it does for you.

 

[trollhole]

Re: Happy or Unhappy FORCE owners?

Force is not to be trusted! Period. If you want piece of mind when you are out on the lake or ocean (with a force give me a break) buy something else. I own a 96 force 90 and even I will say this. I have a vhf radio, cell phone and gps. If I didn't have these I wouldn't even take it out. And I still wouldn't take it out on the ocean at least not in deep water. Unless you are a good mechanic and use strict maint. stay away!

 

[wvit100]

Re: Happy or Unhappy FORCE owners?

My boat has an '89 Force 125 on it. I haven't had any problems with it. It gets used at least every other weekend in the summer, pulling tubes and just running around the lake. I counted up last year and had used somewhere around 350 gallons of gas total for last season. It has been a good engine that I'm sure I have gotten my money out of, it is going on 15 years old.<br /><br />If you look at this board all the engines have problems so there is no guarente any of them will run forever.

 

[ewaltb]

Re: Happy or Unhappy FORCE owners?

I have a '93 120. I gives me problems here and there but which engine doesn't. I have definitely had more problems with this then a previous '87 90hp Evinrude. All together, I like the engine, but probably because I have gotten attached to it from all of the work I do on it. To answer your question, I like my Force, but you will need to take good care of any Force.

 

[Cwr]

Re: Happy or Unhappy FORCE owners?

I have a 1998 force 40 which replaced a factory defective 1996 force 40 both of which wouldn't even make good fishing reefs in my opinion.

 

[Bry21317]

Re: Happy or Unhappy FORCE owners?

I have an 88 Force 125 HP engine and it is still running perfect. This thing has never quit on me, the only problem I have had with it, was the trim unit sucks, but its working now. Everything else I have done to the engine has been maintenance, never had to do anything to this that I wouldn't have done to another engine. <br /><br />Now, I did put new Boyeson reeds in it and an Hustler Prop, and now this baby really prrrrrrrrrrs. Now I am extremeley happy with it. I was wanting more power, but now it is givine me more power, so im sticking with it till it dies. Then I will probably rebuild it. So anyone can say what they want, about the engines, but I also think it matters to how they are taken care of also. I am meticulous, about doing everything that needs to be done, before something happens to me on the water, which is why I have never had it break down, I beleive.<br /><br />This is a very simple engine, and it is very easy to work on, this is another good thing about it. It is a workhorse, and just goes, when I want it to go.<br /><br />I mainly use it for cruising around the lake, or wakeboarding. I love to go fast so about 75% of the time im wide open, so this thing gets a working. Its got about 442 hrs on it in the last two years, and I have no clue how many before I put the hour meter on it then. But i use it at least 6-8 hours a weekend, most of the time during the summer. Sometimes more than this.<br /><br />Hope this helps anyone.<br /><br />By the way I'm actually a happy force owner.<br /><br />Bryan Cox

 

[happyzee]

Re: Happy or Unhappy FORCE owners?

Boy,<br />I didn't realize there were soo many Force users on this forum. Thank you all for your opinions. I too am a Force Owner (1st Time) and agree with the one user who said it is a simple engine. I have to agree, the design and electronics make it quite straight forward to work on. I'm hoping to see many happy years using this 150. I'll let you know in a few days. At this time I am still cleaning it up and rebuilding the electronic to make it run (At this time, it does not run!)<br /><br />Thanks again all.<br /><br />Ken Z

 

[RJS]

Re: Happy or Unhappy FORCE owners?

If the Force is with you, The tow boat will be close by your side. A quote from two movies everyone knows, Star wars/ Waterworld: Luke...Don't use the Force, use the paddles!

 

[happyzee]

Re: Happy or Unhappy FORCE owners?

HeHe .... I guess Force users are open to those kinda remarks. <br /><br />Lets just hope the "Force" IS with us <br /><br />Ken

 

[RJS]

Re: Happy or Unhappy FORCE owners?

HappyZ,<br /><br />Just having some fun, I wish you good luck with your engine, in reality, most problems are a result of the owners not taking care of their engines. Take care of your engine and you wil be fine. I have been very fortunate to have very good engines that have never let me down (both Yamaha and Mercury)One exception: I did have a Ted Williams 7.5 HP, the probabilty that this engine would start was about the same as Ted's batting average. Good for the Hall of Fame, but sucks for the water.