your opinion of a 93 120hp force?

[duff]

I am considering replacing my old motor 1979 80hp merc. found a much newer motor but i no nothing about them. i know the increase in hp woll be the biggest differance to me but how dependable are they what are the pros and cons. I know you can not compare the 2 motors that is why i want your opinions.


thanks in advance

duff

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: your opinion of a 93 120hp force?

duff, force never conveted their hp ratings to the prop like the rest of the market. so it is not a 120 like a merc or johnny/rude. more like a 100hp at the prop, it will be an increase in power. also the engines are like the RED HEADED STEP CHILD. force started by Marine Power, went thru several changes in owner ship. built as simple engines, but are noted for many problems. Mercury finally ended up with them, they use some Merc. parts, imho, i would go with whats being supported by the manufacturers, the main line engines. i resently bought a project boat, with a 50 force, and just parted the engine out,

 

[steelespike]

Re: your opinion of a 93 120hp force?

I would stick with a more mainline motor.Merc is not doing any new parts support unless it is shared with Merc.Aftermarket parts a limited.The NAPA marine products catalog has about 13 pages of Chrysler/Force parts and about about 80 pages of E/J parts.dating back to the 50s.

 

[duff]

Re: your opinion of a 93 120hp force?

lack of part support is good enough for me. thanks for the inputs. I will just keep working on my old merc till i find a newer motor that fits my budget or my budget grows a little.

thanks duff

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: your opinion of a 93 120hp force?

good move, imho

 

[croSSed]

Re: your opinion of a 93 120hp force?

It would be a great boat anchor.

d

Seriously, because of the lack of parts support out there, these things can fetch quite a bit of money on eBay parted out. But, you have to take it apart. They sell pretty cheaply as a complete, "running" motor.

TG

 

[TOHATSU GURU]

Re: your opinion of a 93 120hp force?

Since 1988 all outboards sold in the U.S. are prop rated hp. Having said that, Force, including the Mercury updated models, were/are dogs compared to virtually everything else with the same hp label. Buying a 11 year old dog would probably not be the most cost effective choice.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: your opinion of a 93 120hp force?

Dont do it !!!! I have a few friends that have Force motors...........in the back of the garage and not on the boat !!!!

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: your opinion of a 93 120hp force?

You Know? There are actually some of us gluttons for punishment out there who actually like Chrysler/ Force engines. I do, of course, prefer the pre Mercury years. I have about 15 and am always looking for more. Wife hates it but as I tell her: "you buy jewelry, I buy engines."

 

[Scaaty]

Re: your opinion of a 93 120hp force?

Like any engine, it depends how it was treated. I have a 1988 125 Force on one of my boats, and after an upgrade of a new Stator (which were known to be no good) and a snapped driveshaft (salt water corroded and also known problem), by 93 they had Merc Stators and 2 piece driveshafts. I know people here with 120's on Bayliner center consoles that go 10 miles out in the ocean with no problem. Everyone has an opinion, but I like someone that has first hand experience. Rumors get started, and it snowballs into ALL are junk, and no parts available. I'm calling BS, and still waiting for my motor to quit, but it won't. I'll also state the the old Chrysler/Force not worth a purchase unless 91 up. I see no problem a 93 IF its a good price, and will be a hell of a lot faster than the Merc 80 (which if left to me, I would rebuild it while using the Force)

 

[Texasmark]

Re: your opinion of a 93 120hp force?

RUN!

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: your opinion of a 93 120hp force?

The boat anchor idea is about all I would use one for. However it is much heavier and takes up more space than say a good danforth. I have a 125 Force on a boat right now that will soon become parts on eBay.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: your opinion of a 93 120hp force?

The boat anchor idea is about all I would use one for. However it is much heavier and takes up more space than say a good danforth. I have a 125 Force on a boat right now that will soon become parts on eBay.

He's not asking about the 125hp. He's talking about a 93 120, which are 100% better than the older 125's, which were 100% better than the old white Chryslers

 

[phatmanmike]

Re: your opinion of a 93 120hp force?

dude, i wouldnt even want that thing in my garage, id run. hmm, ever wonder why they went outa business?

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: your opinion of a 93 120hp force?

They went out of business because Chrysler was forced to sell the outboard line when Lee Iococca engineered the government bail out of Chrysler Corp. Then, after Mercury bought out the Force line they got rid of it because they already had an entry level engine called Mariner. And it was not economical to re-engineer the Force engine line to meet new stringent emissions regulations. There was no major problem with the basic engineering of these engines. And while I'm on a rant, Look at the other threads to see how many posts there are for Merc, JohnnyRude Yammy and other engine's problems. Force is no better or worse.

 

[phatmanmike]

Re: your opinion of a 93 120hp force?

ive owned forces. i have worked on them, ive tried locating parts. you go get one, ill stick with what i got.

force was an entry( the cheapest) level motor that was usually sold to people who didn't wanna spend a lot of money on boating, repairs, and especially maintenance.

they were usually sold on bayliners, another entry item, but ive seen them on prolines and wellcrafts, and i even saw a sportcraft cat-a-maran with twin 90's.

if certain people like them thats fine, but i wont go near them anymore. i wont work on them, and i wont drive one.

i agree that the merc versions were better than the older chrysler versions, but lots of parts are still NLA. no matter which "version" you have. the electronics on them and the trim systems were notorious for failing. and with no replacements other than used, what are you gonna do.

have fun, go fishing.

mike

the topic was asking my opinion and there ya have it.

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: your opinion of a 93 120hp force?

I believe that Bayliner is still plagued by a bad reputation they got from using Force motors. Everywhere you went you saw broken down Bayliners. That's hard to recover from. I've been out of the commercial towing business for many years but I can tell you that Force motor owners were by FAR our most frequent customers. I would say Merc was a distant second, followed closely by OMC. I've always wanted a Yamaha on my boat because they almost never broke down. This was late 80's to mid 90's for reference. You never saw Honda's the way you do today.