1987 Force 85 Horse

[cordell]

Hello I just brought home a 1987 Force 85 horse. I got it for what I feel is a good price $100 it runs though needs impeller change. It shifted into gear and I drained a bit of gear oil to search for metal and found none so far. I found the sticky for impeller change so I am not asking any questions I would really love some feedback on these motors, Force in general doesn't have to be the same as mine. Do they run good after long periods, stuff like that. I have always owned Johnson/Evinrude this is my first force motor. Thanks in advance for your help!

cordell

 

[azlakes]

Re: 1987 Force 85 Horse

... first you got a smoking price. yup change that impeller. it doesn't sound like your first O/B so get a Force manual(Clymers is fine) and get the PM done to it like any other older O/B.

you'll find them pretty simple to work on and parts are still out there. i included a couple threads that have surfaced on Force. also a thread on the history of the Force brand(good read).

lastly and probably least important, Force has a pretty good sounding low roar when under way..

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=220620&highlight=usmarine

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=13142&highlight=usmarine

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=231821&highlight=westbend

have fun,
g-luck

 

[cordell]

Re: 1987 Force 85 Horse

Thanks for the info..they were all good reads! I have been going over thread after thread trying to learn as much as I can about Force. I did the impeller this morning and now have water! I think the reason I got this cheap was the guy knew about impeller change and said he had just done it. True he had but I got NO water when I brought it home, I am thinking he didnt line the tube up with housing. He also said the warning alarm went off when he took it out, he had no water. The trip was short and he came in and put it up for sale, I lucked out and replied first to the craigslist add Anyway does anybody have any idea where to tighten down the motor from steering so loose? I looked around while doing the impeller and didnt see anything that jumped out at me. I also got a can of sea foam, this can is good for 8 gallons, my tank is 5 gallons will it be OK to add the whole can to the tank of 5?

Thanks
cordell

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: 1987 Force 85 Horse

Welcome to the forum Cordell. Its good to have another Force user pitching in. Hopefully you'll have a good experience with it. I'm new to the Force stuff myself ('90/90hp) so I'm learning as I go as well. There are some very, very knowledgeable people in this forum. With their help you will probably overcome any problem you encounter.
Personally as far as the Force motors go...I'm happy. Mine is 18 years old and it still seems to run very well. It does not seem to be cutting edge compared to some other outboards but as AZ said its simple and straight forward. As for power....seems to be fine. It pushes my 18'-er in the upper 30's (15 pitch prop) which seems to be on par with most 90hp/18' combo's...so no complaints, knock on wood.
As for parts for it.....browse ebay and you will find just about anything you might possibly need. If you don't find it there people within Forum may have something available to offer up. Get a manual and read up as much as you can and perhaps do a compression test on your motor before you get too far along.
Good luck and welcome aboard.
BP