1988 Force Gamefisher 9.9 Issues

[David.T]

Ok, so I just got my very first boat and the motor isn't running right. I'm kind of stumped at this point after I've tried a few things....here's what I did so far:

First try: Motor wouldn't run for more than a few minutes when in drive. It ran in a bucket of water in neutral just fine. Because the boat sat for a while without being run I started at the carb. I took the fuel line out of the gas tank and ran carb cleaner straight into the motor for 10 or 15 minutes. That definitely made the motor run better. I took it out for a test drive and quickly found out that wasn't the issue. It ran for a few minutes and then died out again.

Second try: This time it felt like the motor was overheating when it was dying, so I figured I'd take the lower unit off and see what the water pump and impellar looked like even though the previous owner said he replaced both of those things. Sure enough the water pump was shot. It was in pretty rough shape. The pump itself had dents, dings and small holes on the sides and the bottom where you put the impellar at. The pump's seal and the water line seal were both melted pretty badly. The impellar wasn't in the greatest shape either, but did look like it had probably been changed sort-of recently. So, just in case I bought all three of those and replaced them.

I ran the motor in a garbage can for 15 or 20 minutes and it ran strong. After 15 minutes or so you could put your hand directly on the head and it was just warm, so the water pump is now definitely working. So, me and a buddy took it out on a nearby lake today to test it out. It ran great for a while, then felt like it was losing some power. I could be wrong, but it felt like it to me, so I put the motor in neutral to cool it down (in drive, it seems water doesn't come out of the pee holes as strong as when it's in neutral). I then gave it a minute or two to cool down and water was peeing pretty good so I figured I'd run it again. It ran for a few more minutes until I backed off a little when I was getting to the no-wake zone and the motor died.

After that we messed with it for a while and it would start and then die after a minute or two when the idol got low or I put it in gear...seems to me like the idol has to be adjusted maybe? Or maybe the carb needs to be thoroughly cleaned instead of just what I did (running carb cleaner into the motor)? I'm not really sure what to do at this point. If anyone is familiar with what could be going on I'd really appreciate the tips. Thanks!

 

[pnwboat]

Re: 1988 Force Gamefisher 9.9 Issues

Well looks like you've solved one problem...the over heating. First thing you want to do is to do a compression check and check the spark and change the spark plugs if you haven't already done so. Good compression is really important for the motor to run properly.

Just a word of caution....running the motor on straight carburetor cleaner is not the best thing to do. All 2 stroke motors need oil mixed in the fuel for lubrication to the crankshaft bearings, rod bearings etc. Same thing applies to using starting fluid on a 2 stoke motor. No lubrication.

You should have a primer bulb on the fuel line to the motor. It should get good and firm after squeezing it 4 or 5 times. If not, then the needle valve in the carburetor is not shutting off the fuel supply to the carb like it should. This will eventually flood the motor.
It's probably a good idea to take the carburetor apart anyways to really check it out since you don't know it's history. It's OK to use carburetor cleaner to clean out the jets and small passages in the carb while it's apart. Gasket set and needle valve for this carb is less than $15.

Also take a look at the fuel pump diaphragm. If it's got a hole in it, or it's become stiff from age or ethanol in the fuel nowadays, it won't work like it should.

 

[David.T]

Re: 1988 Force Gamefisher 9.9 Issues

Thanks pnw. That's my next move I guess, is to take the carb apart. I heard it wasn't good to run the cleaner straight through it, but a guy I trusted said it should be ok to run it for a few minutes, which is all we did...hopefully we didn't mess anything up...uggghhhh.

I am also going to change out the fuel line. I bought some new line today because the line that's on there now is hard and is probably really old...

I'd like to replace the whole gas tank, line and connections, I'm just sort of broke right now from buying the boat and Christmas, so I'm trying to get it running now, then as money comes in I'll start replacing things that look old or might need attention

 

[barrynfla]

Re: 1988 Force Gamefisher 9.9 Issues

Good luck, Dave.