1989 85HP Force - carb problems?

devl

Seaman
Joined
Apr 2, 2010
Messages
72
1989 Quantum bass boat with a 85HP Force motor..originally it was only firing on 2 cylinders and I traced the problem to a bad CDI....replaced that and all 3 fire now. The problem now is we went out to test it today and it was running great for the first 10-15 minutes at WOT. Then when throttled down to turn around we tried WOT again and it just kept bogging down....could barely keep the engine running in gear with very little throttle....any more it would die. Then it died off and wouldnt start. I went back to the engine and adjusted the fuel/air screws and we got it to start and idle.....it would run in gear at very low throttle again. The bottom carb when I was adjusting it made no difference...the top 2 we could hear the engine rev up or down depending on the screw adjustment. So Im fairly certain this is a carb issue but I dont know how to properly adjust the air/fuel mix or if theres another issue I should be looking at. Please help....had plans to go on a striper trip tomorrow.
 

devl

Seaman
Joined
Apr 2, 2010
Messages
72
Re: 1989 85HP Force - carb problems?

Also forgot to mention....another issue that just cropped up...before replacing the CDI box the speedometer and tach worked fine but now neither does....Im going to check the fuses tomorrow but could this possibly be related to the CDI swap?
 

NMShooter

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Mar 17, 2010
Messages
196
Re: 1989 85HP Force - carb problems?

Check your fuel line fittings. Does the fuel bulb loose its prime ? I just found that to be a problem for me today. I was trolling and it would die. I could start it in neutral, but trying to bump it into gear and it would die. My fittings on my tank are old, and I noticed that the bulb looked as though it was pulling a vacuum. When I pushed on the fitting, I heard fuel gurgling in the line as the bulb filled up.

Found the fuel bug on my boat. Now I have to figure out why it isn't charging!
 

devl

Seaman
Joined
Apr 2, 2010
Messages
72
Re: 1989 85HP Force - carb problems?

NMShooter thanks for the tip....although that wasnt the problem it was fuel line related. Turns out the line was plugged with crap near the quick connect fitting. We took the whole gas tank out (what a pain) and flushed it and replaced all the hoses. Rain started coming in today so we couldnt finish the job but hopefully tomorrow we can get it together and test it out. Thanks again NMShooter...your post got me away from the carbs and checking the lines!
 
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