1996 Force 90, worth fixing?

[biederboat]

This is a follow-up to an earlier post, now that I have more info. Fortunately this is a case where I have lost nothing and might gain something. I bought a boat with this motor (96 Force 90 HP) knowing it had problems (frozen block). I intended to immediately sell it as a re-builder but on a whim I rapped on the flywheel with a punch & hammer (squirting oil into plug holes), it broke loose. Top & bottom cyls have good compression, 140. Middle has only 25. As suggested on the prevous post, I took the head off and sure enough, broken head gasket on middle cylinder (into the cooling circuit). Aside from the bad gasket, it has obviously rusted the top of the cylinder bore a bit, but the main part of the bore looks okay. I don't want to put a bunch of time into something worthless but how likely is it that I could take some steel wool & clean the cylinder bore, put a new head gasket in and have a running motor? Did the water pasting through likely cause some other damage? The motor turns okay by hand, doesn't make any grinding noises but seems a bit stiff in certain spots.

Am I wasting my time? I know Force motors have a bad reputation.

Thanks,
Biederboat

 

[roscoe]

Re: 1996 Force 90, worth fixing?

There's a good chance it could be fine.
Depends on how long it was run in that condition.

Shouldn't take long to clean it a little and put in a new gasket.

When you get it running, spray a bunch of fogging oil into it and let it sit a while.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[JUSTINTIME]

Re: 1996 Force 90, worth fixing?

just like Roscoe said

rebuild that puppy
2 strokes are hard working machines

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: 1996 Force 90, worth fixing?

I had a 140 with the same problem. If the rust is light and hasn't pitted the cylinder, you don't even need to take it apart. Just clean out the rust and any grit, oil and reassemble and run. It should be happy. My 140 was.
If rust has pitted the Cylinder, The engine will run, but poorly. You will need to disassemble the engine, bore out the cylinder to 010, 020, or 030, (whichever it needs) and buy a matching piston from WISECO. Don't worry, these pistons are matched to factory weights and you can replace only one. Boring at a machine shop should cost about $65 and the piston costs about $90. The only special tool you need is a flywheel puller. You can do it yourself.