I need some help!!! I know this has happened to fellow Force owners! O'K I will keep this short, sweet, and detailed. Recently purchase a pontoon with force 120 propulsion (live in Florida). Ran great at purchase. Ran great on maiden voyage. 2nd time out I notice rough Idle, and bogged down once at WOT. 3rd day out really rough idle, almost impossible to maneuver at low speeds. Had to put into neutral, rev it up, and then quick shift into gear. One time when quick shifting into gear, it died & got stuck in reverse (would not move at gear shifter). I had to raise tilt, and manually (with effort) turn the prop, it popped and I was able to shift normally (forward, neutral, reverse). I pulled the plugs, and cleaned them off. It ran a little better, but still could not do low speeds (constantly died at idle -real annoying). Finally got to the boat ramp & pulled it out of the water. I talked to fellow boat owners who had multiple ideas. As a result I did the following: Replaced the plugs, conducted compression check (readings as follows: 165, 170, 180, 170), added a fuel/water separator (the boat did not have one), replaced primer bulb, and hose, replaced fuel filter (with new aftermarket see through glass type), replaced lower unit gear oil, added quick silver quickleen, and adjusted idle screw (1/2 turn clockwise). After all this, I fired it up in the driveway (with water bridal of course), and she purred like a kitten, great idle (1000 rpms), and great response. I noticed gas dripping from the top carb onto the bottom carb, but it was mainly at idle. I also notice a rattling sound (sort of like tumbling marbles) while in neutral, but went away when placed in gear. I took it out yesterday, and this is how it went: Dropped her in the water, fired up with no problem, tooled out past the low speed marker, and opened up the throttle. It jumped right out of the water - very strong with quick plane. Got up to about 5000 rpm, and she bogged down, I backed off, and she idled great. Hit the throttle again, and she bogged down again. I limped over to a buddy's dock nearby, and sat there and thought about it. I came to the conclusion that she was starving for fuel. I checked the primer bulb and it was soft, then I took the newly added fuel/water out of the loop. I moved away from the dock and tried it again. Same thing (bogged down) plus poor idle. Went back to dock and pulled the cover, and she perked right up. I decided to take her out while the cover was off. She ran fine, but noticed gas dripping from top carb. I put the cover back on, and she ran like crap. Took cover back off and she ran fine again. I had my wife steer, so I could watch the motor. I told her to increase speed, and noticed that as she increased speed the amount of fuel in the see through filter decreased, and finally dissapeared, resulting in bogging down. As speed was decreased, the fuel in filter increased. The fuel in the filter would stay stable around 2000 rpms. This makes me to believe that it is a fuel delivery issue. I have the following concerns: 1) Can I have a fuel/water separator & filter at the same time? 2) Could the aftermarket fuel filter have too much resistance? 3) Could the fuel pump diaphragm, or pump itself be going bad? 4) When you adjust the idle screw, should you adjust the shift linkage as well? if so, how do you adjust shift linkage? 5) Is the tumbling marble sound in the gearing, or is it shift linkage adjustment? 6) Could the poor performance with the cover on, be the result of gases building up from the leak causing improper fuel to air mixture? 7) Do I need to rebuild to carburetors? 8) Do I need to bite the bullet and pay the big bucks for marine mechanic? I am very mechanically inclined, and I do not mind tinkering, but time is an issue with me! Any input to this post would be greatly appeciated! I have ready quite a few posts that are somewhat relative, but not quite the same. Please help!!!!!!
Thanks,
Gone4two
Thanks,
Gone4two
