89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

[MikDee]

Ok, I've searched, & searched, and read every thing I could here about a tach not working, after many yrs, I finally get an outboard boat with a Tach, and it don't work! bummer, then to top it all off, it's a stupid odd vertical dashboard tach, I've been trying to make work, I was holding off buying one because I doubt I'll find an original to fit in the dash like this, I'll have to mount it in some ridiculous place,,, anyway, rant over,,, I read a bad rectifier can cause the tach not to work, but I think mine is fine, is it possible that it still could be the problem if the rectifier is good? my tach does zero out when I turn the ignition on, but that's it. The purple wire is connected all the way from the rectifier, thru the terminal block, and it appears to be charging the battery the best that I can tell with my voltmeter. Also, does it matter which green/yellow wire it's connected to from the stator? I'm pretty sure, I've tried both over the time I've owned this boat, about a month. I have a low speed stalling in reverse problem, and it don't sound like the motor is revving out completely at full throttle, and without a tach I can't resolve these issues, this sucks!

 

[hgmatt]

Re: 89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

I'm new to this, so please bear with me. I just installed a tachometer for my 89 Force 85 hp. When I connected the purple wire to the new tach, I found that the tach would not work, so I pull the new tach attached a wire directly to the signal terminal, then connected power and ground directly to the battery. This resulted in the tach working, also it meant that the wire connecting the terminal to the dashboard was shorting out somewhere. You might try this method, who knows it might work.

Matt

 

[dmas]

Re: 89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

Foce engines don't work with any tachometer, you need a 20 pole tachometer

 

[MikDee]

Re: 89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

Thanks Matt, but I don't think that's the case here, my tach "powers up" and zero's out when I turn on the ignition, so I'd guess it's getting power.

 

[hgmatt]

Re: 89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

I'm not suggesting that it doesn't get power, all that is needed to get power is to be connected from the fuse box to the tach and back to the ground. I'm suggesting that the purple signal wire (runs from the terminal on the motor to the dashboard) may be shorted out somewhere. I suggest trying it because its an easy way to eliminate a shorted out wire.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: 89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

Tachs go bad over the years (my 88 125 sometimes needs a bang on it to read right)
I've seen some of those tachs on Ebay...just search Force Tachometer..

 

[mtnlimo]

Re: 89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

Yes search e bay under faria tachometer.. I saw a few of them yesterday for around 30 bucks.. Got a new one (different style for 40 bucks).. Hope this helps

 

[MikDee]

Re: 89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

I have an idea as to where to get a tach, just was trying to fix mine if possible, otherwise I have to butcher the dash I guess, to make the a new tach fit,,, my original tach is rectangular, not round, what where they thinking?

Matt I'd need about 12ft of wire to bring the purple wire terminal to my old tach in the dash, just to test it, or remove it from the dash, to bring it back to the motor.

My question was, does anyone know if my rectifier is good, is it possible it's still not giving signal to the tach?

 

[QuadManiac]

Re: 89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

The tach gets the signal from before the rectifier, from the stator itself. So tach not working is not necessarily an indication of bad rectifier. Is the charging system working? If so, rectifier is fine. If it's not, then the tach failure could be related. Bad rectifier or bad charging winding/s in the stator.

Good Luck!

 

[hgmatt]

Re: 89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

Take your pick, I brought the tach to the terminal, but i was installing a new one, so it was easy (didn't have one before). In your situation, it might be easier to use 12' of wire to connect the tach because all you would need to disconnect would be the purple signal wire. I had no power/ground wires for the tach under my dash, so I rigged up a couple that would work with the battery & the terminal on the motor. It worked when the other wire wouldn't. Hope it helps.

 

[QuadManiac]

Re: 89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

Before you try any rewiring, take an ohmmeter with a long wire extension on one lead and see if there's continuity between the tach signal input and the tach connection at the motor.

 

[MikDee]

Re: 89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

Ok, Finally got out for a ride yesterday, my 4th with this boat, and aside from the annnoying constant stalling going into gear, although it idles ok in neutral, and restarts easy, it ran fairly good to 40 trimmed out, But I noticed the ammeter never got above approx. 12.5 volts??? that was the figure I got in my driveway previously on my Voltmeter, on high idle in neutral, I figured it would do better under power, especially at WOT? but no, It seems a bit low to me? I wonder if my rectifier really is bad?

This 19' Capri Skiboat is as low, & light as a Cobra, yet more stable at rest then my son's regular 19' Capri of the same year.

 

[QuadManiac]

Re: 89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

Sure sounds like a bad charging coil in the stator or a shorted diode in the rectifer (you don't have a regulator) causing both tach failure and no charging.

Put a voltmeter (AC, set to higher than 20 volts) across the two stator connections to the rectifier. Measure voltage from idle to, say, 1500 RPM. You should see close to 20VAC at least by 1500RPM.

 

[MikDee]

Re: 89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

Sure sounds like a bad charging coil in the stator or a shorted diode in the rectifer (you don't have a regulator) causing both tach failure and no charging.

Put a voltmeter (AC, set to higher than 20 volts) across the two stator connections to the rectifier. Measure voltage from idle to, say, 1500 RPM. You should see close to 20VAC at least by 1500RPM.

I'll have to try this Quad, once the rain stops? I picked up a cheap universal bridge rectifier from radio shack, on a tip from a member on another post here. I had to adapt the terminals for screws, then I wired it in, and tried it yesterday. I noticed no difference in the charging rate according to the ammeter, and still the tach did not work, so I took it off, and put my original rectifier right back as it was. In desperation, I ordered a new faria tach off e-bay last night, hopefully that will fix my problem.

 

[QuadManiac]

Re: 89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

If it's the stator, the new tach won't work either. If you didn't see charging with the jury rigged bridge rectifier, I suspect it IS the stator. Did you measure a net charge with the ammeter?

Good Luck!

 

[Scaaty]

Re: 89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

Stator probably junk..9 out of 10 of those motars (have an 88) do down the line..well known prob

 

[MikDee]

Re: 89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

I was told by the dealer, when the boat came in it didn't run, the stator and whatever else it needed, was replaced just before I got it. I will measure the AC volts tomorrow, now that the rain stopped.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: 89' Force 125hp, Tach don't work?

Go back to square one. Cheap digital volt meter..stick it on the battery. check voltage. start the motor, and a slight rev..meter moves, OK... it don't, ya have a electrical prob