96 120hp reed switch questions

[tykim717]

kept having problems with the motor stalling when shifting from neutral into gear. also at times, would have problems starting. so took her in to get looked at. told me that reed switches were cracked on one of the cylinders. so, they replaced it along with tune up and everything. so the stalling problem seemed to have gone away. yell...that was 2 months ago and i must have put approx. 40hrs on her and i'm seeing similar symptoms. i also went through a box of old parts and supplies i got from the previous owner and found some more broken reed switches that he replaced at some time.

any ideas what might be causing these reed switches to break? is something else possibly causing this? thanks in advance.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: 96 120hp reed switch questions

You are writing "reed switches." I believe you mean reed petals.

Later Force engines were known to break reeds. After Mercury switched reed types, they were more responsive but less reliable. For around 125 bucks, you can try Boyeson reeds. Or you can try switching back to the earlier Force reeds. For earlier reeds you will need the old style V-blocks, the reeds, and possibly the reed V-block mounting plate. Boyeson will screw up to the V-blocks you have.

With Boyeson reeds you may see a slight increase in power or you may not. With the old style reeds you will see a slight decrease in power. Note that Boyeson reeds are plastic. While you may get a long service life from them, they were only meant to last several seasons.

Or, of course, you can continue to replace stock reed petals as they break.