Re: Force 125 Electrical Troubleshooting
In 1985, your ignition is almost certainly Prestolite with plastic quick-connects. Strangely, that is the system I like best. Looks neater and has more rugged wires than the terminal board ignition system. Smaller trigger quick-connects come from under the flywheel and signal the CD boxes. Larger quick-connects come from the alternator and power the CD boxes.
FIRST, CLEAN THE PLUGS! They foul very easily and can short across the surface gap without sparking. NOW: No spark on all four cylinders is too much of a coincidence. Loss of spark on one or two would indicate a bad CD box but all four indicate two bad boxes and that is MOST unusual. The ignition system is separate and self energising. Electrical problems elsewhere usually do not affect it. If the flywheel is turning fast enough and the coils on the alternator are not broken, the CD boxes will get power.
More than likely, you have a wiring problem.----You live in South Jersey, I live outside of Philly. If you absolutely can't fix it, consider coming over the Commodore Barry and up 322. Couple of hours and couple of thousand bucks and I will have it running like a champ. ---Nah! Just kidding. Even if you needed to invest a couple of hundred in electronics, your bargain engine will still be a bargain. Once you get it running well, it will give you good service as long as you don't mistreat it. And---the white Force engines just plain looked nicer than the later ones.
Now, don't cry poverty. Set your mind to the fact that you may need to invest a few bucks. You almost certainly have gone to Atlantic City. Force outboard engines are not the nickle slots. Not even the quarters. More like dollar slots. Not the high rollers like newer Merc, OMC, etc. but not cheap either. They don't come with a roll of quarters like old people on the bus. LOL.
Seriously, Check that the quick connects are making contact and no wires are broken. Check all the grounds. BE CERTAIN that the electronics mounting board is grounded to the block. It is mounted on rubber and if the ground wire from the lower corner to the bypass cover is broken, loose, or missing, no spark at all. As I continuously repeat and repeat and repeat: I like to "daisy chain" a ground wire from each grounded coil mounting screw, and each CD box to the ground terminal on the engine. This redundant ground ensures adequate grounding to the ignition system. Like sex, you can never have enough grounding.
Lastly, if all electrical seems ok, pull the flywheel and check the center magnet. Bad or weak center magnet and the triggers will not generate the pulse to signal the CD boxes--no spark on any cylinder.
