Force 125 ignitions problems

buda

Seaman
Joined
May 6, 2008
Messages
51
Can anybody help. I have a 1989 Force 125 HP. I left Florida in April of 2008 heading back to Indiana and the motor was running fine when i left. About 2 weeks ago i took it to the lake and it would not start. There was no fire from any cylinder. I checked the wiring and it was fine. I change the stator and the trigger assy and still not firing. How can you check the pack without a DVA meter. This don;t make any sense to me. Any help would be appricated

Thanks Buda
 

maxum247

Lieutenant
Joined
Sep 18, 2007
Messages
1,363
Re: Force 125 ignitions problems

First thing I'd do is make sure the battery is fully charged and clean the battery post and cable ends.
While the cables are off, clean and tighten cable connects on the starter solenoid mounted in the engine cowling.
Check all ground wires and tighten them, and any other wires on the motor. Hook it up and see if you now have fire.
If not it may be time to take another look at the stator and trigger wiring just to make sure that a wire didn't get hooked in the wrong place. Good Luck!
 

pnwboat

Rear Admiral
Joined
Oct 8, 2007
Messages
4,251
Re: Force 125 ignitions problems

You didn't mention checking it, but there may be a problem with your Kill Switch circuit. The little button on your dash that you have to put the little clip on. It shuts down the CD modules that fire the coils.
 

buda

Seaman
Joined
May 6, 2008
Messages
51
Re: Force 125 ignitions problems

First thing I'd do is make sure the battery is fully charged and clean the battery post and cable ends.
While the cables are off, clean and tighten cable connects on the starter solenoid mounted in the engine cowling.
Check all ground wires and tighten them, and any other wires on the motor. Hook it up and see if you now have fire.
If not it may be time to take another look at the stator and trigger wiring just to make sure that a wire didn't get hooked in the wrong place. Good Luck!

Today i cleaned all the connections,battery cables and changed some wire connections that was loose. Rrechecked wiring on CD'S ,trigger assy. and stator and looks alright to me but what do i know. Used a jumber wire across the landyard switch to see if it would fire, still not firing. I've checked the ignition it looks ok. I thing i'm going to have some mechanic to look at it. Thank you for your input i realy appricate it

BUDA
 

buda

Seaman
Joined
May 6, 2008
Messages
51
Re: Force 125 ignitions problems

You didn't mention checking it, but there may be a problem with your Kill Switch circuit. The little button on your dash that you have to put the little clip on. It shuts down the CD modules that fire the coils.

Yes i checked it,i used a jumber across the 2 white wires to bypass the switch and it still won't fire. This thing has gotten me talking to myself
Thanks for your input'much appricated
BUDA
 

pnwboat

Rear Admiral
Joined
Oct 8, 2007
Messages
4,251
Re: Force 125 ignitions problems

Jumpering the kill switch enables the kill switch function. The Kill switch is normally "open" with the lanyard clip on it. When you pull the lanyard clip off, it closes the contacts and shorts the ignition circuit to ground killing the voltage to the CD modules/coils.

Look on the terminal strip in the port side o the motor by the starter. I believe the third terminal down there should be 3 white wires. Later models have Black w/yellow stripes. With the ignition switch in the on position, not start, you should read very high resistance between the terminal and the block (ground). With the ignition switch in the off position, you should read continuity (short) between the terminal and block (ground). If this checks out, then your kill circuit is functioning normally. If not then you have a problem in the kill switch wiring, or ignition switch. Something is probably shorted to ground.


To do a quick check of the CD Modules you use the same wires. Pull the plug wires off of the plugs so the engine doesn't accidentally start and ground them to the block. Look at the three white wires (Black w/yellow stipe on later model). Two go across the top of the motor, one to each of the two CD boxes. Disconnect these two wires and crank the engine like you are trying to start it. Check for spark at the same time you're cranking on the plug wires. If nothing, then the problem is probably somewhere else, not the modules. If you do get spark, then one of the CD modules may be bad. A bad CD module that is actually working, can prevent a good one from firing. The best way to check them though is with a DVA meter.
 

buda

Seaman
Joined
May 6, 2008
Messages
51
Re: Force 125 ignitions problems

I Check The The Three Wires With The Ignition On No Resitance And No Continuty. The Day Before I Checked The Yellow & Blue Wires On The Stator And Had About 300 Ohms. Later I Had Raised And Lowered The Motor To Check The Trim &tilt. The Next Day As I Was Rechecking Everything . I Checked The Same Two Wires The Yellow And Blue And This Time It Checked (0) Nothing. I Going To Check The Wiring Harness By The Boat Motor For A Bad Wire Or Short. I Also Ordered A Dva Adapter For My Multimeter.

Thanks For The Help
Buda
 

buda

Seaman
Joined
May 6, 2008
Messages
51
Re: Force 125 ignitions problems

I want to thank everybody for thier input. Today i finely go it running. It was in the wiring with the CD PACKS and the COILS after going over them for the third time. I had a couple of connections that i missed and i crimped the plug-ins that go to the coil and cd,s the male and female must hace been loose.After i crimped the female connections and made them tigher and repaired a ground wire it fired right up. So make sure you double check your wiring. That was the third time i went over the wiring. Thanks Buda
 

pnwboat

Rear Admiral
Joined
Oct 8, 2007
Messages
4,251
Re: Force 125 ignitions problems

Great to hear that you got it going. It's not uncommon for the crimp connections to loose contact, especiall on the terminal block that the stator and CD modules are connected to. Sometime it's difficult to tell because they use a piece of heat shrink to protect the crimp. Hides the problem. I took all of mine apart and soldered on new spade lug connectors with heat shrink.
 

buda

Seaman
Joined
May 6, 2008
Messages
51
Re: Force 125 ignitions problems

I took out to the lake today and it was ideling a little rough. I adjusted the carbs. and set the timing. The best it would do was about 24 MPH. Sitting in neutral it would lope every now and then. I'll run it this way for a while and see what happens.
Thanks everybody
Buda
 
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