Trying to get Max Rpms out of 88 Force 125

[Bry21317]

Ok, <br />I have now gotten my boat back and she is running great. Just not as high in the RPM range as I used to have it. I Can get it up to about 4300rpms, but I used to have this thing tweaked out to 5000 RPMS. <br /> <br />I got it back from the shop, so they probably set everything to exactly stock is my guess, and I have Boyeson reeds in this thing. <br /> <br />I have a 17 pitch Hustler Prop, CMC PT-130 Jackplate, to replace the crappy T/T on the Force that always give you problems. I have the NGK BUHW plugs in the boat. <br /> <br />I think right now, the Air mixture screws are at 1.25 turns out, didn't have time witht he family on the boat to do any real tweaking this weekend. First time to get it on the water, since I got the carbs repaired. <br /> <br />She does run great now, but misses a little bit on the top end. I did put the larger jet in the Top carb also, changed it from a .094 to .1015 for my alititude. <br /> <br />It was running the 5k rpms in the past with the Smaller Jet in the Top Carb. Would this have had any effect on this? <br /> <br />The Tach is corect, it was specially ordered from Beade, for this exact engine. They had to make some changes to the Tach for it to work on this Engine. <br /> <br />Thanks, <br />Bryan

 

[Bry21317]

Re: Trying to get Max Rpms out of 88 Force 125

One other thing, throttle plates open perfectly flat at WOT on both Carbs.<br /><br />Bryan

 

[Bry21317]

Re: Trying to get Max Rpms out of 88 Force 125

I checked the plugs last night and they were a little wet, so I leaned out the engine some. The top 2 plugs were more wet than the bottom 2. I also ran some Deep Creep Decarb through the engine. I will try this and see what happens when I get it back out to the lake.<br /><br />Thanks for all the help.<br /><br />Bryan

 

[RRitt]

Re: Trying to get Max Rpms out of 88 Force 125

i was reading in another iboats forum that chrysler engines do somethng called "cold sneezing". I have no idea what it means but the discussion was regarding reed valves. whatever "cold sneezing" means it is apparently very hard on reed valves. the final concensus amoung the two leading disussionists was that composite reed valves would have a limited lifespan on force engines. Putting two plus two together, I expect this is somehow linked to why the mercury reed valves from 1991 forward are so failure prone. <br /><br />In another thread you mentioned that you replaced your chrysler reeds with boyesen. I wonder how old they are? Judging by the number of blown powerheads on ebay, the merc reeds seem to fail in the 7-10 year timeframe. I guess for the average boater this is 300-400 hours.<br /><br />If you can't tweak your engine to "just right" then it might be worth considering. I never really fully understood your response, but I just got an e-mail back from boyesen. that $100 price includes all the reeds for an entire engine. Given your glowing review of power improvement, I'm seriously considering putting new boyesens into my three year maintenance rotation. <br /><br />Did you get better gas mileage too?<br /><br />Did it make any difference in the carb noise?

 

[imported_LakeRunner]

Re: Trying to get Max Rpms out of 88 Force 125

Will Chrysler ever do a Hemi for boats? Just think, a 360 HP Force engine!

 

[RRitt]

Re: Trying to get Max Rpms out of 88 Force 125

i'm still wishing I could figure out how to rig up a briggs & stratton lawn mower engine. Just think, you hit the garage sales and get a new engine every year for less than the cost of an impeller.

 

[imported_LakeRunner]

Re: Trying to get Max Rpms out of 88 Force 125

I think they call those "kickers"!

 

[RRitt]

Re: Trying to get Max Rpms out of 88 Force 125

I have often thought that my riding mower engine would make the perfect boat motor for a 12-15 footer. It always seemed like there should be a way to hook it up with a go cart clutch or something. and northern hydraulics used to have them for under $300.<br /><br />So ... an 18hp four stroke outboard ... with a life expectancy of 1000hours ... that got about 12miles per gallon ... that was air cooled and never needed maintenance .... with complete engine replacements at $300ish each.<br /><br />I've always wondered why no one sells a motor leg designed for strapping on a standard B&S engine.<br /><br />If it was reasonably priced then I'd buy one and start looking for a motorless pontoon.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Trying to get Max Rpms out of 88 Force 125

RRitt, its been done, not too hard, but noisy as all heck.<br /><br />All you need is a lower unit and a transom bracket.<br />And an adaptor plate to mount the engine on.<br />And either a way to mount the fuel tank higher than the engine, or a fuel pump of some sort.<br />And a tiller/throttle control.<br />And some super earplugs.

 

[Bry21317]

Re: Trying to get Max Rpms out of 88 Force 125

<br />I was reading in another iboats forum that chrysler engines do somethng called "cold sneezing". I have no idea what it means but the discussion was regarding reed valves. whatever "cold sneezing" means it is apparently very hard on reed valves. the final concensus amoung the two leading disussionists was that composite reed valves would have a limited lifespan on force engines. Putting two plus two together, I expect this is somehow linked to why the mercury reed valves from 1991 forward are so failure prone. <br /><br />In another thread you mentioned that you replaced your chrysler reeds with boyesen. I wonder how old they are? Judging by the number of blown powerheads on ebay, the merc reeds seem to fail in the 7-10 year timeframe. I guess for the average boater this is 300-400 hours.<br /><br />If you can't tweak your engine to "just right" then it might be worth considering. I never really fully understood your response, but I just got an e-mail back from boyesen. that $100 price includes all the reeds for an entire engine. Given your glowing review of power improvement, I'm seriously considering putting new boyesens into my three year maintenance rotation.

My Hour meter, which I put on about 4 years ago, now states 444hrs, lol. And the boat has sat for the last 2 years, pretty much without touching the water. I have also had the Reeds on since I put this Tach/Hour meter on, so that should give you some type of estimate as to how much they have run. Never had a problem. I will replace them this season though, just to be on the safe side. Since they have been used alot.<br /><br />I put about 35 hours on the engine just in april, and that was mainly creeping around working on it, trying to get it to run strong.<br /><br />Did you get better gas mileage too?<br />This boat has always given me pretty good gas mileage. I can normally run it for about 12-16 hours of hard running, skiing wakeboarding on a tank of gas. Which is about 25 gallons.<br /><br />Did it make any difference in the carb noise? <br /><br />I have never really noticed any noise in the Carbs.<br /><br />I think the Sneezing that you are talking about is the "Lean Caughing or Sneezing" that people talk about. I have never had this happen on my engine. It seems this is a backfire through the Carbs/Reed plate and this can burn the carbon reeds. I think this is why Boyesen tells you to keep the engine a little richer than normal. On my setup I have found that if I run it a little lean, not much, but a little more than stock, close to about 2 turns out for the Mixture screw instead of 1 1/2 out. I think this is where mine runs the best. But I have never had it do this sneezing that I have also read about. I will find out what it runs the best at when I get it back on the water again.<br /><br />These things definetly give the boat alot more power, or at least on this Force 125, that didn't have all that much power to begin with. This is the one thing other than the Hustler 17 pitch prop that I put on that has given me the biggest Increase in acceleration.<br /><br />Thanks,<br />Bryan

 

[RRitt]

Re: Trying to get Max Rpms out of 88 Force 125

2 gallons per hour?<br /><br />wow.<br /><br />did you get that before the reeds?<br /><br />It takes me about 1:10 each way to get to the reefs. 5 minutes of slow idle in canal, 30 minutes of fast idle through manatee zones, and 30-40 minutes of running. that's about 50 miles on 15 gallons.<br /><br />your desription sounds like 300 miles on 25 gallons. jeesh. I wish. I could make it to mexico with that kind of gas mileage.

 

[Bry21317]

Re: Trying to get Max Rpms out of 88 Force 125

Rritt,<br />This boat always seemed to get good gas mileage. I don't have any hard distance, as I only use it as a Lake boat, not as you do down in Florida. So I also don't have much of a current against me or with me, or any waves other than Wakes from other boats. Not sure if this would make a difference or not. <br /><br />Wow, I doubt that thing gets 300 miles, but I don't know. I did run alot this past weekend, ont he boat from 11am to 7 pm, had it beached for probably 2.5 hours all day, if that much. I put 17.5 gallons in it, and that got it up to about 3/4 or just over and its still above 1/2 closer to the bottom of 3/4. So for my use it does do pretty good, now I was not running hard that day, or not much due to wife and kids were out with me.<br /><br />Bryan

 

[imported_LakeRunner]

Re: Trying to get Max Rpms out of 88 Force 125

I run three 6 gallon tanks which get me about one trip up and back Lake Gaston. About half that for Falls and Jordan lakes. Those are local lakes me and bryan boat on.

 

[Bry21317]

Re: Trying to get Max Rpms out of 88 Force 125

Lake Runner,<br />Did you give that guy a call about the Engine or to see if he had any laying around? Just curious.<br /><br />Will have to meet up out at the lake one day.<br /><br />Later,<br />Bryan