[Crash]

I am looking into buying a boat which has a 1997 120h Mercury Force 2 Stroke engine on it.
I am concerned that this may not be a very good motor. Does anybody have any information that they could pass on to me as to their experience with this motor?

 

[jetboater]

I personally would stay away from the force Motors, we have had more issues with them than any other motor... we actually will not work on them any more... it is unfair to the customer.....

 

[Crash]

TNTMarine, Thank you for your reply. This really helps make my decision.

 

[tazzman]

ACK!!!!
i just bought a 18' bayliner last summer with a force on it,hasnt given me any trouble so far and i put alot of hours on it.what seems to be the problems with these engines if you dont mind explaining a bit.

 

[steve]

depends on the year of motor. These engines were produced by chrysler first before merc (brunswick corp) bought the line. Chrysler engines are just not the quality of mercury product so anything and everything seemed to fail and once the snowball started it got big so they ended up being expensive to fix (plus the parts are a bugger to find for some units). The newest of the bunch were merc powerheads in force cowelings. These were not too bad but they were built for mass production of price point boat motor trailer combos. The force wasn't usually found on anything other than a brunswick corp. boat (ie. bayliner) so to be a price point boat the price had to be cheap so were the materials used. My advice is to use the engine if you have it, mix the gas a little richer ( ie 40 or 45 to one instead of 50 to one), use some decarbon and winterize every year and do not use the cheap oils, those engines will last longer with better lubes. Just keep a close eye on it and have the compression checked at every service (this is usually done by most shops but request it to be sure!) The compression will tell the story, when she starts to dive then let her go, she is not worth rebuilding or repairing, you'll just be whipping a dead horse.

 

[tazzman]

i just dug the papers up on it,and it is a 94
in 2004 the powerhead was rebuilt(crankshaft,conrod rod bearings,pistons,pin bearings?waterpump and a bore done on cylinder from what i can tell for a total of $3065.40
it was then sold at some time between then(2004) and 2007 to the guy i bought it from.i dont have any records of service done to it at all (doesnt mean not done) but i appreciate any info i can get on getting the most out of it.
i spend a lot of time at cultus during the summer taking the kids watersking,boarding and tubing and as anyone with kids knows, down time can make for a loonngg holiday :wallbash:

i will take your opinion of mix to heart as i believe myself a little more oil in system on 2 strokes is a good thing,i have always done so with lawnmowers and such and always seem to have less grief than neighbors and friends

 

[steve]

just make sure it is quality oil and that you run the decarbon engine tuner through it once a year or else the exhaust passages, piston and rings will carbon up and cause power loss, poor scavaging and much hotter exhaust temps. Also make sure that you are getting full RPM out of it. The starboard transom clamp may have the RPM range on it and if you are there with your average load you're good, too much or too little will kill the engine. Can you tell if all the pistons were done or just a couple? Also do you know who did the work? It is better to have the oem pistons than others.

 

[tazzman]

cant find anything stating rpm
the work was done by sky valley marine in wa
4 pistons replaced (wisco?)
4 cyl bored

 

[steve]

do you have the serial number

 

[tazzman]

of what...the pistons?
nothing stating any type of sn for them,as for motor it BETTER still have a sn lol

 

[steve]

the pistons don't have serial numbers ;D I could use the engine serial number and get you the RPM range.

 

[tazzman]

i will get them for you tonight as i have to leave shortly and thanx for all the info :cheers:

 

[steve]

anytime :beerchug: :cheers: