85HP Force outboard motor low on compression. Why? Can we save it? 1988 Larson Citation DC-150

Its that time of year again, boats are on sale and I had to have this one. I'm in love with the boat, but the motor is less than impressive at the moment. These old force outboards don't have a great reputation. Lets see if we can squeeze a little more life out of this one.

[@andyarends4090]

Liking your videos…keep up the great work!

[@NorthwoodsNoise]

Thank you! Glad you're enjoying them!

[@Mattgx2012]

gotta say, I have a 1989 85hp force and it really has a bad reputation. After I did a fresh rebuild on it with forged pistons its been as reliable as can be. I even trusted it enough to take it on lake superior. some people swear by these motors and having one for 3 years I can say I do too!

[@NorthwoodsNoise]

Im planning on rebuilding this one top to bottom, just wanna take my time and do it right. The force outboard owners group on facebook has been a wealth of information. After its rebuilt I think it's going to be a solid motor! Glad to hear yours is treating you well!

[@Mattgx2012]

@@NorthwoodsNoise absolutely! That group is awesome, chuck is very knowledgeable. Also, a good recommendation for parts is TSM performance. They have rebuild kits for a good price in case you have trouble finding parts. Its definitely a good option

[@draymond5067]

The Force will only bring you tears

[@jessez1892]

The same thing happened to me this past weekend. I bought without checking first

[@AB-80X]

Wow a Force with an issue. That's new.......

[@NorthwoodsNoise]

🤣🤣🤣

[@tonybruno7848]

Those harbour freight gauges work good with 4 strokes. I don't know why they don't work right with 2 strokes.

[@NorthwoodsNoise]

From what I read when I looked into it the Pittsburgh gauges have two different styles of check valves. One works well, one doesnt. Apparently I have the one that doesnt. Mine is off by about 20% compared to a good snapon gauge I borrowed. Off by the same 20% on two strokes and 4 strokes.

[@draymond5067]

When you ran that hone, grit would've gone into the transfer ports....maybe plugging them up would have helped

[@daddski1]

use a ball hone and pay attention to how many strokes you take. Chances are you will need to tear down the rest of the engine and get a .020 or .030 piston and have a machine shop bore it out. WIth an outboard you need only oversize the bad hole, the otehr pistons can remain standard. It is not like a car. But if you have to hone more than say 18 to 22 strokes you have already oversized that hole and it will no longer be round. Doesn't cost much more to bore one cylinder and you can then see the others and how they really are. Force outboards were not the greatest for top speed but they were fantastic at low end torque. my experience? 54 years as marine mechanic and repair shops nation wide. (retired this year)

[@toupsclassroomtoupsclassro9557]

question: guy has a 70 yam 110 on 1 and 3 cylinder and 75 on 2 how can you tell what it might need? ty

[@garyradtke3252]

Short cut king!

[@toupsclassroomtoupsclassro9557]

can you tell me more how you cked the transom? I was told to raise the motor and lift on the foot and see if the transom flexes? ???

[@NorthwoodsNoise]

That's not a bad way to do it. Most all transoms on smaller older boats like this will have a degree of flex to them. How much flex you're comfortable with is up to you in the end. If it seems like too much flex, odds are it is.

[@liamoshea3340]

Delt with many Force motors.They didn't camfer the ports from factory.

[@toupsclassroomtoupsclassro9557]

do you have a follow up vid

[@NorthwoodsNoise]

Yes, there's a few more videos on the boat in general. Ended up repowering with a four stroke yamaha.

[@dsciarrino3663]

Does it run

[@NorthwoodsNoise]

Yea it ran like this, just wouldnt idle well and had no power.

[@rickristeen5123]

trailer light out.

[@liamoshea3340]

Detonation lol

[@zxxxcxx]

Ashtray.....

[@GusMahn]

A ball hone would have made quicker work out of this.

[@Fuktard]

I’d just trash it it a force had one when I was 16 worst engine ever made

[@NorthwoodsNoise]

Love your username lol. They're not great motors for sure, but I think they have a few positive qualities. They're stupid simple and as long as you feed them oil they dont seem to care about much else. Probably couldve cleaned the aluminum off the cylinder walls with muriatic acid, cleaned up the piston with a file and slapped it back together and I think it wouldve been fine for awhile. But, still hoping to bore it and put it back together the right way. Cheaper than a new motor and it's just fun work.