Why is the 1989 Force O/B a bad motor???

Question

I have a 1989 Maxum 19.7' cuddy with a Force 125 o/b motor. Everyone says that the Force o/b's made in 1989 are a piece of junk???? Will mine is still running like new. I really think that if you just care for you boat it can last a long time.

I was recently looking at Boat Trader and alot of Mercury o/b's are being repowered or re-built at only 10 years old. So why do I have a Force motor going on 20.,

I do take care of my boat though. I wash it after everytime I take it out, clean the inside, and fresh water run my motor everytime.

Just wondering why these Force O/B motors have such a bad rap??

My friend from work has a Force 125 hp in his 1988 cc and niether of or motors have ever failed us..

Answer 1

I suspect the problems with the Force Engine is operator error, not getting the oil / fuel mix correct, or hooking the battery up backwards. It is more ego gratifying to blame the engine than admit they made an operator error.

Force engines are rebranded Chrysler Engines. For some reason Chrysler got a bad rap in the earlier years, probably because they were inexpensive when compared to other engines being manufactured at the time.

When US Marine assisted Bayliner in pulling out of the buyer slump of the late 70's and early 80's, they rebranded the Chrysler Engines as Force.

I have always found they were strong, durable engines, and easy to work on. Anyone with a basic understanding of how engines work can tune one up and perform simple maintenance like replacing water impellers, oil change in gear case, etc.

I currently have a 1985 Force 125 hp. outboard that is still going strong. The only problem I have had was when I blew the ignition by hooking up the battery backwards. My fault.

Before 1985 I had a 85 hp. Chrysler, exactly the same engine as the 125 Force only smaller, and it never gave me a problem.

Answer 2

Sure Force gets a bad wrap because people refuse to Maintain a Boat or motor, this is why so many diferent Products are made , so everyone will be happy. on a scale from 1 to 10 Id rate the force about a 4, but this is only My Preference, I dont care for outboards.  I am a deap rooted Mercruiser man.

Answer 3

The "force" trademark was a name used after chrysler owned the design and mercury bought it. As model years went by more and more mercury components were used until the engine was a mercury- then the "Force" name was dropped.  These were real reliable motors. I personnely didn't like the pinion preload crush ring they (chrysler) used in the lower of the big single piece lower unit but it worked as long as the gears were set correctly. The Chrysler ignition with the belt drive distributer  was bullet proof as long as you didn't hook the battery up backwards. They had a few issues with heat and vibration. The merc "under the flywheel" ignition seemed to work as well. The carbs were really hard to adjust for some people. The best way was in the water just on plane and then re set at idle. Otherwise you tended to get slightly rich idle mixtures. The real nice thing was the simple carbs. You could remove the cover and drop the float bowl with out removing the carb for a quick clean out. If the air bleeds were plugged the carb would need to come of -however.. Re setting the linkage was simple common brain work--all open a wot, all closed -off the stop. So go on boating and change  the lower oil and the water pump once in a while these motors should last for ever.  

Answer 4

U.S. Marine, "Bayliner (Maxum} packaged a large number of boats in the late 1980's with the "Force" motors.  Many of these were sold to first time buyers. I don't have any hard numbers, but I worked at a dealership in Bladensburg, MD  and we sold over 1000 boats a year for several years.  Maybe 150 each year  with the 125 H.P. Force.  So, with that many outthere, the normal stuff that happens, mainly due to lack of maintence, seemed to some like a lot of failures.  I remember about 8 to 10 power head failures a year, and maybe 10 ign failures (power pack) so given the large numbers not so bad.   I agree with you, if you take care of these engines they run .