120hp Force not shifting into gear.

[royal50]

I just recently purchased a used bayliner that came with a Force 120 and a small Mercury kicker. I took it out today and a couple of hours after tubing around the lake, the motor started acting up.
When you start the motor in neutral it will start just fine but as soon as you put it in gear and you start pushing forward you can feel it struggle and then it quits. It did that every single time so after like 20 times I thought it was time to bring her home. An alarm has also gone off from time to time until I killed the ignition. Don't know what that was either.
Please help. Thank you.

 

[Unbalanced]

Re: 120hp Force not shifting into gear.

The struggle/quiting in gear could be a number of things. I'd start with the usual suspects though.
Start with some fresh gas/oil mix. - Who knows what's in that tank.
Check/clean the fuel filters and carbs.
Replace the spark plugs.
Check the compression.
De-carbon the motor. - There's a sticky in the Repair and Maintenance parent forum.

Second. That alarm you're hearing is the over-temp alarm. That means the motor is getting hot. I'd replace the impeller (water pump) and possibly the thermostat.

It sounds like a lot, but it's common seasonal maintenance.

The plugs will be in the $2.50/plug range.
A can of SeaFoam or DeepCreep to de-carbon the motor is $8-10.
The impeller is $15-$18 and the same for the thermostat.

And since you're buying an impeller and possibly a thermostat, I'd go ahead and replace the fuel pump diaphram. Another $10-15 well spent and dirt simple to replace.

Good luck!

 

[royal50]

Re: 120hp Force not shifting into gear.

Thank you so much.
This will give me something to look for. My local marine service shops are to busy right now through middle of July due to the 4th. It looks like I'll be learning this myself.
Thanks again.

 

[royal50]

Re: 120hp Force not shifting into gear.

Today I hooked up my water hose to the motor and started it up to see what it would do and it started just fine. Then from neutral I put it in gear and it did not have any trouble staying running. Why is that?
Is it because the motor was cold?
Should I still be considering changing my impeler and maybe thermostat?

 

[royal50]

Re: 120hp Force not shifting into gear.

 

[pnwboat]

Re: 120hp Force not shifting into gear.

Definitely follow earlier advice. Many problems will only show up out on the water when the motor is under a load. Change impeller, plugs, fuel pump diaphragm etc.

 

[royal50]

Re: 120hp Force not shifting into gear.

I changed the impeler today and it was really easy. Actually what took the longest was this damn seal that went up on top of the shaft. You couldn't fit your hand up there to put it so I had to rig something with a stick and some wire to hold the seal in place and then move it up there slowly.
The impeler was defenitely bad. One side was tore up.
I'm going to do the thermostat tomorrow. Thanks for the info.