1992 Force 150 (Dead in the Water)

fredfixit

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Jul 12, 2009
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Need suggestions, please... 1st post.... I purchase this rig about a year ago. Only had minor problems, easy to trouble shoot and fix (starter and voltage regulator/rectifier). I should mention it has the Thunderbolt Ignition System. Motor starts and run ok but when I'm out on the water running it just dies (no spark). This could happen in 15 minutes or it could take a couple of hours. Let it sit a few hours, then it starts right up. By the time I get home to troubleshoot, all is fine. I've done all of the checks in the manual (voltage, resistance) and found no problems. I've tried creating the problem at home with no succcess. I changed out the water pump, added a temp guage (warms up to around 150 degrees), stills dies on water. Now, who is the bad guy, stator,trigger,switch box or converter box. I'm pretty sure it's one of these but would like to narrow it down, as it could get expensive shotgunning. One more thing, after it dies the fly wheel is almost to hot to touch. Thanks in advance.
 

MWBROWN

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Feb 7, 2006
Messages
231
Re: 1992 Force 150 (Dead in the Water)

Dont know about the hot flywheel. 150 deg is pretty hot. SO maybe that is natural.

Sounds like a loose or bare wire to me. Others have posted with a similar problem and that is what it was.

Also, I have an 85 HP and I had some intermittant problems restarting on the water, and one day the CD module finally died. But that did not stop the engine from running, as the other two cyls were good.

Good luck, hope this info helps.

Mike
 

roscoe

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Oct 30, 2002
Messages
21,657
Re: 1992 Force 150 (Dead in the Water)

Very hot flywheel is indicator that the stator (located under the flywheel) is melting down. It will fail ... soon.

As far as the running temp, 150*, about normal. It has a 130* thermostat so depending on where the temp sensor is located and how accurate it is, 150* seems normal.
 

john from md

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Apr 13, 2008
Messages
2,184
Re: 1992 Force 150 (Dead in the Water)

Pull the flywheel off and see if you see any evidence of wires rubbing. Since your problem is intermittant, and it shuts down immediately, it appears that you may have a wire that is shorting to ground.

You might also put tie wraps to hold your connectors tight. I have found that on older boats, as the plastic shrinks with age, the connections loosen up.

John
 

fredfixit

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Jul 12, 2009
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Re: 1992 Force 150 (Dead in the Water)

Thanks for the input, I'll pull the flywheel and take a look.

Updated.. Ran motor on ears for about 45 minutes no problem. I did notice water flow out of the two exhaust wasn't very much so I changed out the water pump again, didn't look to bad (did it about a year ago).
Now confusion..Started motor, ran about 3 minutes and died. About 20 minutes later it started, then died 3 minutes later. This happened 3 or 4 times, now it's totally dead (no spark).
Using the book (Clymer), I've done all of the resistance and voltage checks I can. I couldn't do the cranking voltage checks as I don't have a DVA meter. All of the checks were right on. Stator read .6 ohms, low but I think it's about the norm (not sure what it should be as it is not in my book). Checked out stop switch, ok. Cleaned all connections, checked wires for opens and shorts to ground. What next..I'm at the end of my rope.
Thanks in advance
 

john from md

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Apr 13, 2008
Messages
2,184
Re: 1992 Force 150 (Dead in the Water)

The CDI's have to be shorted to ground in order to shut off the engine. Sometimes the ignition switch goes bad and shorts out the modules with the switch still in the on position.

Disconnect the two white wires on the terminal block to make sure you don't have a faulty ignition switch that is grounding out your CDI modules.

John
 

fredfixit

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Jul 12, 2009
Messages
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Re: 1992 Force 150 (Dead in the Water)

Ensign...
Thank you, thank you, thank you.....
I disconnect the grounding wire going to the switch box and it fired up. I reconnected the wire and it died.. I ohmed it out and there is a short to ground.. I'm going to climb under the dash and check the wiring but I think you are right, it's the switch.
It would be nice if this fixed my orignial problem of dying when it heats up but I don't think I'll be that lucky but you never know.
Thanks again...
 

john from md

Commander
Joined
Apr 13, 2008
Messages
2,184
Re: 1992 Force 150 (Dead in the Water)

A bad ignition switch can cause all sorts of problems. You can get one from I boats for about $20 or so.

John
 
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