trouble starting force 125 l drive

rparis47

Cadet
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Messages
6
Had my Capri bayliner for 6 years now. Worked on it one year. My starter would not turn. Turned slow and when I removed plugs turning by hand was easy. Would burn my battery. Burn my starter. Both got very hot. Keeped replacing battery and starter. Started one time ran on lake for 30 minutes. Shut down and could not start again with out burning battery and starter. Replaced..many parts including rebuild carbs. Getting ready to start work again. Please help. I really need advise.
 
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alldodge

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Mar 8, 2009
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40,718
Had my Capri bayliner for 6 years now. Worked on it one year. My starter would not turn. Turned slow and when I removed plugs turning by hand was easy. Would burn my battery. Burn my starter. Both got very hot. Keeped replacing battery and starter. Started one time ran on lake for 30 minutes. Shut down and could not start again with out burning battery and starter. Replaced..many parts including rebuild carbs. Getting ready to start work again. Please help. I really need advise.

:welcome: to iboats

As a non outboard expert my first thought is your engine is locked up and needs rebuilding
 

roscoe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
21,665
Welcome to iboats.


First, do you have and outboard, or an L-drive, similar to an i/o?
All wiring connections between the battery and the starter should be removed, cleaned, reconnected, tight.

How long does it take to "burn" your battery? a few minutes ? longer?

Or to "burn" the starter?

What are the steps you take to start the motor?

Is the choke working?

Are you advancing the throttle while starting?
 

jerryjerry05

Supreme Mariner
Joined
May 7, 2008
Messages
17,926
Welcome,
The L-drive was US Marines try at something new.They failed miserably!!!
The first thing to do is do a compression test.
Low comp on 1 cylinder will do what you described.
Turning over is a sure sign of not being locked up.
The slow turning over sounds more like low comp or a bearing seized or seizing.
If the comp is good. All within 3-4# of each other.Drop the lower unit and see if the bearing under the water pump is seized.
Where you located? You might b close to someone who can help???
 
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rparis47

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Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Messages
6
Roscoe.I have an l drive. It takes a little while to burn my starter up. Depending on how Long I try to turn the motor. All my connections are clean and most are new. I make sure my safty switch is working...carbs rebuilt...exterior tank..incase there junk in my tank. Shift in neutral. I give it choke after priming. Starter in gauges..fly wheel turns a revolution at a time very slow. Then my battery and starter get really hot after trying to start 3 to 4 times. I dont advance the throttle I herd it was bad when motor is on muff. New choke...new cilanoid..
 
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rparis47

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Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Messages
6
Jerry..I live in Oklahoma. .Lawton. I haven't done a compression test. I guess it my next step. But yes it had started be for and ran great. I took the lower unit off..and I can turn the shaft...with both hands..but it is tight...I remember I did replaces the bearings on the lower unit that year. Think I might need to take another look at it?
 

rparis47

Cadet
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Messages
6
Come to think of it. .I replaced the bearing down by the universal assembly on the lower unit.
 

rparis47

Cadet
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Messages
6
Not to many boat mechanics want to spend time on my l drive. So I have familiarized myself with boat repair. The l drive has been a long project but i love it so. I have a sketter in top shape that i have been using and runs great. I hope with this forum to one day get the l drive running. I repaired the deck on both boats with the help of i boats and am very grateful. Ive been on i boats for about 6 yrs...but i forgot my pw so im back to being a cadet. In any case i want to thank all you guys with the help and hope to be an even longer member...is there an adroid app for i boats?? It woud sure help. Thanks.
 

Jiggz

Captain
Joined
Oct 23, 2009
Messages
3,817
If you can easily turn the flywheel by hand with the plugs out, I sincerely doubt the problem is something that is seized. Follow Jerry's lead on doing compression tests and then post your results. If readings are within 10% of each other with a range of 90~150 PSI, then move on the next step of troubleshooting. But if difference is high between cylinders. the next step is to open and inspect by removing the head. Try saving the head gasket if possible.

Disconnect the large black negative wire on both ends, i.e. battery and engine block. Wire brush it until shiny and the same with the mating surfaces, i.e. battery negative terminal and engine block. Use dielectric grease to coat both mating surfaces and reconnect tight. Next do the same with the large red battery cable. There are two sections of this large cable with the solenoid in between.

After reconnecting, test the connections to make sure they are tight by bypassing the solenoid. Using a medium length screw driver short the two large terminals on the solenoid. If the starter cranks fast and normal then you know all your connections are clean and tight. Now try starting using the ignition sw, if the starter cranks fast and starts the motor, your are basically done. Hence the problem to start with is dirty or loose cable connections. But if the starter cranks slow when using the ignition sw, then the problem is most likely a worn out solenoid and needs to be replaced.

If after shorting the solenoid terminals and the starter still cranks slow, then dirty or loose cable connections is not your problem. Now it is time to check the starter. Make sure you are using a fully charge battery, using battery jumper connect one end to the starter positive connections and then the other to the battery positive terminal. The starter should crank normally if not the starter is probably in need of cleaning or replacement. But before doing so, do another diagnosis. Remove all top three plugs and do a quick start, if starter cranks fast, install another plug on #3. Start again and continue to do this until the starter starts to indicate its problem of dragging. When this happens take note of the cylinder you last installed. There is possibility you might have some ring problems with it.

However, if the starter still drags with only one plug in, move the plug to another cylinder. If the starter is still dragging, then the starter needs to be cleaned or replaced.
 
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rparis47

Cadet
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Messages
6
Thanks a lot jiggz..I will start working on it soon as the weather permits. I will keep you posted. Thanks again.
 
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