Do my reeds look ok?

scout-j-m

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I have a 1994 70HP Force. I cleaned the carb yesterday and replaced the fuel hose and inline filter. While I had the carb off I pulled the intake manifold off and the reed assembly to inspect them. The reed plates looked fine. There was no chipping or breaks and the plates laid flat. I held it up to the sun and saw no light through them as well. The reason I bring them up can be seen in the pictures I attached. The black paint or coating has largely come off on them. Should I be concerned about this? I don't want flakes of debris filling the crankcase and causing any damage...although if this would cause damage, it likely has already done so.

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scout-j-m

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I snapped a few pictures of the crankcase while I had the reeds out. It looked pretty good in there in terms of cleanliness. No noticeable carbon build up or set up fuel/oil mixture. The only carbon I even noticed was on the bottom center portion of the pistons.

What I did notice is that in each cylinders intake area directly behind the reeds, there were some gouges and all of the corners that I could reach were rough. I'm not sure if they are supposed to be rounded or sharp but I doubt they are how they are supposed to be the way they are now.

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Jiggz

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From the pics the reeds look to be in perfect condition and so is with the intake passage to the crankcase.
 

Frank Acampora

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Most Chrysler and Force engines had some degree of flashing left on the castings. That is because it was an entry level engine without a lot of detail work (which costs money). As long as it is sound and will not flake off it won't do any harm. If you try to remove it there is a good likelihood that some aluminum chips will get into the crankcase.

In the photos, I don't see any black rubber flaking off. The Vee blocks were coated in a rubber compound to better seal the reed. But even with it completely gone the reeds will seal adequately. In fact, for many years Chrysler and early Force engines simply seated the reeds against a bare Vee block.
 
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scout-j-m

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Thank you guys. Now that I can rest assured that is all normal I can finish getting the new fuel lines on and firing her up on some fresh ethanol free 87 octane from portable tank I just bought.
 

Jiggz

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Great. If you are still having problems, make video of the engine running and upload on youtube and provide a link on your next post.
 

scout-j-m

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Was there a reason you did the initial teardown.

Yes, the motor runs very poorly at idle and I was getting surging and random loss of power. It felt like I was losing a cylinder sporadically and I was convinced it was an ignition problem (still may be). I was pretty sure it wasn't fuel related since my filter stayed full and my carb was pretty clean and could see the fuel stream with the cowl off and moving at high throttle in the water.

So to be safe I went ahead and cleaned the carb and installed new gaskets and a new inlet needle and while I had it off checked the reeds. I reinstalled a couple nights ago and last night I changed my inline filter, fuel hose, and connected to a portable tank with fresh fuel/oil mix.I pumped the bulb and it got hard. Before deciding to try to start it, I decided to do a quick compression test (I have been putting it off). I got barely anything, like 20 psi, on the top cylinder and 120 psi on the bottom two, done with all plugs removed. My last compression test was done last summer and it was 90/110/110 psi and I did that test with the plugs still in. I have yet to pull the head as I am waiting on a new gasket in the mail but looking through the plug holes with a flashlight, the top cylinder definitely has more carbon build up on top of the piston than the other two. I am in limbo until I get the new gasket although I will go ahead and pull the head when I get the shipping notification.

In the meantime is there anything I can do? Such as add seafoam directly to the plug hole to soak in the chamber or add 2 stroke oil to it and retry the compression test?
 

Jiggz

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With 20 PSI on the top cylinder, there's absolutely no other recourse except to remove the head (try to save the gasket as much as you can just in case and also for post diagnosis) and do an open inspection. It is most likely you already have broken rings and hopefully not too much of a gouge on the cylinder so as to require machining. There is no need to wait for the shipping info on the head gasket unless you just simply want to wait before removing the head. If this is your first time removing it, make sure you take pics of it before disassembly to have reference when putting it back together. Take pics each step just to be sure.
 

scout-j-m

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With 20 PSI on the top cylinder, there's absolutely no other recourse except to remove the head (try to save the gasket as much as you can just in case and also for post diagnosis) and do an open inspection. It is most likely you already have broken rings and hopefully not too much of a gouge on the cylinder so as to require machining. There is no need to wait for the shipping info on the head gasket unless you just simply want to wait before removing the head. If this is your first time removing it, make sure you take pics of it before disassembly to have reference when putting it back together. Take pics each step just to be sure.

Will do. Yeah, the main reason for waiting was just to try to shorten the window it is apart to help me keep it straight and not messing up. But, you are right, if I take pics and use my manual I should be alright.
 
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