1986 Force 125 bogging down & leaking

I have an 86 Force 125 that's giving me some problems. I took it out on Clearlake in CA last weekend and it ran fine for about 10 mins and then started to bog down at about 30-35mph. Later that day we tried pulling a wakeboarder at around 20-25 mph and the same thing started to happen. It starts up and idles, but just loses power at the higher speeds.

The second issue is that after I brought it home and it sat for a day I noticed what looks like oil leaking from somewhere. I haven't been able to see exactly where it's coming from because I just noticed it on my way out the door this morning, but it's a small, dark black puddle under the motor, and it hasn't ever leaked like that in the year or so I've owned it.

I called around to a couple shops here in Sacramento and neither one will service it. I'll keep looking for someone, but in the meantime, does anyone have any ideas on what might be wrong?

Thanks.

Re: 1986 Force 125 bogging down & leaking

Just an update on the leak. I got home and took a look and it's definitely leaking from the lower unit. If you look straight up from below the lower unit, there are 2 small holes, one on either side. It's leaking from one (not both) of those holes. Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks

Re: 1986 Force 125 bogging down & leaking

What does the oil smell like? Gear oil will have a strong smell. If it smells a little like gas, no big deal just residue from the oil / gas mix (probably what it is).
Check compression, check spark plugs, do a de-carb. Some things to check for loss of power.

Re: 1986 Force 125 bogging down & leaking

I have a 24 yr old 85. It has happened to me a couple times.
The first time it was compression....engine rebuild.
The second time it was the engine ground...unlikely?...check it. There is a main ground wire from the block to the battery ground somewhere. Bad connector. Visual inspection (the wire ohm-ed out fine.)
The third time it was the stator. Same thing. Visual melting, ohm-ed out fine.)
The ground and stator seemed to work fine when the engine was cool, but after running for a few minutes, rpms and power would drop. Ran great at idle but just would not hold power for long.