Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

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scooba

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Jul 23, 2010
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G,day, at this moment in time I am looking at buying a boat with a 1999 50 Mercury Force motor. Here in Australia there are not so many of these motors around and have been told by a few boat yards to avoid them, i will not get parts and they are buget brand motors! is this the case? And are they oil injected? Thanks in advance.

Scooba
 

ezmobee

Supreme Mariner
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Mar 26, 2007
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Re: Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

I'd avoid one here in the states, I'd definitely avoid one in Australia. Parts are getting scarce and it's only getting worse.
 

Unforcefull Force

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Jul 9, 2010
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Re: Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

I have been working on my force motor to get it running properly for a long time now and I still can't get it. I was told by MANY people who work on boat motors that FORCE (not Mercury) even though that?s who they are made by, told, and I quote... "Force motors are crap, junk, garbage, bottom of the barrel, ect.... I can go on and on with the things people have told me. They all pretty much say the same thing too. Force was made by mercury as an "entry level motor" to be cost efficient to boat manufactures and for the end user. They were a a "cheap design". Leaving generations of people to come with nothing but GIANT headaches. I was also told that my "125HP Force motor" is really only about 75HP.

lol-TRUE story.

"THEY SHOULD PUT THIS UP FOR A STICKY"

If I knew then what I know now, I would have already spent the $10,000.00 on a brand new 4 cycle 150HP and saved money on the TYLENOL.
 

my1stboat1

Petty Officer 1st Class
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May 31, 2010
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307
Re: Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

85 hp force 1988 model bayliner/trophy Knock on wood .. with little care, maintance and a mechanical background. My force hasnt failed me and runs terrific not very fast, 30 mph top speed not very fuel efficient but runs great... unfortunatly im having problems with other things such as the dreaded trim/tilt problems...
 

further

Lieutenant Junior Grade
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1,031
Re: Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

+1 myfirstboat. My sentiments exactly except the problem with the T/T, mine is manual! Have the same motor as you -88, 85hp. What are you pushing with that motor? I get the same 30-32 mph at 5250 rpm with a 17' maxum bowrider. After months of tinkering, studying the manuals and reading this forum, mine purrs! Simple is sometimes good.
 

my1stboat1

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Re: Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

further, Same thing on a calm water i can see 33 34 mph mostly 30 though at cruise i usually get the boat out on plane and back the throttle back to about 4800 to 5000 rpms, ive done the regular maintance on my boat. Im a mechanic (auto) by trade but engines are engines... Im happy as can be with this force and like you said they are really easy to work on.. Its funny i think alot of people have problems with theres, Simply cause most think they can just go out constantly and do nothing... Im running a 13x17 pitch prop.. Going to start experiencing with a 15 pitch or 19 just to see the moderate differences... FURTHER>... how does the manual trim work.. Is there a bracket that holds in maybe you can send me a few pictures.. something i might consider to switch to .... EDIT
 
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SweeperForce

Chief Petty Officer
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Feb 7, 2010
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487
Re: Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

First off, you couldn't pay me to own a 4 stroke motor. Yes fuel efficent, but no power. I'll take a 2 stroke any day. As far as Force being junk, I love mine. Easy to work on, plenty of power, and a wealth of knowledge in here. They were never designed to be a top notch or even a high end motor. They were build for new boat owners. Only a fool who never drove a boat before would buy a brand new 300hp merc and spend 20 grand. I have a 150hp pushing an 18 foot ski boat with a top speed of 49mph WOT. With general maintenance and service my 21 year old Force should last me another decade.

Tom
 

my1stboat1

Petty Officer 1st Class
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307
Re: Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

sweet deal tom.. Simmer down a bit LOL... we like our forces too....
 

199675hpforce

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Feb 27, 2004
Messages
299
Re: Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

Newer the better, my trim works like new, lower unit seems very well built. Now do i love my motor NO would I rather have a new etech,tohatsu,honda,mercury,yamaha,johnson yes but hey my boat floats the engine runs. If my motor blew up, id shop for another motor love my boat! Force 125hp in later years is way more than 75hp thats really bad info. Would I buy a brand new 125hp force yes I would and been watching ebay. Ive had the exact same problems with my mercury, fuel delivery related. I should have figured out by now why motor stalls, maybe return line fitting needs to be pointing up, fuel filter pointing down dunno. Motor ran great all week, one thing about force/mercury's there the lightest motors made which is what you want in outboard. Not Mercury Verado transom killer. Im scared of new 4strokes, some guy has 17 ft tracker with 60hp 4stroke and can not get it to plain even with 8 pitch lol. There is no perfect boat or outboard sorry but I think mines close.
 

Unforcefull Force

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Jul 9, 2010
Messages
128
Re: Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

Sorry Tommy,
I didn't mean to get your panties in a twist!
I thought this was a factual knowledge-based forum in which we were allowed to post information.....based on experience. It is nice to hear that you have great luck with your Force, but getting shifty over someones else's REAL LIFE bad experiences is, in my opinion, out of line. SO, with that said, I will encourage you and anybody else that I may have offended to do the right thing.... Make me a believer! lol

I didn't give up on my motor YET; but I am getting close. On the other hand, you seem to think very very very highly of your Force, I mean you're defending it like I just insulted one of your family members!. Throughout my journey with my Force, I did in fact hear numerous times to "stop kicking a dead horse" and that I will never get it running the way I want. Well, OBVIOUSLY I did not listen, I still saw potential so I kept going.
HERE is another true story, there have been times in my life, where I was wrong. This might be one of them, IF - WE can join FORCES - and get my motor running properly...

SO ladys and gentlemen, women and children of all ages and sizes I ask of you THIS!

Please Help ME! lol

Check out my other post! you will feel my pain, maybe you can help! If I can rectify this problem, I will retract everything bad that I have ever said about Tom's baby's little brother! (125HP)

As far as the 4 stroke goes; well, those motors purr like a kitten. Very quiet, which is important to me. I have some pretty nice soundproofing material on the inside of my hood but man, those things are quite. Performance, is very nice too. I actually had the opportunity to cruise in a 21' criss craft cuddy cabin, with one of those new puppies on it and I'll tell you this, WHAT A RIDE! Up and out in seconds, top speed was 51! I saw this guy when we were down at the Point, (where the rivers meet in Pittsburgh), a few weeks ago and asked him about his motor because I was checking into them. He asked me if I wanted to go for a cruise, and cruise we did. He said he used to have a Johnson 150HP v6 on there and it wasn't pulling like this one. Plus the biggest bonus of all was: NO 2 CYCLE OIL. He said that it was like working on a car motor too, which, personally, I'll work on anything so that wasn't a selling point for me. He said he paid $12,000.00 for it though! THAT IS CRAZY! After mentioning what he paid he proceeded to tell me that he was able to sell off his Johnson for $3000.00 so he ended up having $9000.00. Which is still a LOT.

The only reason I would even consider that is because I completely re-manufactured my boat from the inside out. (my first boat 3 years ago) I didn't know what I was getting into and when I do stuff, I do it! PERIOD. (100% or nothing at all) SO again, with THAT said, if I knew what I know now about boats, I would have just BOUGHT A BRAND NEW ONE! lol
That was the first and last boat I will ever redo. My next boat will be new, or only a few (1-3) years old. BUT, I will keep this boat too because it is the way I want it, except for the motor... I'll use this as a run-a-bout/ski boat and I want to get a 27'-32' cruiser to have family/friends on comfortably for a night out or to sleep on over the weekend if need be.

Whoa! Okay, back to the post....

I do apologize if my information about Force motors offended you or anyone else, that was not my intension. I was just trying to help out someone who asked a question.

If you would would like to join my adventure on my other post, PLEASE!~ you are MORE than welcome and your help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!

Thanks,

-Mark
 

jason32038

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 25, 2009
Messages
555
Re: Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

2 stroke all the way baby! They're lighter...smaller and accelerate faster. They have more low end torque because they fire every 2 strokes instead of 4. I've been daydreaming about the Evinrude 90hp E-Tec I want to throw on the back of my 15' bayliner. :)
 

199675hpforce

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Feb 27, 2004
Messages
299
Re: Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

Try different plugs in FORCE motors champions suck! High grade semi syn or full syn and my carbon problem is gone? Went from resistor heat range 8champs to autolite non resistor range 9. Runs very decent now hummm and that's 85 octane
 

scooba

Recruit
Joined
Jul 23, 2010
Messages
3
Re: Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

Wow it's good to see you guys are passionate about your motors!

There's a good mix of feedback there so I guess like everything if you look after it, it will last longer and do the job.
Please keep the opions coming and is 1999 the year mecury Force stopped production? and what obvious signs should I look out for to tell if the motors Knackered?

Thanks
Scooba
 

RRitt

Captain
Joined
Mar 30, 2006
Messages
3,319
Re: Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

scooba,

before 1992 the manufacturers of chrysler and force engines were actively engaged in quality control with a goal of affordable, simple, reliable. After 1992 the emphasis was shifted to cutting corners. Same basic engine yes but very different manufacturing priorities.

bottom line on Force is that mechanics don't want to work on them. They will come up with a milion reasons except for the real one. They make a lot more money on the other brands.

For example - if you put a mercury/mariner/force and a Chrysler/force trim system side by side then the mercury system will break about seven years before the Chrysler design. If you ask any mechanic they will say mercury stuff is better. Exactly how is it better if it costs more and doesn't last as long? Better? better for who?

I quit working on Force trim rams because no matter how much I charge a Force owner there will always be a Mercury guy willing to pay me twice as much - and be grateful. It's not that force is hard to work on - pfft! the mercury rocker arm trim pump is the most fubared idea i've ever seen. And don't even get me started on the evinrude rotary pump. Somebody was on drugs when they came up with that idea. Nah, it's all about the money. Mercury and evinrude owners will line up to throw money at you. Force owners want it done cheaper. If you own a Force and you take it to a Marina then don't expect anything much better than the new kid on summer break earning a few extra bucks. It just isn't worth their time to underpay a good mechanic. If you work on it yourself and you are a good mechanic then Chrysler/Force oughta last forever and never really need anything complicated except starter and trim pump.
 

scooba

Recruit
Joined
Jul 23, 2010
Messages
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Re: Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

Thanks RRitt, that probably explains why some boat yards here (in Australia) wont touch em and some some say yes no probs !!

Scooba
 

jerryjerry05

Supreme Mariner
Joined
May 7, 2008
Messages
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Re: Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

I'll gladly own/work on any Force/Chrysler there is.
I had a pair of 88/85hp on a center console for 21 years and never had any real problems other than salt water messing with stuff.
The oil you mix with the gas is very important.NO CHEAP STUFF.
I never had to do anything with the lowers other than change the impeller and oil.
They were made originally by Chrysler.Then U.S.Marine took them over and called them Force.Then in the 90's Mercury bought them.
The 85hp is closer to a 90hp and the 125 was closer to a 120hp.
There is a HUGH market for old parts.
I repowered last year and have had nothing but trouble with the Mercury I replaced them with.But living in Au. I'd think twice.J
 

alfouty

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Jun 10, 2011
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Re: Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

I will work on a Force no problem. They just have a bad stigmatism. The big boys dont want you to buy them and buy the more expensive ones. I have a 120 on my boat now and had a chrylser 50hp on an aluminum bass boat that is still running and the boat finally rotted away around the motor. its on a freinds boat now and still in us.
 

hornetswarm

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jun 9, 2011
Messages
33
Re: Should I avoid a Mercury Force outboard

I have heard nothing bad about Force Motors. I am a new boat owner, and I have had some problems, with the motor. But once I tore it down and looked at things, it was obvious the owner before me did not do proper maintenance. I am looking forward to putting the Force quality to rest here shortly. Should have the boat in the water by next Saturday (waiting on gaskets) and I will see if proper maintenance makes a difference on the motor....hm...who would think that. LOL
 
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