chrysler/force questions

earlier this year I was given an 86 bayliner capri with an 86 force 125 on it, the motor was junk do to some idiot not putting oil in the gas. boat needs a new deck but thats no big deal since it was free to start with, while its apart I might need to do new stringers and transom but I will figure that out when I get there.

I found a chrysler 115 power head on CL for $250 that had been rebuilt (not sure on year going to look up the serial # this week, my guess would be early 80s) , put it on my force leg and it runs great on the muffs. I took the boat out to the lake today for a test run before I sink a bunch more money into it, the motor started right up great and was pumping water through my added tell tail like a champ so I took off from the landing and got about 200 yds and the motor bogged down and died on me. I hit the key and it fired right back up again and was idling as smooth as can be a few minutes later (under power) same thing happened again. did this a bunch of times and after some miner tinkering I decided I would need to get it back home and give it a good looking over.

I raised the motor up a bit so it was still getting water pumped through but the prop was out of the water and it seemed to rev up just fine (don't have a tach yet) once in the water fully it started acting up again. What should I check out? I plan to put in new plugs and wires for sure (it has a distributer type ignition not individual coils) I've also seen that this could be a timing issue maybe? timing needs to be checked in the water? would a barrel work or does it have to be in a lake? I'm guessing that since it runs great on land and lower rpms in the lake it should be a somewhat easy fix.

also once in the water and under power the boat turns very hard to the left but really easily to the right, I think I read somewhere that the exhaust snout can cause this if its not in the right position? I know I had it off to work on the impeller and thought I put it back on in the same position but maybe not, also nothing says it was in the right spot before I touched it. which way should I move it? or is it a trial and error type of thing? maybe something completely different? we did grease all the steering stuff up before heading out and it turns fine when not under power

Re: chrysler/force questions

I finally got some time to look up my model # and find out the power head is a 1979 Chrysler 115. so I wasn't off by much by guessing early 80s. anybody have any thoughts on what might be causing the problems?

Re: chrysler/force questions

Ethanol is messing up a lot of motors.It's delaminating the inside of older hoses causing clogs in the carbs and fuel filter.Check for soft hoses and junk in the filter on the motor.Check the diaphram. J

Re: chrysler/force questions

I replaced the main fuel line from the built in tank to the pump before I even tried starting the motor the rest of the lines still felt soft and flexible like they should be, think it would be best to replace them anyways?

Re: chrysler/force questions

did you make sure the lower unit had good oil and no water in it? clean the carbs good. add a primer ball if it doesn't have one and give it a squeeze when it bogs see if it helps. sounds like the bowls running out of fuel.

Re: chrysler/force questions

That sounds very much like it is running out of fuel. You need to check the entire syatem for restrictions or clogs. You also should change the fuel pump diaphragm if you have not already done that.

Remember: It only takes a very small amount of fuel to "rev" up in the air and the engine will easily get enough and run fine. However, under load it takes an enormous amount and the engine will starve.

Even after stalling, there will still be enough fuel in the carb bowls to restart and they will refill at low speed. Then, as you hit the throttle, fuel demand skyrockets, the bowls go low, and the engine stalls again.

Re: chrysler/force questions

Changed the fluid in the lower unit 20 mins before heading to the lake. I did not clean the carbs yet, been thinking I should get off my butt and just clean them already The new fuel line came with a primer bulb and squeezing it did not help, it was also firm the entire time but it did kinda seem like it was running out of fuel.

I think I will be headed outside tonight to go through the entire fuel system and possibly clean the carbs

If the Diaphragm looks good should I just replace it anyways?

Re: chrysler/force questions

did you time the motor with a load on it?

Re: chrysler/force questions

I haven't touched the timing, but am aware that it needs to be set while under load.

I just got done cleaning the carbs out and think that might have been the problem, it looked like the old fuel lines had broken up and got stuff caught up in the carbs. I cleaned them good and removed all old fuel lines and will replace them tomorrow. the diaphragm looks ok so i'm going to just run with it for the next test run tomorrow night and will probably order a new one next week.

at the very least this motor has to at least run better than it did last weekend now that Ive cleaned the carbs out

Re: chrysler/force questions

took the boat out tonight for test run #2, much much better. still started to die after running at wide open throttle for a bit but this time when we would squeeze the primer bulb the motor would pick up speed again so the new fuel pump diaphragm will be on its way in the next couple days to hopefully get this thing running great.

Top speed tonight was about 35mph (crappy original speedometer). i'm not sure what prop is on it and can't seem to find any markings as to what pitch it is, I am assuming its the same as what ever came on the 125 from the factory but who knows, I'm hoping it will pick up some more speed and torque once I get this fuel stuff taken care of completely.

Re: chrysler/force questions

mnmike3 said:

took the boat out tonight for test run #2, much much better. still started to die after running at wide open throttle for a bit but this time when we would squeeze the primer bulb the motor would pick up speed again so the new fuel pump diaphragm will be on its way in the next couple days to hopefully get this thing running great.

Top speed tonight was about 35mph (crappy original speedometer). i'm not sure what prop is on it and can't seem to find any markings as to what pitch it is, I am assuming its the same as what ever came on the 125 from the factory but who knows, I'm hoping it will pick up some more speed and torque once I get this fuel stuff taken care of completely.

Click to expand...

yea, your starving as everyone thought. Make sure you dont run it like that at all. When you starve for fuel you starve it for lubricant as well. Not only that its lean and lean is hot. Hot+no lube= disaster.

Re: chrysler/force questions

You are correct, a mis-angled snout will cause a boat to pull to one side. It kind if a trail and error thing like you mentioned. If your boat pulls to the left then angle it to the left. And the same holds true for the right. What grease did you use on your steering system? My is due to be re-lubed.

Tom

Re: chrysler/force questions

Built in tank? Bugs get in the line and block it.J

Re: chrysler/force questions

92: Yeah once we figured out that squeezing the primer bulb made it run better we backed off and took it nice and easy back to shore, only actually died twice on me so it should be ok. it was only starving for fuel after 2 or 3 mins at wot.

Sweeper: I moved the snout a little bit before heading out last night and it made a difference still not right but better so I moved it some more and will see what happens once I get the fuel pump fixed up. I just used some regular grease my brother had at his place for lubing bearings and such, if I'm not mistaking thats not the right kind? I figured its better than nothing and its all getting pulled off this winter during the boats rebuild so I will clean it up and redo it then. I know it helped out allot though

Jerry: yeah its got a built in tank, all fuel lines were replaced and the vent hose was checked to be sure it was clear. I'm pretty sure it was just the old fuel lines breaking up and clogging stuff up along with an old fuel pump diaphragm.

Re: chrysler/force questions

Ok now I'm starting to get frustrated, I got my new fuel pump diaphragm put in tonight and took the boat out to the lake and It didn't go very good. once again the motor runs amazing at idle and mid throttle, last time (before diaphragm) it ran great at wot for a few minutes then seemed to be starving for fuel unless we were squeezing the primer ball. tonight it didn't even want to get up to wot.

We adjusted the screws on the top of the carbs to lightly seated, then backed out 2 1/2 turns, let idle, turned in screws 1/8th turn increments till motor started to sputter then back out 1/4 turn. after doing this it ran pretty good for 30-45 seconds and then it seemed to be starving for fuel again. If I put my hand over the inlet for the top carb it would run better but not good, if I did the same with the bottom carb the motor would die. this leads me to believe the top one is running lean?

like I said i'm getting frustrated and i may be overlooking something or i don't know, feels like i was making progress and just took 3 steps backwards tonight. any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Re: chrysler/force questions

You're floundering in an endless sea. Get a PFD, (manual), and start from ground zero. Your problems are probably minor adjustments, but without these learned folks actually being on site, a (manual) will get you where you want to be.

Re: chrysler/force questions

I don't have the extra money for a manual right now (I hate being broke)

I decided to start tearing the 125 power head apart So I could see if there was anything I needed to check/ clean on the 115 powerhead, found some screens behind the plates (1 on top and 1 on bottom) on the fuel pump side of the motor where the vacuum lines hook up that were clogged pretty bad on the 115, I took them off and cleaned them out, once again it runs great on the muffs but not in the lake.

Only thing I can think of now is timing, plugs/rotor (the plugs looked almost new so I didn't change them) or I'm missing something. maybe i don't have a strong enough spark when the motor is under load?

The biggest thing that is confusing me is it ran fine at wot for a while before I put the fuel pump diaphragm in, but now it won't even get the boat up on plane. One other thing I did was put a clear hose on in place of the smaller vacuum line that runs to the fuel pump and there is gas going through that hose. I replaced it with some rubber gas line now. is there supposed to be gas in there?