1999 Force by Mercury - starting problem

JD Stanley

Recruit
Joined
Nov 14, 2011
Messages
3
I am the third owner of this 1999 Nitro sport 185 boat. My current problem has lingered since last year. I replaced the battery mid summer last year and the boat ran well this spring. It currently does not have enough crank to turn over and the battery tested at 1070 CCA. I found a September 3, 2008 post form "Spinkick" with similar problem that should help me with most of the diagnostics. Question 1: The engine required apx. 650 CCA to start. If I replace that battery with a 1000 CCA battery could I be causing the damage to the starter or starter solenoid? Question 2: If I can not identify the problem by the time the weather shuts me down, can I fog the boat using the pull cord and store it safely for the winter? I am fairly new at boat maintenance and all information will be helpful. Thank you

I tried the battery in the S10 and it started right up. I place the battery back in the boat and it barely turned over. Not enough to start. I tried pull starting the engine but cut only pull 1-2 rotations. I am not sure how easily the motor should pull using the rope! If I pull the plugs then pull the motor with the rope, will that tell me anything?

My brother is going to test the resistance in the cables and starter when he has a chance! I did replace the water pump in the spring but the boat ran fine until I had to remove the throttle to repair a cut trim wire! Thanks again!
 

mercman2

Seaman
Joined
Aug 10, 2011
Messages
56
Re: 1999 Force by Mercury - starting problem

No on both questions, thats the minimum CCA's required. It sounds like your starter may be getting a little week.
 

roscoe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
21,657
Re: 1999 Force by Mercury - starting problem

Yes you can fog with the recoil rope.

Then remove the plugs and spray into the cylinders.

Probably half of all small outboards are never winterized, because people don't know any better, or are lazy.

Any amount of fogging oil is better than none.
 

jerryjerry05

Supreme Mariner
Joined
May 7, 2008
Messages
17,923
Re: 1999 Force by Mercury - starting problem

What we working on???Profile?? You might be close to someone who can help.

Possibly???
The starter needs cleaning/rebuilding.The compression is low on one or more cylinders. The lower unit bearings could be going bad and creating drag on the starter.
The cables old and not conducting enough power.The solenoid(probbably not).
A bad cell in the battery(not likley if it's new).

Pull the plugs.Still hard to turn over?Do a comp test first.Then the starter.J
 

Jiggz

Captain
Joined
Oct 23, 2009
Messages
3,817
Re: 1999 Force by Mercury - starting problem

You don't even need the recoil rope to fog the cylinders. Just remove the all plugs and you should be easily able to rotate the crank manually through the flywheel. Just make sure you rotate in proper direction (clockwise looking down on the flywheel) so as not to damage the water impeller. If you cannot rotate the crank manually with all plugs remove, then there is your starting problem, it could be some kind of binding from the flywheel section.
 

jason32038

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 25, 2009
Messages
555
Re: 1999 Force by Mercury - starting problem

I prefer to do my fogging with engine running at 1/4 fast idle so the engine doesnt die as easily. Remove silencer and Spray directly in carb... in cyl 1 until it ALMOST dies then move to cyl 2 until it almost dies...then to 3 til it almost dies....wait for it to smoooth out then spray 3 again til it almost dies...then 2 til it almost dies...then spray 1 heavily....if it doesnt die spray 2 and 3 heavily. I have a 3 cyl...if you have 4 then do the same. Remove spark plugs and spray 5 seconds in each cylinder and replace and rotate flywheel by hand. I prefer heavy fogging....light fogging instructions just dont make sense to me for some reason. After all that I slightly loosen carb bowl bolts and drain fuel....unhook fuel line from tank and pump primer until all I get is air and let remaining fuel drain from bowls. Just an idea...that's how I do it and I do not know bout 99' force mercs just sayin. :)
 

JD Stanley

Recruit
Joined
Nov 14, 2011
Messages
3
Re: 1999 Force by Mercury - starting problem

Gents, I just installed my new starter and the engine turned over twice but failed to start. On the third attempt, the starter just spun w/o engaging. I proceeded to recharge the battery and cleaned all the connections from the battery thru the solenoid to the starter. Again, I got two engagements w/o starting and then the starter just spun. I did connect the starter solenoid straight to the battery using jumper cables with the same results, the starter spun w/o engaging. Any suggestions?
 

bentle

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 2, 2011
Messages
492
Re: 1999 Force by Mercury - starting problem

Sounds like a defective starter. If you purchased it cheap then its most likely foreign made parts and all. See if you can warranty it or refund.
As the saying goes. You get what you pay for.
 
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