125 de-carb... WOW, then............

[gregmsr]

De-carbed my 125 this weekend (warm up, loaded Deep Creep in carbs, shut off, spray in cylinders, replaced plugs, let set 1 hour). Fired right up and took for spin and WOW, what a difference. Ran like a scalded dog, for about 1 hr. Crusing along very pleased and all of a sudden RPM's dropped, started missing. Was late in the day so I (discouraged at this point) limped back to dock, loaded and went home.
Should I have to change plugs after de-carb?
What I plan to do:
Inspect/change plugs
Check for spark on all
Do compression check (should be above 120 and consistant, right?)
What other trouble shooting I should do?

 

[Bry21317]

Re: 125 de-carb... WOW, then............

I have an 88 Force 125, and decarb does work good on these motors.

I always change or at least clean the plugs off after I decarb. They say to change them, but alot of times you can just clean them up. The decarb will add alot of carbon to them very quickly after doing a decarb.

This is just my input, I am sure you will get alot more replies by some of the guys that know this really well.

Also the Compression should be fine as long as they are all within 15% of each other. My cylinders are all actually at 108-110, so they are kinda low, but it still runs great.

Hope you get it working better.

Bryan

 

[roscoe]

Re: 125 de-carb... WOW, then............

let us know what you find.

Plugs may be all that is needed.

 

[gregmsr]

Re: 125 de-carb... WOW, then............

Will do and thanks for the replies! This forum is great for me. ( Newb boater and newb computer user, new to this forum, i.e. double post).
By the way, what's the red flag in the left column mean? Sooner or later i'll get all this figured out!

 

[gregmsr]

Re: 125 de-carb... WOW, then............

OK, here's what i've found so far. Removed plugs,

inspected and they all were simi-wet with black soft

deposits (not real bad). They all looked about the same.

Then ran compression test, twice

#1- 136 (from top cylinder down)
#2- 140
#3- 131
#4- 128

Are these high readings?
No plugs had any evidence of water entering cylinder BUT, I did notice some slight staining of block under #4 cylinder at gasket. Looks like has been leaking brown water (dried up like silty water). Maybe this explains the reason for de-carbing I did in the first place. Missing at low idle and slightly above.
Could the lower compression number at #4 (12 psi lower) be evidence of leaking gasket maybe introducing small amounts of water into cylinder causing a miss at lower speeds? Full throttle it smoothed out.
Next, check spark tonight.

 

[Matthew A.]

Re: 125 de-carb... WOW, then............

I just finished dealing with the exact same issues as you described with my 85 hp force after decarbonizing the motor. Eventually, the problem cleared itself. The issue that I was experiencing was due to too much build up from not sticking to a more exact schedule of decarbonizing the motor as often as I should have. The issue that was plaguing my motor was spark plug fouling due to loosening of the gunk atop the pistons caused by incomplete decarbonizing of the deposits. I literally was cleaning the spark plugs while out on the water every 3 to 5 miles. However, I eventually decarboned the motor using Johnson/Evinrude's spray in decarbonizer. Following the directions on the can of leaving the stuff sit in the motor for up to 16 hours then blowing it out by running the motor and my problems were over. An easy way to confirm if your particular issue is what I described, look for sticky/tacky brown deposits on the spark plugs. The deposits appear tar like in consistency and appearance.

 

[gregmsr]

Re: 125 de-carb... WOW, then............

Thank you Matthew. Looks like I do have the same sticky/tacky brown/black deposits and what your saying makes perfect sense. From what I can see of tops of my pistons I will need to de-carb more as they look pretty gummed up. Just bought this rig and i'm going through it the best I can with my limited knowledge of O/B's. Learning every day!
Thanks again for your input!

 

[Matthew A.]

Re: 125 de-carb... WOW, then............


In my opinion there aren't many O.B.'s better suited to gaining first hand general knowledge of O.B.'s then Force O.B.'s. Their design is as basic as it gets that getting acquainted with them is like learning to ride a bicycle with training wheels on as far as their learning curve. (for me anyhow) Their construction may not be of the highest quality. However, as with most anything mechanical, the level of care determines it's lifespan. With little more then basic mechanical skills and tools, a Seloc or better manual and there's little one cannot repair or replace themselves.

 

[gregmsr]

Re: 125 de-carb... WOW, then............

I bought the Seloc manuel, that and reading this forum for hours has given me a good start in understanding O/B's and boating in general. Now I'll study some more and try to stop worring so much but thats just a product of the unknowns. Things are better already! Thanks.

---
Ive never done this before but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!

 

[gregmsr]

Re: 125 de-carb... WOW, then............

Up-date:

New plugs solved problem. Took to water yesterday and ran great.

 

[roscoe]

Re: 125 de-carb... WOW, then............

good to hear.