1987 Force 125hp

[joe423]

I have a 1987 Force 125 on my blue fin sportman. When I hook the battery up and turn the key it just clicks. Any suggestions?

 

[SkiDad]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

maybe solenoid or starter going bad ?

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

Battery good? Load test it.
Test light at the solenoid.
Key switch activated,should have power at both battery terminals.
Power at both? Then the starter needs service.
Easy to clean/rebuild.Under $20
Parts can be bought at this site.
F15164 Mercury part#
Sierra part# 18-5697

Profile? Location? You might be close to someone who can help.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

These motors seem to have their own little quirks and we are trying to get to know them. Joe and I are working on this together. We have benn spending most of our time on the boat but, we are starting to fool with the motor. As he said it is an 87 125hp. We were able to get it fired up yesterday but did not get any water out of the two ports on the leg of the motor. Should we have? Only had it at idle for a short period, less than a minute, to see if it would run. From videos and pictures it looks as if water is supposed to be coming out of those ports. Now after reading posts and stickys it sounds like there is no tell tale and that if you want one you need to install it. Motor is new to us and was planning on changing pump/impeller, thermostat any way. Motor is currently on stand and pump/impeller kit and thermostat is in hand. Once we install new parts what should we be looking for? Motor sat for at least 2 yrs for po who bought boat to fix up but never got around to it. Motor ''looks'' in better shape than previous motors we have had. No butchered wiring, fairly clean, no modifications. We are hoping it will serve us well but are prepared for the worst. SELOC is very generic, if anybody has insight on where to get better manual info would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.We are using a barrel to run it in, not muffs.

 

[foodfisher]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

Who do I reply to? OP, What clicks? edit: I guess this is a tandem post. lokonn and joe423, be sure to set the lower leg deep enough into the water, well over the antiventilation fin, spits and spurts out of the exhaust ports is good. My OEM manual came from, newagemarineparts.com out of Idaho. There is a sticky about installing a telltale. FAQ above

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

The clicking was the starter solenoid. We jumped the solenoid to get it to fire up. Have a new one of those to install also. Kill switch lanyard is missing and have the switch button held in place by paperclip right now. From what I have seen so far, lanyard is discontinued. Anybody have any fixes aside from jumping out. Killswitch is in control box below ignition switch on the model we have.

 

[foodfisher]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

Choke solenoid should click also, when you push in on the key. No help with the kill switch.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

Pic of the kill switch? I might have a lanyard??
If it's the round one that holds in a little button,I might have it(just where is the question?)
Will search after the "tropical storm" passes.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

Thanks for the offer but ended up finding a lanyard at the store that had a bunch of different styles on it and one of the works well.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

We got the waterpump/impelller changed out yesterday. Thanks to Frank and the sticky. Went way better than I was anticipating. Sure helped to know about hidden fastenerunder thethe snout. Didnt have a chance to test it out, but still have to change t-stat, and solenoid for starter. Hopefully later today or tomorrow. We will report back after that.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

Well we got the waterpump, solenoid, trim relays, thermostat and telltale installed and this is what we got. Ran approx 1 gal of fuel thru her and did not sputter once. Next hurdle is to change lower end fluid and re-install shift cables to see what we have. Thanks to all.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp




Just remember the slotted screw on the middle of the lower is a do NOT touch.
The drain should be an allenhead set screw.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

Something else I forgot about. Tilt leaks down when you raise motor. I have seen references to others with similiar problem and a ''fix'' is referenced. Can't seem to find thread with procedure. If anyone knows about this can you please pass it along. Thanks.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

​Thanks for the tip!

View attachment 198267View attachment 198268


Just remember the slotted screw on the middle of the lower is a do NOT touch.
The drain should be an allenhead set screw.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

Still looking for service manual. Tried website mentioned above. Got nowhere there. Does anyone know how applicable a 1985 manual would be for our 1987?

 

[OldNBold51]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

my last boat had a 88 force 125 on it and I was very intimate with both upper and lower end. It may be just my laptop speaker screwing up the audio on your video, but your motor didn't sound like it was running on all cylinders. I think I'd do a plug check just to verify that you've got compression/spark.

Just my opinion.

 

[foodfisher]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

Sounded good to go. OEM manual covers 84-88. Try <newagemarineparts.com> again. That's where I got my OEM manual for my '86 125. That was in '09.

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

Website says it is owned by Ellisport Bay Marine, out of Idaho, but no website and domain shows as being for sale. Got a phone number for Ellisport Bay Marine, called that and got a hardware store. The manual for 1985 is on fleabay, just don't know how applicable it will be. It is a Force Service manual. Do you think it is worth the $30 investment?

 

[lokonn]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

my last boat had a 88 force 125 on it and I was very intimate with both upper and lower end. It may be just my laptop speaker screwing up the audio on your video, but your motor didn't sound like it was running on all cylinders. I think I'd do a plug check just to verify that you've got compression/spark.

Just my opinion.

Iwill check compression. Seemed to run well for a motor that hasn't been started in at least 2 years. I went a little heavy on the oil to gas ratio and had 2oz of Seafoam in the 1 gal gas can. She ran thru the gallon without any visble hiccups. Compression would be good to check though. We check before starting about 2 weeks ago and compression on the first time we ever turned her over was 90 on cls 1,2,and 4, cyl 3 was at 84. Will check again now thar it has had the gallon of gas thru it.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: 1987 Force 125hp

If your running and the comp test is at 90? Then you need a new guage?
Should be all close within 5# of each other. My guage reads 150 on a good motor.
Seafoam is a waste of $$ Dry gas,small amounts or just suck all the old gas out and replace with new.
A water/fuel seperating filter is good bet. A filter,Wally World, G2 or G 12 depending on hose size,between the carb and the pump.
Te older 85 has different packs and connectors.Tey were a plug and play kind of unit, the 87 they started with a screw down connectors.
Basically the same motor.