1992 Force Outboard Alarm

Haterasman

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Bought a 1992 Maxum with a 120 hp Force Outboard on it. It's been sitting in a rented garage for 8 years. My buddy owned it and only used it 3 or 4 times. Boat and motor are immaculate. He wanted it gone and I got a heck of a deal on it ( I think )Put boat in water today and it started up right away, idles real nice. Started out on river and a load alarm sounded. Came right back to dock and shut it off. Motor was pretty hot to touch.Has impeller dry rotted from sittin all those years? Had good water coming out of the 2 peaholes. Any help?
 

bentle

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Re: 1992 Force Outboard Alarm

After running the motor for 5-10 minutes shut it down and see if you can touch the motor around the spark plug area and on the exhaust plate without getting
burned. Should be a little warm to the touch but not burning you. When the motor is idling does it push out plenty of water? If so you may have a short in your
overheat sensor or a defective sensor, also you can pull sensor out of motor
And see if it is dirty or has hard water buildup on it. Clean replace and try again.
Check thermostat for prop operation and clean out area where it seats.
I did read that thread and link from last post and I have to say he is dead on with
the detailed info there. After 8 years if sitting I would go through all of that on my
motor to avoid future mechanical prob.
 

Haterasman

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Re: 1992 Force Outboard Alarm

Thanks for the info. I have average mech. skills, how difficult is it to change impeller on this motor?
 

bentle

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Re: 1992 Force Outboard Alarm

Not hard at all. Ok youmay sweat a bit but I believe just about anyone can do it. When I did my
first one I did it by feel and put it all back together the way it all came off. Just one thing though.
Don't over tighten any bolts. If your not sure then snug them in by feel. Better that than breaking anything or stripping threads. If it any bolts don,t want to come right off then try pbblaster or wd40. Go ahead and get a force manual for you motor. It's a must if your doing your own repairs.
Remember that most of the housing including power head is aluminum.
 

Haterasman

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Re: 1992 Force Outboard Alarm

thanks alot. do you know of a site that will show engine parts schematic so I can get impeller part number?
 

jerryjerry05

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Re: 1992 Force Outboard Alarm

Don't restart the motor.You can do damage to the cylinders and more.
And probably burn your fingers by touching the head.
boats.net has the diagrams and the parts you need.
After 8 years it needs to be changed.
I just bought 2 impellers for my motors.$30 with shipping.

Your parts. F694065 IMPELLER -WATER PUMP $23.24
 

Haterasman

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Re: 1992 Force Outboard Alarm

Thanks. I hope I haven't already overheated it coming back to the dock. Not knowing what the alarm was for, I ran it a little bit to get it back in. I let it sit for a few minutes and started it again, it ran fine and I shut it off
 

bentle

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Re: 1992 Force Outboard Alarm

Get a force manual for your motor it will really help. I use the clymer force manual
for my outboard.
 

Haterasman

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Re: 1992 Force Outboard Alarm

Removed thermostat this morning and put it into some boiling water. Watched it open real nice and watched it close after it started to cool. Feel pretty certain that I can reinstall it. Going to attempt pulling lower unit off to get to impeller. No reason to give up on this old thermostat, is there? Also am bidding on manual on ebay.
 

Haterasman

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Re: 1992 Force Outboard Alarm

Well I did it. I removed the lower unit, shaft comes out of coupler to make easy to carry around. took pump housing off to reveal a metal cup, impeller is in here. To my suprise, the impeller is not in a million pieces. It seems to be plyable enough, Just ears bent over but thats it. I'm waiting for new impeller to arrive to reassemble. what else am I missing? thanks
 

cmjust0

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Re: 1992 Force Outboard Alarm

What about the key that holds the impeller to the driveshaft? Was it there? It should have stayed on the flat spot of the driveshaft when you pulled the housing, or perhaps it would have fallen down onto the wear plate.. Hopefully not down the slot into the water intake, but...lol If the key was missing somehow, that would allow the driveshaft to spin *inside* the impeller without actually turning the impeller.. If that's not it, umm...what about the plastic tube that connects the top of the waterpump housing to the water intake pipe on the motor? Still there? If not, water would just be spraying up inside the lower leg and not really making it to the engine..

It's not like it's a bad idea to go ahead and put a new impeller in it -- that can only help things -- but what I'd do as soon as that's done is start it up on a hose to get an idea of the volume of water coming out through the prop.. If it's pumping just a little bit of water and the overheat buzzer goes off, I'd start looking for some kind of restriction in the water jackets.. If it's pumping plenty of water that's maybe bathtub warm and you can still touch the motor without burning yourself and the buzzer goes off, I'd be looking at the overheat sensor..

I'm *NOT* an outboard mechanic, though.. I'm just a fellow Force owner with a bit of knowledge of the cooling systems on these engines, applying a bit of logic to the problem as described, and going through what I'd be doing if I were you. :)
 

Haterasman

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Re: 1992 Force Outboard Alarm

thanks for your input. I think I've come up with a theory. I think it's pumping some water but not enough. Reason mightbe that impeller after 8 years is molded into a certain shape with no flexibility. Shaft passes thru water pump on a off center configuration.When shaft spins,impeller has to contract and then expand out to accomadate this eliptical orbit so to speak. Since it is not making contact with metal cup at certain times( because rubber to brittle to flex) it is not pumping up full head of water
 

Haterasman

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Re: 1992 Force Outboard Alarm

By the way, Didn't loose key way and plastic nozzle is where it is supposed to be. When I get new impeller,I'm going to have to bend the ears to get it to fit cup, Can they bend in any direction. will starting engine later cause them to point in a certain direction? I was told to rub impeller with Dawn dish soap to lube it up.
 

bentle

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Re: 1992 Force Outboard Alarm

Yeah its kinda like mounting a tire on a rim. If the fins are bent over far enough then that would be a prob. After sitting for eight years it would be like an old dry tire that you really need to replace but just haven't gotten around to it then you fill it with air only to find out it leaks cause it can't hold the pressure. Not that im a tire mech but I think you'll get my meaning.
 

Haterasman

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Re: 1992 Force Outboard Alarm

well I finally got new impeller. I installed it and reinstalled housing. Right now I' m havin hard time getting lower unit with shaft back in place
 

Haterasman

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Re: 1992 Force Outboard Alarm

Lower unit is all back together. was going to run it in driveway but don't have a big enough receptacle to put water in. Going to the river tomorrow morning,Hope this solves my alarm going off problem
 

Haterasman

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Re: 1992 Force Outboard Alarm

Boat and motor run great. New impeller did the trick. An impeller left in the engine for any length of time loses it's flexability, No flex, no 100% flow of water in this Force Engine. I would suggest changing impeller, test out thermostat, and making sure there in no obstructions in tube that extends up to power head every season. thanks
 

jerryjerry05

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Re: 1992 Force Outboard Alarm

Good job.The impellers take a SET they look good and maybe pliable but just won't work as well.
Thanks for the last post!!!J
 
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