1997 Force for Purchase

[jim6090]

I hope to purchase a 1997 boat with a 120 HP Force by Mercury. Low hours. Is this a good - reliable engine. Please respond tonight!!!<br />Thanks,

 

[Oshi]

Re: 1997 Force for Purchase

Use the search forum located at the top of the page and this should help you with your question. Do a compression check, test the lower unit, and do not be afraid to ask questions about the who owned the motor, the uses, etc... Let us know what you decide.<br /><br />As for reliability, I think you may be asking for trouble. Those motors are not very good, although many people like them, and some others do not. Good luck to you! <br />Oshi

 

[93bronco]

Re: 1997 Force for Purchase

check it out good. they are good motors but require more than average attention to detail. i have a johnson 120 that is just plain crap, and would gladly take a force any day. been working on this disaster for a while now.

 

[steelespike]

Re: 1997 Force for Purchase

There are plenty of bad motors out there in<br />my opinion Force is at the top of the list.<br /> Even if it runs perfectly the whole time you own it,you have limited resale value and no factory parts support except for that allready in the system. I have a 38 year old Merc that I think<br />has more tech and parts support right here on the net than the Force.

 

[metalmessiah]

Re: 1997 Force for Purchase

I have a 1997 force 120 on my bass boat.I personally think they are great motors...especially for those of us who arent professional mechanics.very simple engines compared to the other brands.I have been looking around for the past month at the parts issue, just out of curiosity, and havent seen this parts availability problem some people are talking about.even asked around some dealerships & they tell me they can get any part I need for it & say many parts cross reference with other motors.all I can say is check it out before you buy it, stay up on your regular maintenance and you will love it.as for lower performance and fuel economy compared to other brands, I havent noticed any disadvantages with the force.good luck with whatever you buy.

 

[crappiefisher]

Re: 1997 Force for Purchase

i bought a 97 fisher boats with a 75hp force on it 3 years ago and i have had a couple of small problems but nothing major it has been a very good motor but i had never even had a bolt turned on it good luck ofcouse have it check out

 

[HAV2FISH]

Re: 1997 Force for Purchase

If it's a 1997,120 force then it is a force made by mercury. All parts are still available and any mercury dealer can work on it.

Just have the compresion and lower unit checked befor you purchise it. I would have this checked with any type of moter i was thinking about getting.

I like my 96, 120 force never gives me trouble and starts and runs strong every time.

 

[RRitt]

Re: 1997 Force for Purchase

There are plenty of bad motors out there in<br />my opinion Force is at the top of the list.<br /> Even if it runs perfectly the whole time you own it,you have limited resale value and no factory parts support except for that allready in the system. I have a 38 year old Merc that I think<br />has more tech and parts support right here on the net than the Force.

you've got to be tetched in the head. Mercury is the biggest pile of poop on the water. When they developed a reputation for falling apart in saltwater they simply changed the name to "mariner" without ever addressing the core reason why they had so many failures. Force powerheads never had a self destruct problem until AFTER mercury made them. Don't even get me started on mercury's over priced parts and how they will intentionally do something like take a 0.05 oring and give it a small lip so that you have to buy their oring at $10 ea. To top it all off I was sitting down here in my florida home watching the local saltwater fishing show. A mercury engineer was on TV telling me why mercury's new engine was better for saltwater. he said because it had more stainless. How can you take any company seriously when they say stuff like that? Stainless is the reason why aluminum turns to crap in saltwater. The ONLY reason to use stainless is because aluminum does not have sufficient strength or shear. So they made the problem worse but it sounds good in a commercial? And you think that is a good company? Give me a break. I'd rather take the engine out of my lawnmower than run a merc.

and, of course, we could also discuss the single biggest pile of crud to ever float ... otherwise known as mercruiser stern drives.