86 Force 125 Carburetor needles and seat

[a_scales]

First post here, tried my best to search the forum for my answer first, but didn’t turn up much.

I recently bought a boat that has a non-starting Force 125 on it, and the carbs are leaking fuel when I crank it. I cleaned them with carb cleaner, put them back on and still had the same problem. I ordered a rebuild kit, but it appears this kit comes with a a rubber tipped needle. However on my carbs there is (was) a green o-ring in the press-in seat. I haven’t been able to find any details about this seat in particular, and only see info about the rubber tipped needle.

Does anyone know the size of the o-ring? Or will the rubber tipped needle seal the same in this seat as the later models?

 

[a_scales]

So, I looked a bit more, and ordered the FK10120-1 kit as well since it includes the little o-rings. Wish this was documented a bit more. One way or another I'll get it all put back together. The only question I have now is do I just shove that little o-ring in there? Or is there a retention ring somewhere in the seat?

EDIT: https://forums.iboats.com/forum/eng...tboards/10211627-so-i-m-gonna-clean-the-carbs found this thread, seems like I just need to push it in square... We'll see how that goes.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Yes just push it in.
I use a center punch from a punch kit, it has punches from 1/32 to 1/2"
A drill bit with the end ground down will work too
Make sure the tool fits tight so it goes in evenly.

 

[a_scales]

Yes just push it in.
I use a center punch from a punch kit, it has punches from 1/32 to 1/2"
A drill bit with the end ground down will work too
Make sure the tool fits tight so it goes in evenly.

Awesome. Thanks for the advice. I'll see if I have a drill bit the right size. I'll also measure the o-ring size, so hopefully other people will be able to find that info in the future.

 

[a_scales]

I got the carbs rebuilt, but the motor still won’t start, and fuel comes out of the carbs. Have spark on three of the four plugs. Even with a little starter fluid, I don’t get even a thump out of the motor. What could be the issue here? Reeds? I know compression is normal last I checked. The only symptom is the starter kinda hits resistance repeatedly so it gets going and then slows quickly

 

[jerryjerry05]

Do a compression test.
Your last words( starter kinda hits resistance repeatedly so it gets going and then slows quickly)
That sounds like a compression problem??
Compression can change from day to day.
Post results.
That OK ? Drop the lower unit and see if it turns over better???
Check the flywheel key.

 

[a_scales]

Pulled the flywheel off, and the key is sheared, and it was pretty clear the timing was wayyy off. Now it looks kinda rough under there. I assume it isn’t supposed to look like this.
Seems like the flywheel was rubbing the trigger, is that normal? I’m still getting spark so I’m guessing it’s not ideal but not gonna kill anything.

 

[a_scales]

[No message]

 

[Redbarron%%]

You can get some grinding compound and use that to lap the end of the crank and flywheel to clean it up. The crank is pretty hard and the flywheel softer. I just worked the wheel back and forth to get a good fit and then cleaned all of the compound and reinstalled the flywheel.

 

[a_scales]

Got the flywheel back on, sprayed some starter fluid and it sputtered a bit, so confirms my problem. Should be easy-ish from here I hope.

edit: seems like it’s backfiring and not starting. So it needs a bit more love.

 

[a_scales]

Thanks for the help everyone! It won’t idle, but I got it running with a little bit of throttle.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Do the comp test yet???
Backfiring: the air screws set wrong, sucking air somewhere, SF test?

 

[a_scales]

I got it to idle pretty well with a bit of adjustment on the screws. I’ll spray some SF around the block and see if there are any problems there. Then I’ll do a compression test. I went out and got a better tester than the Harbor Freight one I had.

 

[jerryjerry05]

The only good thing about the HF tools is they do give results.
WAY off but they show if the cyl. are close.

 

[a_scales]

I also ordered a set of square o-ring seats designed for another carb that are $9 for a pack of 20. I’ll post some more info once I test them out, but I think they’d be a good alternative for the repair kit I bought since I only needed the rings and nothing else.

 

[NashForce125]

It sounds like you may be flooding at idle. I have been fighting this same issue on a 1985 model 125hp that I bought used for the last few months. I ran the gauntlet with troubleshooting this motor and finally broke down and bought the service manual. The issue turned out to be the float level setting. A previous owner had set the floats to be parallel to the carb body, which is pretty standard for carbs. The previous owner had rigged the timing linkage to advance the timing at idle (thats another story all together) to burn the extra fuel.

This particular carb model that was used in 84-89 125hp motors wants to float to have a 13/32" gap from body to top of float when the needle seat is closed. I adjusted my floats and now I got it idling normally on muffs. I still need to do a water test, but it actually starts now!

 

[Josecaliente]

It sounds like you may be flooding at idle. I have been fighting this same issue on a 1985 model 125hp that I bought used for the last few months. I ran the gauntlet with troubleshooting this motor and finally broke down and bought the service manual. The issue turned out to be the float level setting. A previous owner had set the floats to be parallel to the carb body, which is pretty standard for carbs. The previous owner had rigged the timing linkage to advance the timing at idle (thats another story all together) to burn the extra fuel.

This particular carb model that was used in 84-89 125hp motors wants to float to have a 13/32" gap from body to top of float when the needle seat is closed. I adjusted my floats and now I got it idling normally on muffs. I still need to do a water test, but it actually starts now!

How did you make the adjustment? Bend the metal tab up towards the needle?

 

[jerryjerry05]

Josecaliente
You having trouble? You should start your own thread.
The first 4 post have a loot of tips and tricks that can help.

 

[Josecaliente]

I ended up figuring out how to adjust the floats. I’ve replaced the needle and all gaskets but I’m still leaking fuel from my carbs.

 

[The Force power]

I ended up figuring out how to adjust the floats. I’ve replaced the needle and all gaskets but I’m still leaking fuel from my carbs.

As Jerryjerry already mentioned;
You should start your OWN thread by making a new post with your problem