Hard Starting on a 1985 force 125, 2 stroke

[punkyBOATER]

I have a Bayliner Capri equipt with a Force 125 that has some starting problems. It always seems to end up starting but i have to turn it over for ever. Im running it at a 50:1 mixture on 91 octane fuel. The last time out i even had to give both carbs a shot of carb cleaner and even then i had to turn it over for awhile. Now keep in mind its not just when i first fire it up i still have the problem even out on the lake after running for a good while. I notice a particular difficult time when i have to run it at very low throttle into a deep cove with a no wake rule. I drop anchor and hang out awhile and when i go to start it i almost always have a problem. It usually ends up starting after much cranking with a big puff of smoke at full throttle. Im considering i might be running too much oil even though thats what the sticker by the gas cap says to run at, or maybe i need some carb work. I just changed plugs so i dont think thats the problem. When im out towing skiers i barely have a strating problem at all, im guessing cause im running it pretty hard and the plugs dont have time to load up??? I already ran a 1/2 can of power tune through it and it seems to get worse after. Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

 

[eurolarva]

Re: Hard Starting on a 1985 force 125, 2 stroke

YOu should not be using high octane fuel for this motor. Drop it down to 87 octane and maintain 50 to 1 which is the correct mix for your outboard. Have you tried adjusting the carbs to run better? There is a procedure in the manual to do this. The next step will be to rebuild the carbs and fuel pump. If you dont have a manual you should get one now because you are not going to find a lot of Force Mechanics. Most of them feel these are throw away motors and dont like to work on them.

 

[punkyBOATER]

Re: Hard Starting on a 1985 force 125, 2 stroke

Thank you very much for the advice! I do have a mannual and i had a feeling about not running high octane on this motor cause i read it somewhere on this forum. Is there a reason why its not good to run high octane in this motor, im just curious. Thanks again!

 

[eurolarva]

Re: Hard Starting on a 1985 force 125, 2 stroke

They were originally designed for 87 octane gas. Higher octane gas creates a detonation problem because of too much hydrocarbons. Higher octane fuel will actually cause pinging and carbon build up faster on these motors because they can not burn them properly. I have heard people burn high octane in their vehicles and I never understood why. I have never used high octane except in my chrysler outboard and it ran like crap for that whole 6 gallons. Stick with the 87 octane and make sure you are using a marine grade two cycle oil. Run that for awhile and then if it dont fix the problems you will have to look into your carbs.

 

[Oldsaltydog]

Re: Hard Starting on a 1985 force 125, 2 stroke

Sounds like you need to work on your fuel system as EL suggests. Do you have a water separator filter? How about your inline filter and your plugs -- are they up to par? Does your primer bulb function okay? How well is your choke working? Are your carburetors adjusted properly?Those motors are also easy to flood, so you have to watch it. Mine starts best with the idle speed shifter pushed half way forward when cold. When it's warm, I just turn the key and bingo. By the way, despite the "official" point of view, my 90HP Force has always run better on mid-grade gas as opposed to low octane. The same is true for NGK plugs versus Champion.

 

[punkyBOATER]

Re: Hard Starting on a 1985 force 125, 2 stroke

Im running new plugs and my choke works good. I think ill take a closer look at my fuel system and maybe even rebuild the carbs and fuel filter. I guess my main concern was the fact that everytime i ran it slow like in no wake areas for long periods of time and then shut down it was always very difficult to start after. I thought maybe i was fouling the plugs up. Maybe since i was giving it full throttle it was flodding and that explains the smoke when id finally get it to fire. Thanks guys for the info, i now have some things to check out.