More Force Woes

[harley151]

ok, heres the prob. Force 85 runs great at idle through about 30mph but, If I give it full throttle it will go but whenver I hit a wave it acts like it loses fuel pressure or something. i can throttle back down a tiny bit and its fine again. Carbs were done about 6 months ago and I inspected them thinking it was a faulty float or something but I dont see any obvious problems. the boat is a Capri and i was wondering about the fuel intake in the onboard fuel tank. You think the fuel line mabey broken inside the tank? and if so, it it replaceable? Thanks for any info. Great site!!

 

[oldboat1]

Re: More Force Woes

Interesting. A couple of guesses: Could be the fuel level in the tank -- fuel sloshes away from the intake. Could be cavitation (motor revs when you hit a wave wrong -- back to normal when you back off the throttle and the boat settles back?) It could be a weak fuel pump -- too much to handle when the angle to the tank is increased (resolving issue by pumping bulb could indicate fuel pump problem -- but I guess you would have to be pumping the bulb after you hit the wave and the engine misbehaves, maybe a little tough to coordinate.)<br /><br />just guesses....

 

[harley151]

Re: More Force Woes

oldboat1,<br />Thanks for the quick response, I have tried having someone pump the bulb while having the problem and no change. I also filled the tank up thinking the gas gauge died but still no help. <br />As far as cavitaion, I dont hear any change in revs. I dont have a tach though so I guess i cant be sure. You think I could hear a change if it was that?

 

[oldboat1]

Re: More Force Woes

Yes, you would hear the increase in rpms -- It's not subtle. <br /><br />I think I'm stumped too. Other than a collapsing fuel line somewhere (would typically happen when you are running hard), I'm out of suggestions.<br /><br />Hang in there, though, for ideas from other listers.

 

[daveswaves]

Re: More Force Woes

Another thought, is your vent line from the tank clear? If air can't get into the tank the fuel can't feed properly. If you don't have a screen on the vent hole spiders like to make nests in there and it can plug up.

 

[sproz]

Re: More Force Woes

I need to check mine on my bayliner as the tank is a very slow filler and the lakeside fuel station(who's a bayliner dealer) said check the breather,just wondering is yours fills slow..could be the problem??

 

[12Footer]

Re: More Force Woes

Something is loose,it if only occurs when u hit a wave. If, when you re-mounted the carb, did not use a new gasket, get some gasket material,an exacto knife, and make a new one. The reason I say all that is, the symptoms you describe happened to me once on the river. I removed the carb,unstuck the float needle, and remounted,of course,using the old gasket. The engine ran like a top,but when I jumped other boat wakes, it would stumble briefly, then take off like nothin was wrong... I figured I disloged something when I had the carb off, but after buying a carb kit, and re-building an already-clean carb, the squished gasket was alll I could think of that might've caused it. I tried it,and all was well.<br />Also, check fuel pump mounting screws, as these have a nasty habit of backing-out from vibes. Use locktite blue on them,and that won't happen anymore (again,I found-out the hard way).

 

[harley151]

Re: More Force Woes

Wow! Thanks for all the help. As far as a "slow filler" I assume you mean when I fill the tank it would make the pump shut off from being submerged. I havent noticed anything like that, it seems to fill fairly quick. Im not sure where the vent line is but I will do some searching tonight.We have had a billion spiders around with the hot weather so that mabey. Is there a way to test it at all? Like blowing in the tank or something? I will also check fuel pump screws and gaskets and get back to ya.

 

[norman158]

Re: More Force Woes

double check your float level sounds like it might be a little low

 

[harley151]

Re: More Force Woes

Ok, I replaced the hose going to the tank, took off and cleared the vent hose(which only had a little gas in it) and tightened the fuel pump screws(which did seem loose). 12Footer which gasket were you referring to? The one on the air intake side or the engine side, or the cork bowl gasket. I did see one on the intake side that was kinda worn out but didnt think that would affect it much, Am I wrong? Thanks Guys!

 

[harley151]

Re: More Force Woes

ok im back I took it to the lake but I still get the same problem, even worse now. I noticed now though, when I try to pump the bulb(while @ 3/4 throttle or so) it will not fill back up w/o some help or it takes a full minute or so.Its like it cant get fuel quick enough. Like I said before, its all new hose from the tank up and this is the third bulb Iv put on and its from the dealer. Not the Walmart one(addison I think). Is this normal?

 

[12Footer]

Re: More Force Woes

I was refering to the gasket behind the carb (between the carb and the reed block).<br />But you may be onto something. the bulb shouldn't pump solid underway, because the fuel pump is drawing fuel at a steady rate (pump is working), but if you can't draw fuel from the tank fast enough to supply the pump, bingo, the pickup filter inside the tank may be plugged. Is your tank mounted, or one of those portable jobbies? Iether way, there should be a flange where the fuel line connect to it..Remove this flange, and pull the pickup tube out of the tank.Clean or replace the filter screen on the end of it. I got my fingers crossed

 

[daveswaves]

Re: More Force Woes

Its tough to say re the squeeze bulb, however, if the fuel pump is drawing fuel and the fuel flow is restricted from the tank, the ball would tend to stay collapsed, or at least return slowly. If the ball returns to normal relatively quickly when you first prime the bulb with the engine not running then it should be OK. If the bulb is slow to respond then there may be a blockage at the tank. You have replaced the bulbs so its unlikely to be that. If you are having difficulty drawing fuel from the tank the fuel level in the float bowl could be too low for the running conditions you are requiring of the engine, in this case 3/4 throttle, waves etc. A number of posts here have alluded to fuel starvation, low float level, etc. By the way, my "spider" suggestion was based on the fact that the dead spiders, nests etc, plugged a fuel filter on me. Can you borrow a portable Force tank and see how it runs on that???

 

[daveswaves]

Re: More Force Woes

Hey 12 footer, great minds think alike. You out typed me.

 

[harley151]

Re: More Force Woes

Ahhh, I didnt know there was a filter inside the tank also. I will take the flange off tonight and check it out. Thats gotta be it. Thanks Guys!! I'll let ya know.

 

[harrison20002]

Re: More Force Woes

About a year ago I had the same problem. At WOT it would bog down as though it was starving for gas. I ended up replacing everything from the gas tank outlet to the fuel pump. Finally I replaced the fuel line going from the top of the tank to the filter, [inside the tank]. I discarded the in-tank filter and mounted a glass bowl filter just outside the fuel tank. No more problem. Hope this helps. Happy Boating, Hal

 

[sabot]

Re: More Force Woes

I have a 50hp force and it done the same thing to me. After spending sometime on it i found that the fuel line running from the pump to carb moved very freely and that you could see a nice clean long spot on the line around the clamp runninf downward about 3 inches such enough it was leaking and sucking air only when hitting wakes. Icut and and bought a new clamp and so far it has been fine. inside carb nice and clean no bowl sticks. goodluck

 

[harley151]

Re: More Force Woes

ok, guys im sure your sick of hearing about this problem but it just wont go away. Its the fist time Iv taken the boat out in a while and it still acts like its starving for gas above 20mph. I took out the inline filter and tried pumping the bulb and it does seem to help a bit but still bogs over heavy waves. Iv cleaned all the filters and replaced all the hoses from the tank up. Do the fuel pumps on the force 85's degrade? I can tell that while the bowls are still full it runs great and has full power(about 15secs)but as soon as the bowl empty's its bogs. Thanks for any help