Newbie buying a Force

[punkrguy]

Hello all. I'm going to go look at a new (used) Bayliner bass boat on saturday with a 85hp Force with power trim/tilt. Just wondering if there was anything "special" or "unique" with these motors that i should be looking for (besides the normal compression, leaking fluids, impellor has good pump of water etc). Thanks and i look forward to spending time on this forum!

 

[Dave K.]

Re: Newbie buying a Force

i've owned a '84, 85hp for three very successful years now & looking forward to this one. nothing mysterious about them, pretty easy to work on even for me. if the motor was taken care of you should be ok. stay up on the maintenance. what year is the set up?

 

[punkrguy]

Re: Newbie buying a Force

Its a '85. I'm pretty handy around an engine and was just making sure there werent any "quirks" about this engine i should look for If theres nothing like that than i will just make all the usual checks and be on my way with it and hopefully be happy come spring time Heres a picture of her.

 

[Dave K.]

Re: Newbie buying a Force

not bad, not bad at all!! looks like a nice set up there...

some don't run on "muffs" to well. i tried them, & mine doesn't like them. some people have had better luck though, but i don't like taking chances so i use a big bin filled w/ water or simply go to the lake. use the search forum for muffs - many, many posts on the subject. other than that, like i said if the motor was well maintained - it will give you good service. oh yeah, mine gets about 25miles on 5 gallons doing about 20 - 22 mgh. i think that's pretty fair for economy but i don't beat mine either..gd luck & keep checking in

 

[slasmith1]

Re: Newbie buying a Force

As someone who has owned and maintained an 85 force outboard I would strongly reccommend against it. I found myself spending way more time fixing the motor than using it. Also the company has been out of buisness and out of production for over 10 years. while there are still some parts available now I would ask myself how long I intend to keep this boat.

 

[punkrguy]

Re: Newbie buying a Force

Thanks for the information Dave! Getting the whole set up there for 1,100 so i couldnt pass it up. And the 2 minutes of looking online i found a few different websites that handle parts for it and my local boat shop said they can get parts so im not too worried about it plus i do my own work so service on it is not an issue. Look forward to talking with all you.

 

[Jack Daniels]

Re: Newbie buying a Force

Parts wont be hard to find, don't mind the haters. The nicest thing about these motors is with this forum and a manual you can fix about anything yourself. I am a newbie when it comes to repairs but these engines are easy, i resealed the lower unit by myself, changed the head gasket, and a few other easy items. Don,t worry, my engine is almost 25 years old, these things tend to need replaced after that long. But the good thing is i still have 140 PSI on each cylinder, go me. Good luck and enjoy the rig.

 

[punkrguy]

Re: Newbie buying a Force

Thanks Jack, i tend to NOT listen to the haters Ive been working on vehicle, boat, snow mobile, blah blah engines since I can remember (31 now) so im familiar with a wrench or 2 Cant wait till spring to try this "new" boat out!

 

[javsam]

Re: Newbie buying a Force

I agree with Jack Daniels,That 85 hp Force was a very good motor,and Force motors are very simple to work on.They Originally were designed by Chrysler and were designed to keep things simple and cheap to repair. Thats a steal for 1100, I live in Wisconsin and that boat would go for twice that here.
Go For IT!

 

[punkrguy]

Re: Newbie buying a Force

Haha javsam.......thats where im located! Madison (mcfarland to be exact) and you are 100% right! Ive seen those boats on craigslist in the summer going for even 4k. The guy is moving to a place that he cant have a boat at (ie house is getting fore closed on im sure and is moving into an apartment), so he NEEDS to get rid of it quick! I already have a boat but i couldnt pass up this deal. Gonna fix my other one up alittle bit and sell that one in the spring time. Where are you located at?

 

[javsam]

Re: Newbie buying a Force

I am located in Appleton, about 1 1/2 hr from Madsion. If I were you, I would put a new water pump impellar in,do a decarb,and use seafoam for a carb cleaner to keep the engine running sweet.

 

[gjm]

Re: Newbie buying a Force

Have the owner go over all the starting procedures. Pressing key in for choke, Pulling out knob on controls for high neutral starting,. ect. ect. The owner can tell you all the little things he or she does to get it started and keep it running.

 

[wajajaja02]

Re: Newbie buying a Force

If you have a merc dealer who is willing to go the mile to get the parts, your good to go, one dealer near by wouldnt touch it, and another, seemed to get anything i need in two days for my 125. guess who gets to maintain both of my boats now.

 

[punkrguy]

Re: Newbie buying a Force

Thanks guys. I went down and bought it this weekend. Its actually a '87 and in really nice shape. He threw in another 15hp tiller motor and a bunch of other goodies he wanted gone before he had to move (batteries, props, life vests, covers, tubes, gas tanks etc). Probably got close to a grand worth of extras from him Javsam im actually originally from Princeton so i know exactly where Appleton is (actually went threw Fond du lac on the way back to the folks place yesterday to drop the boat off for the winter). I plan on the usual spring tune up (my other boat gets one every spring no matter what). Thanks for all the positive posts!