Re: Thoughts / Experiences with a Force
biggest issue I ever had with a force was they were mostly on entry level boats that the owners had no clue and were usually cash strapped so the maint was neglected. that was a draw back to a force, the maint is rather excessive but must be done or they die.<br />the design of the block assy really did not change since it was a chysler, the piston cracking issue was usually caused by the screens in the puddle drains becoming clooged causing a rich condition. most those motors ned a head gasket every 3 yeras or they blow for no apperent reason, the cooling system needs a tuneup every year as they DO NOT tolerate overheating nor hotspots.<br />in the salt pond if the drive shaft splines were not greased every year they tended to stick or wear out rapidly.<br /> the fuel pumps had rather large diaphrams and tended to fail, an issue they had even with the later merc square pumps.<br />the merc forces suffered from the same stator failures the merc did. the red stator kit took care of it.<br />the gearcase was marginal and does not like old oil. when you change it the oil coming out should be as clean as the oil going in, if its not shorten up the change schedule.<br />the bushings on the shift transfer bellcrank wore out every couple years and if run worn 2 dollars worth of bushings would cause 802 dollars worth of gearcase repairs,<br /> while these motors were simple and cheap they did not go well with an entry level owner.<br />but the 3 normal causes of piston ring coking were operator error in fuel mix,puddle drain maint and overpropping.
biggest issue I ever had with a force was they were mostly on entry level boats that the owners had no clue and were usually cash strapped so the maint was neglected. that was a draw back to a force, the maint is rather excessive but must be done or they die.<br />the design of the block assy really did not change since it was a chysler, the piston cracking issue was usually caused by the screens in the puddle drains becoming clooged causing a rich condition. most those motors ned a head gasket every 3 yeras or they blow for no apperent reason, the cooling system needs a tuneup every year as they DO NOT tolerate overheating nor hotspots.<br />in the salt pond if the drive shaft splines were not greased every year they tended to stick or wear out rapidly.<br /> the fuel pumps had rather large diaphrams and tended to fail, an issue they had even with the later merc square pumps.<br />the merc forces suffered from the same stator failures the merc did. the red stator kit took care of it.<br />the gearcase was marginal and does not like old oil. when you change it the oil coming out should be as clean as the oil going in, if its not shorten up the change schedule.<br />the bushings on the shift transfer bellcrank wore out every couple years and if run worn 2 dollars worth of bushings would cause 802 dollars worth of gearcase repairs,<br /> while these motors were simple and cheap they did not go well with an entry level owner.<br />but the 3 normal causes of piston ring coking were operator error in fuel mix,puddle drain maint and overpropping.
