Re: To buy a 1999 Merc Force 90hp?
ive owned two 90hp force outboards in the past & my experience with them were awful! both lost compression in or two cylinders and stranded me. finally picked up a 1975 johnson 85hp & its ran great ever since. The mechanic who installed the johnson for me told me a story about an old guy out fishing in a new trophy with twin 120's that had both powerheads fail on him while helplessly floating out into the ocean picked up the next day by the coast guard with hypothermia. radio must not have been working or something, point is these motors, more than any other line have stranded and failed more boaters than probably all brands combined. They are a finicky engine, If they suck in a hint of water their done for, they have to be decarbed at the least once a year. they just were not built with quality to take on the rigors of real boating. im not just a "whiny force owner" just a consumer giving an opinion.
There's always a story like that. "
A friend of a friend once told me about an outboard that stranded an unlucky guy in a shipping lane and was run down by a super tanker. My personal experience with Chrysler/Force was not too bad. I bought a 1984 18' tri-hull with a 1984 Chrysler 75HP non power tilt and trim in the summer of 2000 from my father in law. I used that motor pretty hard from 2000 to 2007. I deployed summer of 2008 and did not use it that year. Maintenance Items as follows: I rebuilt the carbs in 2006. I replaced the headgasket in 2003. I had to rebuild the carbs in 2006 because I was lazy and did not put fuel stabilizer in at the end of 2005. Besides that it always started and ran on command.
The 75HP would push my boat up to about 37MPH with wife, 3-4 kids, 2 dogs, cooler and usually about 18 gallons of fuel. It never left me stranded on the water and I towed in 3 other much bigger, newer, and more expensive rigs. It smoked, drank the gas, I hated the non power tilt and trim, and it was not too quiet. As for parts availability, I was always able to find parts from Fair Winds Marina in Annapolis, MD. They always had the impellar kits, carb rebuild kits, head gasket, & temp sensor. They are not cheap, but had the parts and were local to me.
Spring of 2009 I came home from Iraq and decided upon an economic stimulas package of my own and bought a new 90HP outboard with power tilt and trim.
I'm with everybody else, 2k sounds too expensive. If the motor was maintained well by its previous owner than it should last you a while. Just do the basics before you buy. Check the lower unit oil, and do a compression check. If it has only run in fresh water I would expect it to be in better shape. Get some type of warranty after installation if you buy it. After it is installed take it out and really run it. Give it a good work out over a couple of days to shake out any "bugs".
