Motor issue any ideas or thoughts?

[broncosguy711]

OK I got the tank figured out, the float was pretty well shot from sitting so long in Tennessee. But after that all was great and running good, then all of a sudden I was running across the lake about 3/4 of the way taking my 3 kids (3,4 and 8 years old) over to see the cousins on the other end of the lake and the motor seized up totally and stopped.

to make a long story short it took us 1 1/2 hours to get back trolling and then a nice guy towed us across the big part of the lake back to our bay so I could troll back in. so finally got the engine un seized and turned over fine and ran really good. then all of a sudden when the motor wwas totally opened up it would kill.

so that stumped us and after that could only go 3/4 throttle and started making sounds. but nothing looked loose. any ideas where to start besides getting a new motor?

the motor is a 1989 85 horse force.

thanks-

Broncs

[countryboy9799]

One question

Why do you keep running it when you dont appear to have the problem fixed. Seizing a motor up takes some serious life out of the engine if it doesnt destroy it.

Ok, now for some more questions

Could you tell if the water pump was working? How long was it ran? Could have been that the carb was to lean also.

[upnorth]

Are you mixing your fuel with enough oil???

[Surface Tension]

I'm thinking your impeller is shot and you overheated the engine.

[broncosguy711]

I was running the motor for about 1/2 to 45 minutes before it seized up. The gas was mixed at 25:1 as it was the first tank of the season then I change it to 50:1 like the directions state. The water pump was pumping water very solid as that was one of the first thoughts for the problem. Turns out there was a spark plug that was dropped into the bottom casing of the engine that was making the nasty rattling sound when I ran it after it seized. So have the sound issue. Also could it be that thte seafoam might have a effect on it? the boat did sit for a long time in previous years. I did have issues last year where the motor would not stay running when shifting gears, but tagged that up to sitting so long because after a couple uses it just cleared up. Hope that answers all the questions.

Also anyone know where I could take the motor to get it fixed? I am hoping to have it ready for the 4th of July, but my guess is that is not going to happen. I live in the Blaine area. And if I am looking at getting a new motor and want to keep it at least at 85 horse what type of pricing am I looking at?

thanks-

Broncs

[Fishin4Life]

There are usually a bunch of motors on hsolist. Just look under boats. Its a site full of classifieds. I think I saw a 90hp on there the other day for around a grand. Hope this helps. Good luck! Sorry to hear about the motor

[broncosguy711]

hsolist.com?

[Fishin4Life]

yes, or hsolist.org either one will get you there. Then click on the minneapolis link, then click on boats. Search through the adds I do believe there are a few motors on there within the last few days

ps if you dont click on minneapolis, you are looking at California, which might be a bit of a hike to get a motor, LOL

[broncosguy711]

so I am just curious as how will this work if there are issues with the new motor? how do I know I am not buying someone elses issues? Sorry but want to make sure what I am buying is worth it.

thanks-

Broncs

[Fishin4Life]

You could get it inspected by a local marine dealer. You never really know if you are buying someone elses issues when buying used. This is one of the risks that goes along with it. But a good inspection should settle the nerves a bit when making this purchase. Also you can get a feel for how the guy sounds when you talk to him, you can usually tell if he is b.sing you around or not. I know this isn't a solid answer, but hopefully it helps.

[broncosguy711]

That response works. I am just figuring out how many more hassles I am going to get with the motor I have now to see if it is worth spending the money on. as do not know how much it will cost to have anyone just look at it not including repairs.

[Hubcat]

I had a problem where I would be cruising along and all of a sudden my motor would kill, after that I could only go 100 yards before it would kill again. It turned out to be the gas tank, when the tank got about half empty air would suck into the gas line. The problem was where the line goes in the tank there is a plastic tube that connects to another tube, when the gas got below this joint it would suck air and kill the motor. It seems the seal between these two were not tight anymore so I tried to glue it to seal it but that did not work, so I bought a new tank and that solve the problem.

Could this be what is happening with you?

Just a thought Bob

[Surface Tension]

Explain what you mean by seized up.

[broncosguy711]

motor was running fine at full speed then all of a sudden the motor stopped and would not turn or anything when I tried to re-start. So got back to the cabin. trimme dthe motor all teh way up and was able to move the prop, but the top (that the starter sprocket goes into) would not move when I tried to turn the motor over. Then let it sit over night and it then turned over and started to tun the next day, but when I would get up to full throttle it would act like not enough gas and sputter and miss then kill at full throttle. but would run at 3\4 speed. does that make sense?

[countryboy9799]

If it locked up like you said it could have overheated, like I said in my first post you may have done considerable damage already but I would not operate it for long like this untill you figure out what is wrong.

The fact that you let it cool down and then it works leads me to believe that is what happened.

Did it bog down before it siezed up?

Did you smell that the motor had gotten excessivly hot?

Good luck

[broncosguy711]

there was no warning at all. just seized up. I found a place in mpls that will work on it for around 90.00 per hour but can not find anyone else to compare it to for pricing. motor was not hot or anything. as I could not get it to run right away so I pulled the motor cover off and started hitting the reset switches in the engine and it was not hot at all.

[Surface Tension]

Did you try and turn the fly wheel by hand and it didn't move or you turned the key on and nothing happened?

$90 an hour is about right.

[broncosguy711]

At first I did both by hand and key and it did not budge. then the next day I could turn by hand and that was when I turned it on by Key.

[marine_man]

It's really hard to pinpoint one thing that is causing your problems.. but at this point I think your best bet is to have the motor leak tested or compression tested to see if you've got cylinder problems.

Start there... that way you'll know if you have something to work with or not...

marine_man

[Valv]

Quote:

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motor was running fine at full speed then all of a sudden the motor stopped and would not turn or anything when I tried to re-start. So got back to the cabin. trimme dthe motor all teh way up and was able to move the prop, but the top (that the starter sprocket goes into) would not move when I tried to turn the motor over. Then let it sit over night and it then turned over and started to tun the next day, but when I would get up to full throttle it would act like not enough gas and sputter and miss then kill at full throttle. but would run at 3\4 speed. does that make sense?

---

Guaranteed you seized due to overheating. When motor cooled, metal contacted and let it run again.

Check your compression before you spend any money on labor, if there's more than 10% difference between any cylinder.....time to get another motor.

[broncosguy711]

Here is the dumb guy to know enough to get in trouble. How do I test those things?

if you want to e-mail directly you can to me @ [email protected]

thanks-

Broncs

[Valv]

You are not dumb, just don't know few technical procedures that most people is unaware of.

You will have to get a compression tester (approx $ 30.00) and check compression on each cylinder. It doesn't matter much what the reading pressures are, just be sure there is no more than 10% difference between the cylinders.

In any case, you should have a mechanic inspect it to know exactly where you are at.

[broncosguy711]

so if I take my boat to the repair shop that should/could be 1 of the first tests they do? As like you say I would rather not put 2-3 hours at $90.00 into the engine to find out it was compression. Thanks valv

Broncs

[Fishin4Life]

I am sure it will be the first thing they do if you specifically ask them too. I would start out by telling them exactly what you told us and then see what they have to say about the whole deal. A decent shop will be very willing to talk with you if they want the business. I personally do not go to shops if they won't answer a few questions for me. If I find one that does answer my questions I don't mind spending extra money if they cost a bit more for the repair because you know they are willing to help out. If they are jerks I find someone else.

[broncosguy711]

The hard part with that is I only found 1 place that works on Force engines and that is in Minneapolis off of Washington. ANyone know of anyone else that works on Force engines? I did kind of explain and the guy said there could be a number of problems with it. and left it at that. I took it as being busy but also a brush off.

Thanks

Jeff

[Surface Tension]

It could be a number of things. Most dealers can't spend the time diagnosing problems cover the phone so it really isn't a brush off. I think you should get yourself a compression tester, if things check out OK then I'd replace the impeller and possibly the thermostat.