1985 force,boyesen reeds

[Shifflett115]

Whats up everyone ,are boyesen reeds more reliable then the stock reeds ,im looking for reliability here. I heard that the stock reeds will break or crack alot of times ,dose anyone know the ups and downs of using boyesen reeds in my force outboard by the way its a 1985 force 125

 

[pnwboat]

Re: 1985 force,boyesen reeds

Each type of reeds has it's pros and cons.

I've never experienced this, but I hear that the later later Mercury reeds 1990 and later (or somewhere about there) have more of a tendency to break. Earlier reeds don't seem to have as much problem.

BOYESEN REEDS:

PLUS
Two stage, better air flow resulting in better idle,throttle response and performance.

If one does break and get sucked into the engine, low likely hood of doing any engine damage since they are made from a composite material.

MINUS

Cost..... In the neighborhood of $100 for your motor. Is the cost worth the improved performance? I have a 1988 125 HP that I put a set in. Not sure it was worth the cost. Definite improvement in idle, slight improvement in top end and throttle response. Maybe 100 to 200 improvement in RPM at WOT. If you do damage a reed, you have to buy a complete set. Another $100 or so.

Not as resistant to damage from things like engine back fire. Although I can say that my engine has a tendency to "sneeze" once in a while when starting and no damage as of yet.

STANDARD REEDS:

PLUS

Low cost. About $10 for one reed petal assy. for 1988. If you break one, cheap to fix. NOTE: Price differs for different years. Later model Mercury design are really expensive because you have to purchase the whole reed assy.

Rugged design. My original metal reeds are over 20 years old, and were fine.


MINUS

If one does break and get sucked into the engine, good chance of additional damage caused by a piece of metal flying around in the motor.

In my case, the jury is still out on the reliability aspect. I've had the Boyesen reeds in my motor for a couple of years with no problems. If you want to go with proven reliabilty, then the standard metal reeds would probably be the best bet. This is just what I've experienced. Other folks may have had different experiences. Hope this helps.

 

[john from md]

Re: 1985 force,boyesen reeds

Boyesen Reeds are made of carbon composite. If your engine is in tune, fuel delivery system ok and timing correct, they will work and give you a better idle and better response at the lower rpm range.

If your engine is not in the condition stated above and it should backfire through the intake, the boyesen reeds will be destroyed. They cannot take the occasional backfire that comes from say, starting cold without engaging the choke.

Yes, steel reeds can do damage to an engine if they come apart. However, the conditions that damage them, overrevving and constant backfires, are controllable by you. Maintain and operate your engine properly and you won't have any problems with stock reeds.

There are exceptions to this. Recently my engine ran lean due to a hose connection coming loose, it allowed the engine to backfire a few times and it backfired a few more times as I was troubleshooting it. The result was bent reeds in excess of the .020 gap that is allowed and a poor running engine. However, they did not come apart.

Considering the fact that they are almost 25 years old, I think the OEM reeds work just fine. (plus six of them only costs $54)

John

 

[Shifflett115]

Re: 1985 force,boyesen reeds

The motor is tuned right but i do get that sneeze somtimes on cold starts ,iwas just worried if reeds get weak with age and i just didnt want one to fail ,i have no issues with how the motor runs with the stock reeds i was just wondering if i should replace due to age,i would like to know what you guys think

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: 1985 force,boyesen reeds

At 5000 rpm, Think about how many cycles those reeds make in a long day of running. (300,000 per hour.) If they were going to fail, It wouldn't be due to years of age. Like electronics, they would most likely fail in the first hour of use. In all my engines, I have only had one stock reed petal fail on my 1967 Chrysler 55. It passed right through the engine without doing any harm to the piston or head.

Note that the manufacturer has no recommendation for a timetable to replace stock reeds. Boyeson not only recommends a step up in carb jet size but also recommends periodic reed replacement.

I will admit though: The later four petal, squared end stock reeds do have more response but they do have a higher failure rate than the five petal round end reeds.

 

[john from md]

Re: 1985 force,boyesen reeds

I wouldn't replace them due to age. Like Frank said, you can put a new set in and not be guaranteed that they wouldn't fail in short order.

Just keep an eye out for the signs of possible reed issues. Too much smoke, more than the normal fuel spitting out of the carb, no response from the mixture screw, engine not affected by pulling a known to be good spark plug wire.

Probably the worse enemy of reeds is backfiring. The best thing to do to keep them healthy is to keep your engine tuned and know how to start it properly.

John