1988 force 85hp

[chick of the sea]

hi to everyone,having trouble starting my 1988 85 force outboard,i have replaced the starter,new plugs,new battery.seems when you turn the key,the starter is struggling to engage and then just doesn't have the power to turn over the engine...any ideas.

 

[SB]

Re: 1988 force 85hp

I had a similar problem with my Sport Jet 90 (Force powerhead). It turned out that the bottom bolt had been missing for a long time and the starter loosened up and was binding when I tried to start it.<br /><br />My starter has two nuts on the top and one bolt on the bottom. If yours is similar check the tightness of all the nuts/bolts. I didn't notice the problem until my daughter happened to be starting the engine while I watched. I could actually see the starter shift position. Unfortunately by the time I realized what was happening I had ruined the starter. They don't mention this possibility in the Troubleshooting section of the manual.<br /><br />When I bought the boat a year ago I cleaned the bilge area around the engine and pulled out various nuts, bolts, washers and other parts. Now I know what some of them were. I even reused the bottom bolt on the new starter.

 

[robertmcp72]

Re: 1988 force 85hp

I had the similar prob on my 92 force 150 which runs beautiful to all those force haters out there.<br />Anyways I had the smaller factory ring connectors on my battery posts,I cut those off and went to the standard battery clamps,alo pulled the starter and cleaned the com and replaced the brushes, now it starts like a new motor