1989 85 hp force l drive won't start after in water for 30 mins.

[thao]

I have a 1989 85hp force l drive that won't start after it's in the water for 30 min. Can anyone tell me what's wrong?

 

[steelespike]

Re: 1989 85 hp force l drive won't start after in water for 30 mins.

You'll have to clarify "won't Start" do you mean it won't crank?or it cranks but won't run?
Not trying to be funny but are you saying it will start for 29 minutes?
We need details.

 

[procraftguy]

Re: 1989 85 hp force l drive won't start after in water for 30 mins.

some more detail but if its running for 30 min then dies id say over heating maybe ?will it start after that if it sits for awhile are u running out shuting off then wont start? Still overheat problem likely. How do plugs look? Ill try to help just need more info

 

[thao]

Re: 1989 85 hp force l drive won't start after in water for 30 mins.

Sorry, I should have been more specific. If I run it for more than 30 mins, and turn it off then I can't start it back up anymore. It cranks, but won't run. If I crank it for too long, then battery dies. If I rest it for 30 min, then sometimes I can start it back up again. The spark plugs turn black after every use. It also dies when I shift it from idle to forward, but I keep it in forward and turn the engine on. I also noticed that the engine uses very little to almost no oil at all, could that also be an issue?

Through out last year, I've only had one day of the boat not dying on me. I'm not even sure what I did right that day.

 

[procraftguy]

Re: 1989 85 hp force l drive won't start after in water for 30 mins.

The idle is the reason it dies when u shift (more then likely ) check out the carb and timming sticky its great help.had same problame with my force it was not cooling enough i replaced impeller added tell tail flushed out cooling system and all better .if u cant hold ur hand on motor at top of head
when running its to hot

 

[thao]

Re: 1989 85 hp force l drive won't start after in water for 30 mins.

I forgot to thank you, procraftguy. It took a while, but I was able to figure everything that was wrong with this lemon. I was able to take off the lower unit and saw a huge crack in the housing for the impeller. I couldn't adjust the idle for the longest time, until I found out that idle screw was missing. The reason I didn't use up any oil, was that the previous owner told me that the resevoir tank for the hydrolic fluids was for OIL, and I kept pouring oil into that, not knowing what was going. Eventually, the engine just stopped running. I had been running the engine with out premixing the gas (I found this out from the owner of the shop that I buy my boat parts from).
Being new to boating, I had no idea what to do, but thanks to the helpful hints from you guys (and the shop owner), I was able to save thousands of dollars in repairs.

I now have the boat up and running as best it can, for being a 20+ year old boat, not to mention it being an L-drive. Hopefully with proper maintenance, I can get my money's worth of fun.