1995 Force 120 missing

[Jon pontoon]

I would appreciate some help if anyone wants to steer me to a solution.

I have a 1995 Force 120. I bought the boat in July and the boat and engine needed some TLC. The first nagging problem the engine would not charge the cranking battery. I replaced the stator and rectifier (both tested bad with meter) replaced battery cables to solve the issue. As we used the boat for the past couple of months i can feel a low rpm miss and it became common for the motor to die after a full throttle run which is a headache entering the slip or pulling up to the fuel dock. I originally thought it was fuel related. I replaced hoses, bulb, rebuilt the fuel pump and carbs. As I was reading the manual to understand linkage adjustment, I stumbled upon checking the ignition timing. I have an automotive inductive timing light from my hotrod days and found where the ignition timing was at about 10* before BTDC. I tried to adjust the position of the trigger relative to the tower linkage but there was not enough adjustment. I read where stalling at idle after a run is a symptom of a trigger failing. I ordered a new trigger and installed it. I can actually advance the timing to 18* BTDC. There is a nagging miss that is noticeable at low RPM so I have since replaced all four coils, wires, and the switchbox. I still have that miss. The stall issue seems to be corrected. I did make sure that the 0 coincides with the number one piston is at TDC

One thing to note is that the stator on the engine was the red rubber molded stator with arrows indicating the proper position. The stator that I bought is Jetunit with instructions that say "install in the same position as the old stator". I have rotated the stator through several positions with no luck on my ability to set timing but the harness limits some mounting options due to the harness is very rigid where it attaches to the stator and I don't want to damage the wires by trying to bend them out of the way.

Can someone help me understand what factors affect ignition timing on these engines? I have never felt so beat up by something mechanical.

 

[foodfisher]

Have you gone through the stickies at the top of the page?

 

[jerryjerry05]

Low speed miss can be:
The air screw needs adjusting?
There's an air leak somewhere? do the starting fluid
test and see if that makes the motor run any different?
The 4 port covers have gaskets that go bad and can suck air.
Bad head gasket?
Cracked block?
Carbs loose?

 

[Jon pontoon]

Hey guys. Thanks so much for responding. I was new to forums and did not understand what “checking stickies” meant regarding finding information on here. My timing issue was due to not understanding procedure when setting timing at cranking speed. I did not have trigger at wide open position. Got timing set and the miss was ultimately the wires between the switch box to coils were corroded. Once replaced the miss was corrected.

 

[Dave K.]

Low speed miss can be:
The air screw needs adjusting?
There's an air leak somewhere? do the starting fluid
test and see if that makes the motor run any different?
The 4 port covers have gaskets that go bad and can suck air.
Bad head gasket?
Cracked block?
Carbs loose?

Jerry I'm trying to get a hold of you. Can't seem to find a private message link

 

[jerryjerry05]

Dave K
Sent you a PM.