Force 125 revs too high?

[smoses99]

Hello,

I tried researching this but seem to have the opposite issue going on. 1987 force 125 that starts and idles great. I do not have a tach. It failed a week ago. Just waiting for replacement. But by ear is idling in the proper range. When I put it in gear, this motor wants to go! I'm guessing immediately after it revs to about 2000 rpms, maybe 2500, remember this is by ear, but it definitely isn't staying in low rpm. I dunno, only thing I've done to it recently is impeller change. Been running fine, up until today. Thanks for any help!

 

[Jiggz]

Have you tried adjusting the idle screw at the bottom of the timing tower?

 

[smoses99]

Yes, no difference noticed when put in gear

 

[Jiggz]

So in neutral, it idles fine but when placed in gear it engages but then revs high. Is this correct? If such is the case, then a cable adjustment needs to be made. Did you work on the cable, control lever, etc that would have affected this? Or is this a new motor to you you are trying to fix?

 

[smoses99]

Yes, that's exactly what it's doing.Same motor for 2 years now, fires up great, no choke needed, idles like a kitten, just wants to take off in gear. I have not worked on the cables recently, but it has sat for a month. Could one have froze up or stretched? I am able to move, not far, but move the lever that activates the neutral safety switch, so I have some play in that cable.

 

[smoses99]

Referring to the safety switch, it never goes back to complete center, it goes enough to activate the switch, but usually stays more on the side I just went to neutral from

 

[Jiggz]

It's most likely the shift gear and the throttle gear inside the control lever controls are binding. The next best thing to do is to remove the control and inspect the inside to make sure the shift gear is free to move by it self until the lever is again move forward to engage the throttle gear to increase rpm. Again, this all depends on the style and model of your control unit.

 

[smoses99]

Great, I'll check that tonight

 

[jerryjerry05]

Don't adjust anything until you install a new tach.
Tiny Tach under 20$

Google Tiny Tach

 

[smoses99]

I took a look in the control and they are not catching each other. They move separately at the motor too. I did no adjusting. My tach should be here any day now. What's my next step? Thank you guys again. I've been stumped with this one.

 

[Jiggz]

It's really not that hard to take note. When you shift into gear, the throttle cable should not move. Unless, while shifting into gear you actually went a little too far. You can verify this by having someone do the shifting and making sure where to stop when shifting into gear. And at the same time watching both the shift cable shifting into gear and if done correctly, the throttle cable should not move.

If the throttle cable didn't move at all and the rpm goes up by simply shifting into gear (which by law of physics should actually go down because of added load), then there must be some bad spirits raising the rpm without moving the throttles.

Exorcism! Maybe?

 

[smoses99]

Alright guys I figured it out. The cables were out of adjustment. I really dont know how, never had issues before from changing my impeller, none the less, it's fixed. Appreciate your time and thoughts. Is this a common issue? Like I said, never had to do it before.

 

[Jiggz]

It happens but not a common issue unless someone starts tinkering with the cables or the control lever assembly. The main reason for cable getting out of adjustment is the tilting of the motor. When tilting the cables goes through bending stress and can actually cause misadjustment. Enjoy.