Mercury or Chrysler?

[goblerblaster]

The 120 HP 1987 model motor I am looking at buying says "Tracker by Mercury Marine" on the cowling. It has a power trim switch on the motor itself as well as gear shift, but is not oil injected. I have read that this is a stripped down Mercury that was a transition engine during this year model from when Mercury bought out Chrysler "Force" engines. Some say it is a Chrysler power head with a Merc lower unit, some say it is 1000 % Mercury, some say you can't get parts for this year model very easily.

The guy that is selling it sent me a video of a compression test where all 4 cylinders showed right at 125 PSI. He said he had added Boynseen reeds, but not had the engine re-rung.

Any thoughts on the engines real manufacturer or whether this would be one to avoid. I certainly don't want to purchase an 17 year old engine and not be able to get parts for it.

Thanks for your insight.

 

[achris]

Re: Mercury or Chrysler?

It's a Force, Mercury bought Chrysler in the 80s, and re-badged them as Force. Continued to sell them until about 98. The lower units were Mercs.

 

[goblerblaster]

Re: Mercury or Chrysler?

It's a Force, Mercury bought Chrysler in the 80s, and re-badged them as Force. Continued to sell them until about 98. The lower units were Mercs.

So, with that being the case, do you know if it is hard to get parts for them? I have read in other forums that Mercury no longer "supports" the Force line with good part availability.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Mercury or Chrysler?

Perhaps you mean 1997? In 1987, Force was still marketed under the U.S. Marine label and I am not certain that they re-badged engines for other manufacturers. As far as I know, NO Force engine ever came from the factory with a trim switch on the engine cowl. I could be wrong though.

It could be a Mercury block or it could be a Force block on a Mercury leg.

And, Mercury did not buy the Force line. AMF Brunswick bought Force from Chrysler around 1985. Later--probably around 1990 (because that's when Mercury parts started to show up on Force engines) They bought Mercury. From 1990 until the Force line was discontinued around 98-99, more and more Mercury modifications appeared on the engines.

While a lot of parts for Force engines are obsolete and NLA, most of the important stuff is still available.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: Mercury or Chrysler?

Yes they re-badge them to Trackers.
The 87 was never a 120
The 97 is.They were also used by Tracker
Post a pic of the electronics and shifter and we can tell you what you really have.
Most places don't want to work on them and they aren't real hard to fix.
Most parts can still be found.