force motor slow cranking

[dewey123]

I have an 89 force 50 i have been having problem with slow cranking and it not starting. A few weeks ago i thought i solved the problem when one of the crimps on the battery fell apart. I recrimped it and it cranked over fast and fired right away like it used to. I bought a starter solenoid but have not swapped it out. My starter is alittle loose in the bracket but i didnt think it was binding in the flywheel but now im not sure if thats the problem or if my starter is bad and isnt getting full amount of power when i try to start it. It slowly started this problem were it was a slow crank then picked up to a fast crank and fired up then slower and slower to where it is lucky to fire up. I have a current draw and drained my battery the last tiem out when i left the battery in the boat. charged it sat night for about 5 hours and appearantly it wasnt enough. Now with the cownling off a puff of smoke came off a black wire and i taped it up. I dont know if the starter heats up...i would assume it does but the battery gets VERY hot. The small wires heat up on the battery but the big wires going to the starter i assume dont get hot...or i didnt notice them getting hot. The wires are tight under the wing nuts on the battery. Any thoughts comments are appreciated. I dont want to start replacing good parts my clymer repair manual points me toward the starter but i guess id just like some reassurance. Thanks guys

[Sean Youngblood]

Yes Dewey that was me at the dock that told you to run the Tohatsu.I would try the new solenoid but my guess is your starter is bad. Hopefully that is all.That was a lot of smoke when you jumped it.You can take the starter off and probably have it tested at auto zone for free.There are a few places around that rebuild starters as long as the winding's are not cooked.I would check the inline fuse also to make sure it isn't corroded in there.If you have tried the old starter trick of tapping the starter you could have broken the magnets and it could be stuck to your winding's.Some of the outboard starters the magnets are epoxied to the outer case,and easily break when tapping on the casing.Good luck and get it fixed while the fish are still comping at the bit.I saw a 1984 50 hp Force not sure if it would be the same as yours,on Rochester Craigslist for $150.00 with controls.Not running, no spark.It could be a good parts motor for you or you might be able to put your power pack in it and run it.Here is a few ideas hope something works for you.

[dewey123]

Yeah that puff of smoke concerned me alittle bit lol. But I will trace it out when I can before work. Ebay had some decent prices on starters and I can't remember the site had some aftermarket starters. I should have bought it a few weeks ago but it was running good after I recrimped the wires. That tohatsu is the best investment I made for that boat. I won't be up this weekend but the weekend after ill be out fishing.

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[MCF]

One of the signs of a failing starter is that it takes more juice and effort to get it to spin.

[TrophySeeker]

89 Force. Hmm... I believe that was designed before unleaded gasoline? Before you spend any money for parts, I would recommend you do a compression check. The leaded gasoline Force motors are notorious for piston coking.

Hopefully, if your problem is in the starter, possibly the ground connection is corroded? I wouldn't think the problem would be the starter itself, but I am no outboard mechanic. I did live through a few Force rebuilds though...

[dewey123]

I did a compression check about 4 months ago when I had to carb rebuilt. I have a compression test gauge so maybe ill check that this weekend

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[dewey123]

well my neighbor helped me pull out my starter because it was really loose in the bracket...a screw missing. So he opened it up cleaned everything up, found 1 of the brushes was installed upside down and another brush the spring pushing it up on the contacts was half off the brush. Now that we cleaned it and reinstalled it it starts like a champ now. It was kinda loose a few weeks ago when me and randy111 were out and had problems and discovered it was loose but this time it was real loose almost loose enough to not need tools to take out the starter. I never realized how easy it is to rebuild a starter...given that the windings arent fried. Thanks for the input guys I figured id post this for anyone with a similar situation and try to be helpfull

[Mortigan]

89 Force. Hmm... I believe that was designed before unleaded gasoline? Before you spend any money for parts, I would recommend you do a compression check. The leaded gasoline Force motors are notorious for piston coking.

Hopefully, if your problem is in the starter, possibly the ground connection is corroded? I wouldn't think the problem would be the starter itself, but I am no outboard mechanic. I did live through a few Force rebuilds though...

The friend I usually ride with recently started having issues with his Mercury Force 125. Is there a local mechanic (Rochester area) you'd recommend?

[woody 184]

Mortigan, Hank (L&M) does a great job on anything you need......... Woody

[Mortigan]

Thanks - I'll drop him a PM. We're on a charter Saturday but that might be it for us for the season unless I can help him get his engine tuned.