1988 Force 125 overheating at idle speed

" I just bought a 1988 bayline

" I just bought a 1988 bayliner w/ a 125 hp.force outboard,i've had it out only 3 times and twice it has triggered the overheat buzzer at trolling or idle speed.It seems to be allright at cruising speed.Both times i knew what the warning buzzer mean't and immediatly shut engine off and let it cool until buzzer didn't come on when i turned key.On the 2nd occasion after it cooled and i started it again i cruised to a little cove about 3 min. away where i was planning to drop anchor and fish anyway, and let it idle for at least 10 mins.to see if the buzzer would go off again but to my surprize it never did.I'm thinking maybe sticking thermastat.What do you think?
thanks for your time,
Brian "

" I had a 1987 force 125 on a

" I had a 1987 force 125 on a bayliner. The thermostat is a quick check, it takes 1 minute to pull, boil in a pot on the stove, see if it opens at about 140 degrees. I found that the force 125 has water jacket problems in the design of them. The two middle cylinders, ( 2 & 3), run a lot hotter due to poor water circulation, and the fact that the are in the middle, and retain more heat. My force ran hot, and over the course of last summer the compression on the #2 & 3 cylinders trended downwards until I totally lost the #3 cylinder. I now have an evinrude.
If I had to do it over again knowing they run hot, I would have modified the thermostat by drilling holes in it to allow more water through.
You can,t just remove it because you lose A lot of efficiency by running cold for to long. "