Logo

1989 Bayliner 85 Force Outboard Having problems starting.

Terry Ronk Jr.

New member
I have a 85 Force Outboard and can't get it to start. I brought the boat home changed the lower end fluid changed spark plugs drained out all the old gas. I Then premixed gas and nothing. I checked each spark plug and none of them are getting any spark so I didn't think all 3 coil packs would go out right away. So then I moved a little further checked for loose wires nothing. getting gas to carbs you can smell it. So i'm thinking it has to be an electrical wire. Motor turns over but just won't fire because of spark. So I bought a stator for it and put that on and still nothing. Anyone have any other idea's what It might be? Please help Thanks for your time and effort.
 
Did the magnet on the flywheel come loose?How about the kill switch?
Outboardignition.com has test procedures for the outboard.
Check this and get back.
Sent you a pm.J
 
Checked the Magnet and it didn't come loose and kill switch is good. Tested fine. The Stator since we got a new one has higher Ohmes. But still nothing. Checked wires over nothing looks broken or cracked or cut or anything. Any other idea? Got to be a wiring issue right? turns over really good but no spark in any of the spark plugs. They are brand new and there still nothing they look brand new yet. Gas put new gas in and primer pump is firm full. Checked filter going to motor and its clean. you can smell gas in carbs. Any idea's would be great. Thanks
 
Could be the key switch(spray Wd-40 in the switch),could be the flywheel key,could be the kill switch(test that with the leads off and with a jumper between the connectors),could be a bad trigger.
You do all the tests on outboardignition.com If it's electrical they have checks for it.
Iboats.com has a repair forum try them.They have a few good guys there answering questions.
 
are you checking spark with a couple differant plugs? Rarely do all coil packs go bad at once. Was the old stator out of spec or did we assume that it was bad? Yes this is eletrical if you are not getting spark to any of the cyl and you have used a couple diff plugs. This does sound like the kill switch at the ignition. if it is "tripped" it will allow the motor to turn over but not start.
 
Yes I tryed with old plugs and thought they were bad so I bought brand new plugs and still nothing wrong and we were thinking the same thing coil packs dont' all go out at once so we started looking and the only thing we could think of was that the stator had to be bad cause it wouldn't get any spark to plugs so we put a new one in there. So i have tryed with the old plugs and the new plugs. Gonig to try the ignition switch and kill swith tomorrow will let you all know thanks all suggestions and help you have gave me.
 
Ok so nothing worked like I was hoping or wishing it would. First thing I did was went to the ignition switch and looked behind for a Black wire with yellow stripe nothing. I did find 2 black wires so I unhooked the 1st one tried it nothing put it back on the same one I took off. next went to the next black wire took it off nothing. Put it back on same one i took off. sprayed wd-40 in the ingition still nothing. looked under for loose wires found a purple one that isn't hooked to anything just a wire that is open on the one end. tryed to find out where it went looks like someone just tied it up under there. not sure why it would be open wires. But didn't see another wire where it might hook up to either. Then I put everything back together for the ignition part of it. Then I looked at the kill switch (lanyard) there are 2 wires on that. I tried to take each one off nothing, tried both of them off still nothing. So then i went to the engine and took off black wire with yellow stripe off (2 different wires) Took both wires off tried nothing. Tried 1 of them off nothing. Anyone othere suggestions or idea that you might think of or can help with?
 
try bypassing the kill switch. it maybe that you can just tie those two wires together. Im not sure how that curcut works if it is opened or closed. I will look further for you . Has this boat ran for you before? The way the first reply is thats the way it sounds.
 
Yes this boat has ran before, They guy who had it, had it for 8 years and said he maybe had it out 10 times he took it out 1 time last year and then decieded he didn't want it no more cause he never took it out. Thats when i got it and he said he would guarentee it to run. He forgot to put battery on charger so he said to take it home and charge it and let him know if that works. I called the guy back and he said to take it to the repair shop and get it fixed. So i decided I would try taking a look at it well then I seen he had the cables on the wrong side red was on neg. and black on pos. So then i switched them over and it turned over just like it was brand new just wouldn't fire. Then thats when I got new spark plugs and changed oil in it. Then it still couldn't figure it out. My brothers friend had one of these boats and he is looking at it right now. I was basically trying to be a nice guy and not charge this guy a lot of money to fix the boat labor and parts. But now i'm thinking I better just take it to the Boat repair shop and have them take a look at it. If you have any other idea's please let me know I am going to try to look at it a little more. The boat repair shop is booked for 2 weeks out yet. Thanks for all your help!!!!!
 
ahhhh.... check the regulator/ rectifier.. Switching cables on battery will ruin it. Not saying to put a new one on but definatly look into it and see if it is in spec. Do you have a manual?
 
I should have said "could" ruin it..i think you will be testing the diodes in this so put the NEG lead of your meter on the POS wire on the rectifier and with the POS lead of the meter touch each of the other wires one at a time. If you have continuity through all other wires swap the meter leads so the POS lead is now on the POS wire and with the NEG lead touch the other wires. You should have no continuity. This is the only way i can think of since this will be a bench test and not running test. hope this helps
 
Thats kinda what I thought to but we did a test on them and from what we are reading if we are doing it right the first pack runs 1 and 2 cylinder and 2 pack runs the 3rd cylinder. We tested the first pack and there was nothing on 1st cylinder but 2nd cylinder was about 40 omes and the 2nd pack we didn't have anything either.
 
Back
Top