96 85hp Force vs 88 70hp Johnson

[Rovente]

1996 85hp Force vs 1988 70hp Johnson which would you put on your boat? Both run great. I know force has a bad rep. but what would you do and why?

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

The biggest thing to keep in mind is when you need service there will be more people and parts around for the Johnson. The only good things about the Force that I can remember are when it "blew up" it didn't strand me, and there are a few parts on them that are valuable to guys that work on older Mercs.

[Rovente]

Thanks for the response. So which one would you put on?

[L&M]

Do yourself a favor in the long run. If the Johnson is in good mechanical cond., compression etc.. That would be the choice if it were me.

[seasquirrel]

What L&M said. I would go with the Johnson. I had an 85 force on a bought a few years ago. It ran excellent and gave me great service. Older force motors were rated a bit under power too from what I was told. My motor finally blew up and cost me $1,700.00 to rebuild. I sold it right after that. I know parts are getting real hard to find for the older forces. The newer force motors I believe were made by mercury.

[Rovente]

2 people are siding with the Johnson, would anyone put the force on?

[Trap Jaw]

If that were my options I would rather play russian roulete then install the Force... Much better chance of not getting screwed.

Bottom line is that, even back in the day, the Force motors were the cheep alternative to the name brand motors. There is a way they made them cheep, cut corners. The quality and durability are just not there.

It's like rationalizing between an Kia and a Honda. Which is going to be better in the long run???

[rolmops]

If the Force was a mid eighties,shortly after Chrysler sold out to Bayliner, it would be a toss up between 2 equally good engines.Anything 1990 and up with the name force on it is best compared to trying to give your boat cancer.

The only time that I would choose Force over Johnson,would be when the Johnson is a 1999 Ficht which is even worse than a 1996 Force.

[Misty IV]

Just from personal use, I'd take the Johnson. My previous boat had a similar 75hp Evinrude and that engine was awesome. It started every time, was very reliable, and would troll all day long without a hiccup.

[Diversion]

Johnson, can still get parts.