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  1. #1
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    1990 JOHNSON 120 V4 Looper good choice for repower on family boat ?

    Dear all - have a baylinder maxim family boat with a Mercury-Force 125 - has low compression in bottom cylinder - have opportunity to buy a 1990 johnson looper with yet another low cylinder for a good price ( IE picking a better motor to rebuild ) - any thoughts about the 1990 120 VJ120TLASB ? How are these different from the mid to late 1990's Johnson / Evinrude 130s port wise ? What did johnson do to get 130 out of this similar package ? Is it ports and jetting ? What would it take to make this thing run like a 130 ? Please advise - thanks Rick

  2. #2
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    I would rebuild the Force but I'm crazy that way. Look for V6

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by FMP View Post
    I would rebuild the Force but I'm crazy that way. Look for V6
    Yep, you're crazy. At least you know it though!

  4. #4
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    give the newbe a break run twin 1985 force 85hp 3cylinder motors so he can have twice the ignition problems . LOL your already rigged for mercury so find a good 115-125 4 cyl 1990 newer motor to put on it or find a 115hp omc crossflow to put on it and go have fun.

  5. #5
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    all porting the same on v4's its only the inlet manifold 5 over 5 to 6 over 6 reeds that changed them

  6. #6
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    The 85 triple FOrce is a great motor, last year in white I think. Low water pickup powerflow l/u . The 90 125 is also a great motor , cut the head for 165psi and tune it. Use premium fuel and good oil,they run very well.

  7. #7
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    They run very well !!! are you serious. ?
    All the force motors are total rubbish, that's why they were cheap, well seemed cheap until you knew what crap you had bought.
    you have obviously never had a decent mercury/mariner or johnson/evinrude Suzuki Yamaha Honda tohatsu.
    all those engines are so much better ,faster, smoother, better idle and just plain much better engines in every way.
    they were just rebadged crap that Chrysler made a mess of.
    the 85 triple force is just gutless, they could not stand up against the old triple 85 from Yamaha or the 70 triple from omc.
    A mercury 4 inline 80/85 is like a rolls royce compared to a force triple. a merc 76 trople will destroy a force 85 in every way.
    its the reason that force died, it was total scrap from the word go.
    the only nice thing about them was their early decals and nice bright metallic paint, other than that total scrap.
    they even put the crap engines on crap cheap nasty maxums and sold them as packages to try and get more sales.
    in 1986 in the uk the price for a 16ft maxum on trailer with a force was less than the price of a mercury 60 on its own.
    that's how crap they were, desperate to get rid of them.
    then they put them on bayliners to try and sell them, again complete failure as nobody would touch them
    the fuel system a total joke, so old fashioned and poor quality parts assembled by monkeys.
    electrics designed and built by a friend of stevie wonder, soldering done by ray Charles.
    and who on earth decided to use such crap material for the gears and shafts ?.
    and to say they ran well you must be stone deaf and dont get affected by vibration.

  8. #8
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    You're arguing with the wrong CHRYSLER fan. Fuel systems are a single dual stage pump that has never been a problem unless you use aftermarket crap replacement parts in it. Large motors were dual pumps, CHRYSLER weren't built by monkeys but by Americans and Canadians in WI and Ontario , with boats in TX and Ontario. MOPAR and Prestolite may know those two fine musicians. Never had a problem with gears failing or shafts but if you run any machine into the ground and do not service it with quality then any machine will fail. I'm not stone deaf and haven't seen any balance issues with any of my CHRYSLERs. Forged cranks rods and pistons that had very good quality. If you broke one or burned a hole most likely it was set up wrong by the guy servicing it. Perhaps its the warm beer
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails FORCE 3 , 4.JPG  
    Last edited by FMP; 09-18-2016 at 09:09 AM.

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  10. #9
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    Sorry Biggy, good luck.

  11. #10
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    This sounds like an oil thread
    "One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors". Plato .

  12. #11
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    we only have so many word to use , it all sounds the same

  13. #12
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    Aside from all the noise on this thread, here's some real-world advice. Go with the 120 V4 looper. I owned an 1989 (identical to the 1990) for 15 years and it was a great motor. My best friend has a 1988 140 (essentially identical to the 120 of same year) - also remarkably reliable. I also worked at a Johnson/Evinrude dealership during this period, and we many many customers with these looper V4s. We rarely saw any serious problems with these engines. Most common issues were bad powerpacks (a Johnson/Evinrude problem in general), oil-injection system issues (also not unique to this engine family), and on high hours saltwater motors, corrosion around the upper part of the sleeve. If you have it rebuilt right (talk to Sea-Way marine in Seattle) you will be happy for many years. Get the gearcase pulled apart/checked/resealed at the same time as the powerhead rebuild.

    As mentioned, 120 and 140 are the same aside from intake manifold/reed block setup and corresponding larger jets. The 130 was just a 140 - they stopped making 2 models and consolidated 120 and 140 to just the 130. If I remember correctly, the last 130s had the nicer idle-needle adjustable carbs, but I'm starting to forget this stuff

    Matt

    Quote Originally Posted by Biggy View Post
    Dear all - have a baylinder maxim family boat with a Mercury-Force 125 - has low compression in bottom cylinder - have opportunity to buy a 1990 johnson looper with yet another low cylinder for a good price ( IE picking a better motor to rebuild ) - any thoughts about the 1990 120 VJ120TLASB ? How are these different from the mid to late 1990's Johnson / Evinrude 130s port wise ? What did johnson do to get 130 out of this similar package ? Is it ports and jetting ? What would it take to make this thing run like a 130 ? Please advise - thanks Rick

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