Evinrude FICHT Motors

I know they should have replaced the "I" with a "U" in FICHT. ;)


That's for the older OMC ones not sure about the newer ones.

I still wouldn't want one. If I was sticking with a 2-stroke I'd go Optimax or E-tec. I'd like to give E-tecs another year or so to get the bugs worked out. The new Opti's are supposed to be great, not like the older Optibomb's.
 
Mac,    I learned quite a bit about them -  I bought a 2000 FICHT 150 last year  (only 1 seasons use and 35 total hours).   It's still on a stand in my garage however. The early years 98-99 were the major problems -  most everybody will tell you definitely stay away from those.  2000 brought about some good changes -  but the 2000-2001 engines still had a few weak spots.   The EMM's (the computer) are a known weakspot -  they can fail and cost you $1000 to fix.  The EMM needs cooling water to function properly -  so if you overheat your engine somehow the EMM would suffer some.   Still, many people have 1000's of hours on their engines with no problems at all.   Bombardier took over OMC .... and the 2002 model year engines are built by Bombardier.   These 2002 engines, and newer, are considered a very good motor with reliability the same as all the major brand engines.   I cant wait to mount my engine and use it -  when running well, I hear they are a VERY good motor.   Strong, quiet at idle, virtually smokeless (especially when using XD-50 or 100 oil), and very fuel efficient.
 
beach3.sized.jpg


This picture just about sums up my experience with a 150 Ficht. My advice as a former owner of a 1998 150 ficht (DON'T DO IT!!!!) The motor only had 161 hours. It had the updated pinned heads, the old style injectors, and aluminum finned computer.

I included a list of links and tibits that I compiled about the motor. I could never get it running right and neither could the local evinrude dealer, which cost me $1100 before I cut my losses and sold the motor.

That being said there are some folks (http://www.seatowboston.com/vessels.html ) who have sucessfully logged 3500+ hours on their motors with special machined heads, lots of special care, and some modifications.

I own the FICHT 1.42B software - so if you want to "borrow it" I'll be happy to hook you up.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAC - If your buying this motor thinking you're going to save money b/c the motor will burn less fuel . . . you're dead wrong. These are HIGH maintainece motors.

1. plugs are $8ea and you MUST index them 30 ft/lbs torque . . . 1/2 of them won't index properly so you will need about 10 to 12 plugs to find 6 good ones.

http://www.boatsetup.com/PlgIndexing.html

2. You must run special FICHT/ETEC oil @ $22 gallon

3. Because of the Soot like carbon buildup you have to decarb the motor every 75hours (every 50 if you like to troll).

http://www.boatsetup.com/Decarb_FICHT.html


*****These extra costs will eat up any fuel savings*****
l
DFI TEchnologies is a company formed by the old OMC ficht engineers. Their page is a good read and talks about some of the common problems.

http://www.dfitechnologies.com/solutions_apps.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------
These are the things to look out for . . .

air%20cool.jpg

97, 98 or 99 had these under a big plastic shroud => run away!!! 2000 years moved to a water cooled design which also had some overheating problems with water passages getting clogged.

f_injector.jpg


Check the injectors => this is the old style. Supposedly (per DFI Technologies) motors with these injectors are lucky to make it past 500hrs. If you have these get a trolling motor and only run the FICHT at high rpms.

Check the Heads=>see if it's got pins next to the plugs in the heads.
=> this article shows the difference b/w the two setups.

http://www.boatsetup.com/PlgIndexing.html
 
And just a little info I picked up while checking on ETEC prices at the boat show. Spoke with a ETEC service tech who told me they are doing pretty well so far, couple of small glitches but they have been standing behind them so far.
The interesting thing he told me was that it is a FICHT engine. The same block just the peripherals have been changed. The main thing was the addition of a better computer and especially the programming. Also different injectors and some other design changes to address previous problems.
 
I just got a new E-TEC 200hp V60 for my V20. Only had it out once, but will send details after I get it out and see what she can do.
See more info on my JACKMAN1939 posts.
 
Jackman I've seen your posts and your boa look great do you have any ohotos of your e-tec guages? If so please post them for me ? Billy Mac ;D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top