Evinrude FICHT Motors

[Mac_Attack]

What do you guys know about 150 HP Evinrude FICHT Motors? Billy Mac ;D

[TheTinMan]

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_Attack]

I found an article about them.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m..._4/ai_61555469

[Skools Out]

good to read that they stood behind them anyway.

[brianct12]

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.

[TheTinMan]

Brian, I was just reading the same here. Good luck, hope yours is a good one.

http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/t...0&posts=19

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 . . .


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.



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

[menacer]

I've heard nothing positive about the 98-2001 Evinrudes only that they're a good anchor.

[Stinky_Hooker]

Man Mac, after reading the Admin's response Id steer clear!


:o

[Mac_Attack]

Thanks Stinky. I posted the original in October. I've moved on to an Evinrude E-Tec. Billy Mac ;D