need advice on used outboard purchase...

[bsteckel]

shrimpin ... what does your 2.4 175 look like? what kind of shape is it in? and also the 2.0 you may be able to put together in a month ..

what kind of shape is that one in? ..

i am doing this boat over so i want something that looks presentable while also vg in mechanical condition.

ferm ... i got that weight from the nada online guide .. it lists the 225 at 395 lbs ...

the smoking problem worries me .. not interested in getting smoked out.

[bsteckel]

ok ... i found this .. guy has an 2002 evinrude 200 hp ficht .. powerhead blew and there is a hole in it .. supposedly in great condition other than that .. freshwater use.

i know this motor is a bit heavy ... someone in the beginning of my search said stay away from anything with ficht written on it? not sure why.

thinking of going this route and either getting a power head ready to go or finding and rebuilding one .. this way i know what i have.

any thoughts on this?

[macojoe]

powerhead blew and there is a hole in it .. supposedly in great condition other than that ..

[THEFERMANATOR]

Originally Posted by bsteckel

ok ... i found this .. guy has an 2002 evinrude 200 hp ficht .. powerhead blew and there is a hole in it .. supposedly in great condition other than that .. freshwater use.

i know this motor is a bit heavy ... someone in the beginning of my search said stay away from anything with ficht written on it? not sure why.

thinking of going this route and either getting a power head ready to go or finding and rebuilding one .. this way i know what i have.

any thoughts on this?

My question would be why did it blow? Powerheads don't normally just blow a hole through the block unless something else was wrong that caused it to happen. Engines do wear out, but not many actually wear them out. Look at it this way, you get a rebuilt powerhead for it or rebuild one. Don't kid yourself it WILL cost AT LEAST $2000 if you can do the whole job(with the exception of machineing) yourself. A rebuilt powerhead will set you back closer to $4K because a windowed block will most likely not be an acceptable core.

Then you still have an unknown engine with a MAJOR problem to be fixed still. I did a nice write-up awhile back about this, most overlook why the original failure occurred and then it happens again right away. So after say $2000-$2500 for the rebuild and a few incidentals, now your going to be takeing it to a FICHT expert for programming(or buying the software yourself) to set-it up for break-in. And now you have an engine that could still need an injector or EMM to fix the original failure. You could spend another $1K REAL quick paying a shop to diagnose an engine that VERY few understand and can work on.

FICHTS aren't all bad, but when you get a problem child ANYTHING it can cost you a FORTUNE to keep it running.

[bsteckel]

good point, ferm. i was tossing around the idea of buying a motor that i knew was broke then fixing it and knowing what i have ..

versus taking someone's word on a running engine and then rolling the dice on how long it lasts.

crap shoot either way.

did locate a 93 yammi 150 .. it is the c series that does not have oil injection .. may take a look this weekend.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Originally Posted by bsteckel

good point, ferm. i was tossing around the idea of buying a motor that i knew was broke then fixing it and knowing what i have ..

versus taking someone's word on a running engine and then rolling the dice on how long it lasts.

crap shoot either way.

did locate a 93 yammi 150 .. it is the c series that does not have oil injection .. may take a look this weekend.

There's nothing wrong with getting a fixer, but I would limit that search to an engine that the average person can fix WITHOUT a laptop. A FICHT or OPTIMAX would not be my idea of an economical fixer upper. There's alot of MERCURY and OMC parts out there at pretty much any given time for reasonable money. MOST DFI engines are considered a throw away engine once any major problems occur. The replacement of an early OPTIMAX's compressor is almost not feasible considering a compressor will set you back for close to a $1K in parts on a $2-3K engine.

[bsteckel]

here we go again ... am on vacation for the next 10 days in DE ... located a 98 yamaha 150, oil inj. saltwater series motor. guy says he bought 2 motors as a pair .. approx 450 hours. installed this one on his boat. he could not get the motor to spin up past 3100 rpms or so .. took off carbs, cleaned them .. tried again .. no go. changed fuel pump ... again no go. i think he even replaced the carbs and still no high rpms.

so then he gave up and put the other motor on that he got and it worked great. so now this motor is for sale. says he checked compression and all were 98-115. he says that is all he can tell me. he gave up and put the other motor on .. then this one went in storage. did not have the time to fool with it.

motor looks real nice externally. not sure what else could be the problem. he said he can rev the motor up past 3100 by hand, but when motor is in gear .. no go.

does this sound like something i should walk from or maybe this could be an easy fix .. not sure what there is left to try.

thanks

Looks like you decided the not to go for the evinrude, would have been my choice too. I think they had alot of problems early 2000's.
sorry I don't have any input for the 98 Yamaha, I will ask my buddy who is a outboard mechanic for you.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Sounds like a bad stator on the YAMAHA, or something with the timing advance.

[bsteckel]

ferm ... something i should run away from .. or simple (read affordable) fix? i see he just put it up on ebay.