135 Evinrude 2002 Fitch

[bushwacker]

G'day from the Kimberley fellow Ausfishers..
Looking at buying another boat, has anyone owned or know anything about the Evinrude Fitch engines? I think they were the model before Etecs, what are they like in terms of fuel use, noise, and reliability? This is an 2002 model with 450hrs any info much appreciated.
Cheers.

[Skusto]

I personally would buy a boat with the Ficht engines as they are non to not be reliable, if buying would factor in a upgrade of engines. Google is your friend in regards to the Ficht Engines. No good reviews about them unfortunately.

[Chimo]

Fichts were not well respected and had issues.
However if the one your looking at is still going well its probably a good one and its probably been serviced by an Evinrude guy who is good and knows his stuff.

Get the service guy to check it over
If you can keep the same service people as used by the bloke your buying from then buy it given that you will get a good deal as Fichts are not worth anything much.

If the worst comes to pass, you bought a boat and trailer and got a free motor so you can now buy a new Evinrude G1 and get the same service people to look after it as it seems they are good.

Cheers
Chimo

[bushwacker]

Reliability is everything for me, most days fishing lucky to see another boat and we do big klms very remote..

[spud477]

I thought FICHT stood for
F*** I Could Have Trouble

[scottar]

Reliability is everything for me, most days fishing lucky to see another boat and we do big klms very remote..

Then look at new engines - regardless of brand. That way you know how it has been treated.

The general consensus with FICHT from people that are still open to two stroke, is much as Chimo posted. They weren't all bad engines - some models were more prone to failure though but any Ficht that has a few hours on it and is still running is most likely a good motor. There was a date ( some time after BRP took over and redeveloped) from which they were regarded to be a lot more reliable but by then the damage to their reputation had well and truly been done so a rebranding was in order with the next lot of development releases - E-Tec. Can't remember the date though - research into the history of Ficht/Etec/Evinrude/BRP and the info should pop up somewhere.

[Noelm]

I would keep looking, you want reliability, then a 14 year old motor with known reliability issues, and requiring someone who knows what they are doing to work on it is not your motor (in my opinion) and older carbymodel in good condition or a newer 4 stroke is the motor for you!

[tenzing]

you can get the general feel from the earlier posts.
Having said that I had a 2004 175 FICHT for 700 hrs over 8 years.
Never broke down , stopped or failed to turn over.
trade in was very very low.
probably still going great guns

[Flex]

The pre 2000 OMC built fitch's were a bad motor. I believe BRP took over around 2000 and fixed a lot of the issues. The major issue was OMC was going broke and sourcing parts from dodgy suppliers leading to failures, (few other issues BRP fixed to)
Added to this, it seems the larger blocked 200hp+ motors were the ones with most failures. The 175 and less were generally well received and very reliable.

I think the 135 is a detuned 150/175?. Not all fitches are bad engines like everyone thinks. Remember though, finding someone with diagnostic gear for them might be tricky these days.
I owned a 175 fitch(cant remember year). didn't own it long, but it was a good motor, plenty of power and economical. Nice and simple motor to so easy to work on if your inclined.

So I think a 2002 fitch is no less or more reliable than any other brand out there from that era. The technology is pretty solid IMO.

Reputation is hard to shake though. maybe use this to your advantage for a reduced price?.

[hainsofast]

If you are in Brisbane go to Downes marine, longest continually running Envinrude dealer in the world, and top blokes who know their stuff. They will give you great advice and will have all the diagnostics you are looking for.

[Noelm]

Why do these motors still get referred to as Fitch??, the name is FICHT, and always was....

[Chimo]

hainsofast

Tricky to go to Downes as bushwack is in WA Kimberly area...................see post 1

[Noelm]

Nah, if he left now, he could be there in less than a week.....

[stang69]

V6 FICHT, run as fast as you can...
in the other direction, and don't look back

[stang69]

If its grey, hip hip hooray.
If its black, I'd give it a crack.
If its blue, better for me and you.
Its its white, get that shite out of my site.

[gofishin]

If its grey, hip hip hooray.
If its black, I'd give it a crack.
If its blue, better for me and you.
Its its white, get that shite out of my site.
You forgot silver... or doesn't anything rhyme with that?? [emoji1]


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[scottar]

If its grey, hip hip hooray.
If its black, I'd give it a crack.
If its blue, better for me and you.
Its its white, get that shite out of my site.

Obviously a massive E-Tec G2 fan but not so much the new white Yammy's, Zuk's and Merc's. ;D Oh Look - Honda come in white as well now.

[Force3]

If its grey, hip hip hooray.
If its black, I'd give it a crack.
If its blue, better for me and you.
Its its white, get that shite out of my site.

and the "Knocker of the year award" goes to ........

[hainsofast]

Sorry mate, didn't read where you were from, good luck anyways.

[stang69]

The truth hurts, as the white motor sputters and spurts, and the repair bill really hurts, costs so much you lose your shirts.

[Ocean_Spirit]

Stang69 clearly prefers his upside down car motors!

BRP started manufacturing in 2002. The first of the BRP engines (MY2003 range) were branded Ficht Ram Injection. The next year BRP dumped the name and went with "Direct Injection". then developed the ETEC's off this platform (albeit had the R&D budget to get it right). The early 98 - 99 Fichts were rushed to market as they were the first DI two stroke. They did have reliability issues. OMC had actually knocked back Orbital in the mid 90's (later OptiMax) to go with the German 'Ficht' technology.

The BRP Fichts were good engines.

[tenzing]

yep, Mine was the first year of the "direct Injection " label.
Alan Downes Kept it humming along like new.
When traded with 780 odd hours the compressions were all almost identical and acceptable.
The Crap trade had to do with their name , and i think the boat show deal on the new motor.

[stang69]

BRP had the budget to get the marketing right. The engineering and manufacturing on the other hand, not so much...
Direct injection 2 strokes are a lot like communism. In theory it seems like a good idea, but in practice.......

[Skusto]

BRP had the budget to get the marketing right. The engineering and manufacturing on the other hand, not so much...
Direct injection 2 strokes are a lot like communism. In theory it seems like a good idea, but in practice.......

lol, Do you actually read what you write?,

Maybe you should email BRP and tell them to stop making there motors because you obviously no a lot more then a Multi Billion Dollar Company.. :):)

But then again from what i have seen if you don't have a Yamaha or a Fibreglass boat then there just crap, I'm guessing you have the best boat ever made and is the reason why you own it..

Its quite amazing how narrow minded some people can be.

[stang69]

In manufacturing there are 2 types of companies.
Engineering based, and marketing based. I'll let you decide which category the white motors fall under.

[Ocean_Spirit]

Interesting comment when you look at what BRP engineers have developed in the new G2 (for a start, it's the most fuel efficient outboard available)..

BRP has the most modern, technologically advanced dedicated outboard manufacturing facility in the world. And if you happen to review the accounts of all major engine manufacturers, BRP has the highest funded engineering team, period, with an R&D spend of almost double some of its competitors. But again, I (like many others buying them) must be falling for their comparatively miserly global marketing spend...!

[Noelm]

They probably have the biggest R&D spend, simply because they are trying to perfect something new, all the other makers have all but dropped their effort in that type of engine, and are staying with already developed and proven "old fashioned" technology that doesn't need a huge cash injection to develop (maybe)

[BM]

Over the past say 11 years I have watched interestingly the attitudes of people on the various forums. Primarily Fishnet and here as well as others. So many single minded views that discard the views of others. Whether its: Aluminium v fibreglass, mono v multi hull, 2 or 4 stroke, jet-skis have no right to the water v boats do, sail boats v powerboats and it goes on and on and on......

Is it ignorance or arrogance? Is it redneck thinking? A pissing contest? What makes people incapable of accepting the personal decisions that others make and feel the need to put others down for their decisions? And by extension push their own agenda for which is better, usually based on very limited exposure to real knowledge of the product range overall? If you like DI 2 strokes then that's great! If you like 4 strokes then that's equally great! Likewise for choice of hull material or configuration or mode of transport and all else is great! Diverse experience is valuable along with a balanced and unbiased perspective.

Regarding the current topic its worth noting that Evinrude began in 1907! and Johnson in 1913! That's 109 yrs old and 87ish yrs old respectively. An awesome contribution to the outboard industry for over a century! Unfortunately because OMC got the original formula wrong for the Ficht engines the lasting legacy of those engines is low value and a century old company's reputation ruined somewhat. So as others have said when it comes to valuing the rig overall the engine unfortunately needs to be considered of extremely low value by comparison to other brands, despite how reliable this engine may be.

[Noelm]

Yep, that's just a fact of life I guess, right or wrong, the poor old FICHT gets a raw deal, and that stigma sticks to all incantations of it, I owned a pair of FICHTS for a long time with very little trouble, owned plenty of Mercs, from the old tower of power, to a couple of tiller steers, plus various OMC motors, including a pair of 55HP on a Seafarer Viking, to a pair of 70's on an Aluminium cat, and a pair of 120's on a glass cat, plus a pair pf 90 2 stroke Yamahas on another cat, currently own a 50 tiller steer Yamaha 4 stroke, and a couple of 90 Suzukies, and to be 100% honest, can't say that I have had major dramas with any of those motors.

[BM]

I hear ya Noel. :))

[scottar]

Over the past say 11 years I have watched interestingly the attitudes of people on the various forums. Primarily Fishnet and here as well as others. So many single minded views that discard the views of others. Whether its: Aluminium v fibreglass, mono v multi hull, 2 or 4 stroke, jet-skis have no right to the water v boats do, sail boats v powerboats and it goes on and on and on......

Is it ignorance or arrogance? Is it redneck thinking? A pissing contest? What makes people incapable of accepting the personal decisions that others make and feel the need to put others down for their decisions? And by extension push their own agenda for which is better, usually based on very limited exposure to real knowledge of the product range overall? If you like DI 2 strokes then that's great! If you like 4 strokes then that's equally great! Likewise for choice of hull material or configuration or mode of transport and all else is great! Diverse experience is valuable along with a balanced and unbiased perspective.



I like to call it the "Ford v Holden" syndrome and it almost seems to be an ingrained way of life in Australia that was more or less bred into the population by our parents views or perspectives. You grew up as a Labour or Liberal supporter, a Ford or Holden supporter, a Collingwood or anyone else supporter ;D - we have been conditioned to wear blinkers right from the get go. That coupled with the psychological requirement for self validation ( "I made this decision because ........and everyone else is wrong") - after all no one wants to admit they made the wrong decision - we are conditioned to that these days as well.

BRP painting a massive target on themselves by dragging the opposition around backwards probably didn't endear themselves to the other manufacturers a whole lot either. When you do a very targeted head to head advertising campaign like they did ( I can't recall seeing it anywhere before), the gloves come off and you need to have all your ducks in a row because the opposition from that point forward is going to grab any chance they can to hit back - this time they already had the ammunition - the stigma that was attached to Ficht.

[BM]

Great reply Scottar!! I agree with your overall sentiment but it doesn't fit personally. I must not have grown up in the same Australia!! I guess you are right re the aggressive nature of the BRP marketing. One heck of a way of making a very profound point though.

With regard to the topic in hand, I would buy a boat with a ficht engine (if it's still running then it's obviously fine) but it would have to be priced to reflect the near valueless (stigma driven) engine.

[Chimo]

BM and I and others who said the same thing are correct, the other fluff should be treated as such.

Here ends the lesson

Cheers
Chimo

[Spaniard_King]

Does anyone know how well BRP are supporting the older ficht engines? When the bungle went down in 1999 we had a hell of a time getting ECM.s for a few years.

We paid $2500 for an exchange ECM for a 225HP that was over charging the battery @ 18 volts

[BM]

Hi Garry,

I reckon a quick search of the BRP EPC (epc.brp.com) would probably reveal fairly quickly what parts are currently available. Given they still supply arts for say 30 year old engines I reckon they would have the ficht parts too.

Edit: I just looked up a 150hp 1999 Evinrude and injectors and ECU and all other bits appear available.

[Lovey80]

I loved the old carby 2 stroke rudes. Never owned a Ficht but correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't it the Ficht that basically sent OMC broke allowing the BRP take over?

[BM]

I doubt the Ficht engines sunk OMC. I have no intrinsic knowledge as to their demise but it seems difficult to accept a century old company would go under due to a failed venture into new technology when they still had an existing carby based product?

And I suspect my use of the word failed is really not appropriate because they were working a new technology and for the most part, it worked.

[stang69]

Their re-sale reflects their worth. Cold hard facts tell no lies.
Ask any outboard mechanic how reliable Ficht, DI, and Etecs are. Not the ones that sell them though.

[scottar]

Their re-sale reflects their worth. Cold hard facts tell no lies.
Ask any outboard mechanic how reliable Ficht, DI, and Etecs are. Not the ones that sell them though.

LOL. Might as well ask a Holden dealer if a Ford is a good car.

[Aussie123]

Apparently colour is everything so providing it is not a white Ford, it should be a good car

[Noelm]

OMC was failing long before the FICHT was released, and in a small way, the release of such a high tech motor was going to be their savior, but lots of issues where eating away before the ultimate demise of OMC, I read a rather lengthy "paper" written by a high ranking executive at the time, bad management decisions, low cash flow, which resulted in less and less quality control, and of course the old, more high paid managers, and less production workers also hit hard, in the end, they just failed. Makes no difference how long you have been in business, or what you invented or perfected, once better countries start producing better units, cheaper, you're in trouble, unfortunately OMC kind of thought good old US was top of the tree, but the Japanese just whipped the rug out from under them, better engineering, skilled workers that actually worked simply killed them, BRP had years of small engine manufacture behind them, and high ranking leaders that had modern views in marketing, not just prepared to sit back and smoke cigars in board rooms.

[stang69]

Don't ask the dealer who's livelihood depends on it, ask the mechanic who has no skin in the game.
Say no to drugs, and white outboards.

[gofishin]

Don't ask the dealer who's livelihood depends on it, ask the mechanic who has no skin in the game.
Say no to drugs, and white outboards.Not so long ago you were also bagging Cruise Crafts as well as 140 zukes stang69, now its white outboards!

A mate had a FICHT 175 and he bought it off his mate who was an OB mechanic who bought it new from memory - and he had the option of white or grey. In over a dozen years neither had any dramas with it.

And how many hundreds post on here, if not more, have had good service from their newer gen white donks?

Hell, if all the brands are now offering white as their premium or a special option, doesn't it make white donks the best??

My missus would love any white donk on our boat, as the current one just doesn't match the boat colour scheme [emoji41]


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[stang69]

I owned a white 140 Zuke/Johnson. It was white, it was a 140 Suzuki, and it came from BRP. Thats what I call a triple threat.
Well, it was mostly white with a lot of brown in the form of rust.
They saw me coming.