evinrude 115 ficht any feedback on them

[ribbit]

Looking at a 115ficht injected. Any one had problems or good feedback on economy , servicing etc

[mackmauler]

you could say they have had a few problems :o

this is off the net, search turns up loads of info.

When OMC introduced its new fuel-injected Ficht gasoline-powered outboards in 1997, the Waukegan, IL, engine maker expected to revolutionize marine two-stroke outboard design while meeting strict requirements to reduce hydrocarbon emissions. Instead, it quickly became clear that many of the Ficht engines simply didn't work when run under load at low rpm levels.

Now, in what for the marine industry amounts to a major about-face, not only has OMC freely acknowledged the engines' defects, but they have also set into motion a nationwide engine repair and replacement policy at the same time that they redesigned the engines.

Ficht fuel injection technology is built into 90-hp, 115-hp, 150-hp, 175-hp, 200-hp and 225-hp models. But the failures affect mostly the 150-hp and 175-hp engines, according to Rand McNally, OMC's senior vice president of North American engine operations sales and marketing.

OMC's efforts to correct the engines have been daunting. "About a year ago, we put together a team of our engineers and also hired the best engineers we could find on a worldwide basis" to come up with a solution, McNally said. "We didn't want a belt-fix but a belt-and-suspenders fix."

Following what McNally called the "most wicked" type of testing, engineers determined that when engines were operated under load, for example, before boats get on plane, at relatively low rpm ranges, soot was created due to fairly low fuel burn temperatures during the combustion sequence. Soot forms easily in this oxygen-starved environment, Mcally said.

Soot does not burn and, because it absorbs lubricating oil and is very abrasive, internally lubricated engine parts don't last long in its presence.

In some cases, OMC engineers found that complete engine failures occurred within the first 10 hours of use. More common are stall-outs and poor performance that occur "somewhere within the first 100 hours" of use. "If you've gotten beyond 100 hours, you're probably going to be okay," McNally added.

The OMC Ficht engine owners who called BOAT/U.S. to complain about chronic stall-outs, abrupt shutdowns, misses, fouled spark plugs and powerhead malfunctions all reported that failures occurred while they were operating engines at low rpm.

The experiences of James McCans of James City, FL, are fairly typical. The owner of a 1998 Evinrude 150-hp Ficht engine, McCans told BOAT/U.S. the outboard spent at least 60 days in the shop within its first 100 hours of use.

"The engine seems to be getting too much oil because the spark plugs foul. I have replaced two sets myself and the dealer one set," he said. "The back of the engine gets a black, oily soot all over it. It runs rough at mid-range speeds and sounds like it is knocking."

George Frost of Newark, DE, described another typical scenario with his twin 1998 175-hp Fichts. "Problems started on Day 1. With the engines idling at the dock, a 'check engine' light and alarm came on. I was advised by the dealer not to run the engines until a mechanic could check it out with the laptop. Problem? A bad water sensor in the fuel filter.

"With 26 hours on the engine, the 'check engine' light and alarm came on again. This time the ECU (electronic control unit) was reinstalled," Frost said. Ten hours running time later, the engine wouldn't idle and kept stalling out, which made docking "a real challenge," he added. "The mechanic advised that I had fouled plugs."

In the experiences of these two owners lies the Ficht glitch: Apparently the outboards were initially tested primarily at high-stress, high rpm levels before being released into the marketplace. OMC had no inkling that soot buildup would be a problem at less than wide-open-throttle conditions. McNally acknowledged that prior to the Ficht situation, OMC, like all other engine manufacturers, performed minimal -- no more than minute-long -- tests on engines as they left the assembly line. Under these conditions, technicians can ascertain only that engines start and run. Long-term performance issues cannot be identified.

Shortly after it became apparent that OMC's Ficht team had failed to uncover the dark side of the engines' personalities before they were introduced to the marketplace, OMC conducted some internal "housecleaning" and proceeded to repair the damage.

Since early this year, OMC technicians specially trained to handle Ficht problems have been out in the field to evaluate a sample of 5,000 to 10,000 targeted engines, about 80% of which are already owned by retail customers, with the remainder in dealer inventories. As an incentive to buyers, McNally told BOAT/U.S. that OMC would provide four-year warranties, rather than the normal two-year coverage, on leftover new 1998 and 1999 engines.

As for the "enhancement" program to evaluate and repair engines in the field, he said, "This is not a retrofit because in a retrofit every engine gets the same treatment. This situation requires an evaluation first" before any repairs are made. Engines have been repaired and, in a few instances, replaced at no charge to customers.

"We're going to stand behind every customer," McNally said. He added that engine replacements were made "if we felt a customer had been with us through a couple of different Band-Aid repairs."

Case in point is Larry L. Bortner of Reisterstown, MD, who wrote to BOAT/U.S., "On Aug. 30, 1998, the dealer delivered my son's new boat, a Grady-White Tigercat with two Johnson 150-hp Ficht engines. The following day we were actually able to complete a short fishing trip offshore without problems. That was the only trip that we made in this boat without engine problems."

He went on to describe how the Starboard engine lost power and the overheating alarm sounded, while the port engine smoked excessively, ran rough and shut itself down.

After the dealer tried unsuccessfully to repair the engines, OMC was contacted. The company promised to provide "dressed" or completely new powerheads for both engines but after new difficulties, Bortner received a pair of 1999 engines at no cost.

[Spaniard_King]

Ribit,

I have had extensive dealings with the early V6 ficht engines (had 4 to look after comercially). For this reason I took a personal interest in all hp's that were produced. We had them for 2 1/2 years, although we did a lot of hours (1600) I thought they were expensive to fix.

Fuel injectors $500+
ECM $1500 (when omc went down we had to source them from the guys who left OMC and started there own buisnesss in the USA) I think they are cheaper to replace now
I could throw a few more scary ones at you but all technical outboards are expensive to repair.
From what I have read the early v4's did have a few problems but no where near the 150's and 175's, the 1999 v4's was a reliable engine and they have only improved from there. A lot of the 97 and 98 model engines did get upgrades to there problems so they may be good as well.

I am not sure what you will take from all of this but I would recommend you have an BRP dealer take a look at it. A dealer will have the PC program that will tell you a lot such as how many hours on the ECM (computor). It can also tell you how much time it has spent in each RPM range in brackets of 1000rpm.

Worth the $$ if buying a ficht in my opinion

cheers

Garry

[familyman]

mmm food for thought .I think i'll stick with my black anchor, thank you very much :(
cheers jon

[FISHINDAVID]

I have a 150 evinrude Fichit. Fully rebuilt before it went on boat, have had no problems and fuel economy is very good. Would recomend these motors to anyone. Find a mechanic that knows the motors and have it checkedout. Mine goes to a mechanic in Bowen Hills, recommended by a few different mechanics. My thought is buy it, you wont be dissappointed with performance or fuel economy.

[craigie]

Downes Marine ;)

Anything Ficht should be taken to Downsey for a check-up.

He swears by them.

[Spaniard_King]

yep, Allan Downes knows his stuff. He's been around em since they started.

Garry

[Brooksy]

Had two 115 fichts now on the workboat, and haven't got anything but praise for them. Previously we had a standard 115 and would use about 60l +/ workday. This would involve about an hr run either way and then at or near idle for the rest. In comparison the ficht used only about 20l to do the same and uses sweet fa oil. We were buying several 20l drums of oil previously and now I just buy a few liters per year.
If you get the ficht make sure it is propped correctly I know of a couple that had problems were over propped and couldn't reach max revs. Once the correct prop was fitted they had no further problems.
I bought a second hand one for my own boat that was a long shaft when I actually needed an xl. I'd heard all the stories and thought it would be an easy task to buy a leg, given all the problems. Tried for twelve months but couldn't find one in Australia so I don,t know where they all are? So I sold that outboard and am holding out for an xl.
Downes is the man to talk to and does all the work on ours.
Cheers Steve