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Posts: 726
Location: Eau Claire, WI | Hello all. Anyone definitive know the history of these engines? Were there bad years/models? What are the right questions to ask about the motor?
Thanks,
Jono
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Posts: 906
Location: Warroad, Mn | Jono:
From the year 2000 on they where pretty good. I went through one block on a 98, and then two on 99 blocks. OMC finely replaced the motor with a 2000 model and that seemed to work!
Ask if all the factory up-grades have been installed, and how many hours on the engine. They can pull a complete history of operating hours and RPMs off the chip on the engine, including any warnings they may have occurred.
The early Fichts where bad. Lots of carbon build-up problems, lots of fouled plugs, and lots of blown power-heads. From 2000 or so on they seem to be good, and the new stuff from Bombardier seems to be great although I don't have one.
Doug Johnson |
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Posts: 726
Location: Eau Claire, WI | Hi Doug. Thanks a lot for your input. What size FICHTS did you run? I've read that the 150/175 were the worst ones.
Jono
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Posts: 906
Location: Warroad, Mn | Jono:
I had a 150. It was fast, and had lots of get-up and go, and was easy on gas. However, the 98 and 99's didn't hold up well. The 2000 did well. Put lots of hours on all of them.
Doug Johnson |
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Posts: 2323
Location: Stevens Point, WI | Jono, yes, it was the larger V-6's. I have a couple friends with 98's in the 115 model and they have been flawless from what I have heard from them. I believe majority of the problems were with 175 and larger, particularly 200-225 models. |
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Posts: 5874
| Pretty sure it was all the OMC FICHTS. When Bombardier bought the company, they resolved the issues. |
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Posts: 32935
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Basically, it was a parts outsourcing problem. They had a fuel rail/ECM problem if I remember correctly. |
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Posts: 1936
Location: Eau Claire, WI | Jono,
Worrall's and Doug's recollection is correct based on info I had as well. Darrin had a 99 or 2000 150 on his 617 and it was flawless and very easy on gas. I'm sure he'd be happy to talk to you about it if you called him.
Several others I know were very happy with them. Same as the Opti's in the early years a few issues but if they had the upgrades done or were late 99/00 model years they seemed to be pretty good. |
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Posts: 726
Location: Eau Claire, WI | Thanks to you all for the input.
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Posts: 2068
| OMC FICHT's are notorious for having ECU/EMM issues - My 2002 200hp had this issue this summer. There is no warning the engine just kills. After doing some research it is a fairly common issue. If you buy one between 99-02 you will probably need to contact these guys eventually: (they are former OMC engineers)
www.dfitechnologies.com |
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| a buddy had lots of issues with his 2002 ficht he ran. like any motor some are going to break.
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Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | I have seen one blow up and have spoken with many ficht owners that have told me they have ALL had issues with their motor.
I would highly suggest not running a ficht. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | bombardier had similar issues on the original digital fuel injection systems ... my brother bleeds yellow and the same fuel delivery was used on all two-stroker technology in the late nineties and into 2000 ... between a group of 4 guys they popped the top-ends of 7 sleds ... i remember it well because i had to go retrieve them out of the woods every time ... worrall has it right ... they had a parts and design problem for a period of time and regardless of whether someone had a good experience you need to due diligence for your own risk and then of course be aware of resale issues with the product ... it's a pretty well-known thing that people are quite aware of ... |
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | The later model fichts have been WAAAAYYY better then the early ones. Some of the pre 2000 big blocks were literally blowing up (according to Boat US mag/insurance underwriter).
OMC worked out most of the bugs right before the sale to Bomb. That's one of the reasons Bomb bought them. Everyone I know with the later model has been happy with them. They're a DFI so you're always going to have some issues, but that's the price you pay for better gas milage and performance. Just don't have Supreme do your lower unit right Troy;) |
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| I run a 99 150 on a 617. I've had it 2 seasons, previous owner was the original. All updates were done by his mechanic. I'm guessing it has around 350hrs on it now. The only problem, knock on wood, that I've had was a bad fuel rail. Otherwise, with all the updates, the correct oil, correct plugs, and taking care of it as recommended, it's been fine. Runs great actually as long as you can blow the carbs out once in awhile and let her eat, she likes WOT. I asked a lot of questions and follow all the maintenance advice I received, keeping my fingers crossed, but so far so good.
Later
Ryan |
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| DFI's don't have carbs. |
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Posts: 1168
| If the updates are done on them you should be fine. Those that were 150 and up were the worst of the bunch. Mine is a 1999 115 and I like that motor. Lost a cylinder on mine a couple of seasons ago that was the result of the previous owner ignoring a recall notice for the oiling system. So do the homework, make sure any recall work is done on them. That's where I got burned on it so it was partly on me...now that it's all taken care of that motor runs great.
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| Guest-
They get "carb"on build up, which is what I meant by "blow the carbs" out. Also the reason de"carb" treatment is recommended. But thanks for the clarification. |
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| I too am going to have to say with personal experience with a 115 ficht and a 225 ficht, one an OMC and the other a bombardier, to stay away from them. |
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| Jono-
I suggest BassBoatCentral's Evinrude board. A couple of those guys are really knowledgable, also might want to try an Evinrude mechanic.
Ryan |
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Posts: 333
Location: menasha wi 54952 | Seeing there are so many negatives I will give a positive. I own a 98 150 that is on a 690. It was my uncles boat from new. I purchased it from him two years ago with all updates done. It has never had a problem with it. It runs great. I for one am very happy with it. I would say look into the history of it and make sure all the updates have been done.
Anything can and will fail over time. All the major motor manufacturers have had problems at one time or another.
MR |
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Location: Boulder Junction | I lost a ton of money on a malfunctioning 1999 FICHT 115. They are a very bad choice in my opinion. |
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