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Author Topic:   2001 Evinrude FICHT 150-HP

speckseeker posted 04-26-2006 06:53 PM ET (US)
Did Bombardier make the 2001-model year Evinrude engines or did OMC? Do the 2001-model year FICHT engines have problems? [Advise was received from an unidentified person who said] stay away from the 2000-model year Evinrude FICHT 150-HP outboard engines.
VI Jamie 22 posted 04-26-2006 07:40 PM ET (US)
I am pretty sure ALL 2001 are made by OMC. BRP is not interested in supporting older motors like OMC was. I would avoid this motor. If you insist on buying this motor, go to your local BRP dealer and purchase to sevice manual for this motor and familiarize yourself with the ignition and self diagnosis parts of this book. If you were to give me this motor with the stipulation that I put it on my boat, I would not take it. Of course it is possible to have good luck and have fun, but it would not be the likely result in my opinion. I have a 2003 Evinrude and have great faith, though I am signed up with seatow.
jimh posted 04-26-2006 08:26 PM ET (US)
We need a good summary of the history of the OMC takeover by Bombardier.
seahorse posted 04-26-2006 09:41 PM ET (US)
The former OMC declared bankruptcy somewhere around Dec 15, 2000. 2001 products were already in production since around July of that year. It was March of 2002 when Bombardier and Genmar bought some of the OMC assets from the court.
Bombardier, in only 7 months, reengineered the motors,came out with a new larger gearcase, interviewd and hired new and former employees, inspected and trashed a lot of inventory parts due to being out of spec, built a new state-of-the-art production plant in Wisonsin, re-certified motors with the EPA, and had 2002 motors coming down the production line that October. No one in the industry thought that it could be done, especially the former head of Mercury who said that Roch Lambert should bring sandles as even Jesus couldn't get the products and a factory up and running for at least a year and a half.
The would even have had the plant up and running sooner, but the previous tenant, a printing company, was out of business and the creditors would not allow Bombardier use of the building to move the machinery until the courts got things straightened out. That took over a month.
This "history lesson" was from memory, so a bit of research on my part could add some info if there are any questions, or errors on my part.
speckseeker posted 04-26-2006 10:59 PM ET (US)
BAsically the motor is a OMC with question marks then. Have ya'll heard of people blowing up the 00's & younger?
seahorse posted 04-26-2006 11:24 PM ET (US)
The troublesome FICHTS were the 150-175 series in 1998 and 1999. The v4's and the 200-225 motors of 1999 did not have the problems of their smaller bretheren.
In 2000, the FICHT was redesigned and called FICHT Ram. They had 40 volt injectors, integrated computers called EMM's, water cooled EMMs, exhaust backpressure senders, etc. They were better running than the '99 versions.
In 2001, the then OMC made a 10% displacement increase on the 200 on up motors and redid the cooling systems on the 150 and 175. The '01 motors were even better running than the 2000's. Then OMC went belly up in Dec. of 2000.
Like anything used, have a qualified person do a complete inspection of the motor, including printing out the computer report.
speckseeker posted 04-26-2006 11:41 PM ET (US)
Man -some of ya'll know a boatload about engines. The 01-150hp engine has only 70hrs on it. I am going to get it tested & get the report from a Evinrude tech. I just want to make sure the yr I am buying is not when there were a lot of lemons. Sounds like I will be ok. If you have something you would like to add, please do.
jimh posted 04-27-2006 12:36 AM ET (US)
You could look at the engine this way: it has been running for five years. If it were going to blow up, it should have by now.
Tom W Clark posted 04-27-2006 01:12 AM ET (US)
seahorse,
Let me ask you a question. Ignoring the Bombardier Fichts and focussing on just the OMC Fichts, what percentage of those motors ultimately had a failure of any sort significant enough to keep the motor from running and requiring a repair?
seahorse posted 04-27-2006 07:06 AM ET (US)
Probably not as many as you think. The '98 FICHT problem was really the first time something like this was all over the internet. Everyone said they knew of someone whose neighbor's first cousin's brother in law had a friend who saw a blown up FICHT somewhere.
If you read the forum reports back in those days, you would think they were blowing up as soon as they were mounted on the boat.
The '98 did have mucho problems. The then president of OMC David Jones announced that 20% of the 1968 25" shaft engines, not the 20" models, had issues. That is when they were starting a complete re-engineering program and sent out teams througout the US to upgrad customer's motors. The 20" models normally were on lighter faster boats, were propped better, and they did not have the off-idle, 1500-2500 rpm, soot buildup to stick the rings and score the pistons.
Surprisingly, there are a lot of the '97, '98, and '99 150-175 engines out there still running. Questions about them show up on the various newsgroups almost weekly.
Most say except for short sparkplug life, they are running OK but its hard to find someone who will work on them.
BarryGreen posted 04-27-2006 07:54 AM ET (US)
I believe Seahorse is absolutely correct. I had a 1998 175HP Ficht on a 20' Outrage, so that was really ground zero in terms of the Ficht problem. My engine ran like a watch for the four years I owned the boat. It started instantly, idled quietly, pulled wakeboarders and tubes like a champ, and was troublefree except for a fuel pump diaphram failure. I know a couple of others who had the same experiences.
While there certainly were some Ficht problems, I really believe the true magnitude of the problem was overblown. I would also agree that what failures there were tended to come early, and if it hasn't failed by now the odds are more in your favor.
speckseeker posted 04-27-2006 05:16 PM ET (US)
There are no fix kits with the 00 & younger engines correct? THose were for the late ninety fichts. The one I am looking at kind of scares me because it has so few hours on it (70hr). I am hoping it is not a time bomb waiting to happen but I guess I have to roll the dice--practical new engine (hr wise) or possible problems that may occur within 100 hrs.

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Author	Topic: 2001 Evinrude FICHT 150-HP
speckseeker	posted 04-26-2006 06:53 PM ET (US) Did Bombardier make the 2001-model year Evinrude engines or did OMC? Do the 2001-model year FICHT engines have problems? [Advise was received from an unidentified person who said] stay away from the 2000-model year Evinrude FICHT 150-HP outboard engines.
VI Jamie 22	posted 04-26-2006 07:40 PM ET (US) I am pretty sure ALL 2001 are made by OMC. BRP is not interested in supporting older motors like OMC was. I would avoid this motor. If you insist on buying this motor, go to your local BRP dealer and purchase to sevice manual for this motor and familiarize yourself with the ignition and self diagnosis parts of this book. If you were to give me this motor with the stipulation that I put it on my boat, I would not take it. Of course it is possible to have good luck and have fun, but it would not be the likely result in my opinion. I have a 2003 Evinrude and have great faith, though I am signed up with seatow.
jimh	posted 04-26-2006 08:26 PM ET (US) We need a good summary of the history of the OMC takeover by Bombardier.
seahorse	posted 04-26-2006 09:41 PM ET (US) The former OMC declared bankruptcy somewhere around Dec 15, 2000. 2001 products were already in production since around July of that year. It was March of 2002 when Bombardier and Genmar bought some of the OMC assets from the court. Bombardier, in only 7 months, reengineered the motors,came out with a new larger gearcase, interviewd and hired new and former employees, inspected and trashed a lot of inventory parts due to being out of spec, built a new state-of-the-art production plant in Wisonsin, re-certified motors with the EPA, and had 2002 motors coming down the production line that October. No one in the industry thought that it could be done, especially the former head of Mercury who said that Roch Lambert should bring sandles as even Jesus couldn't get the products and a factory up and running for at least a year and a half. The would even have had the plant up and running sooner, but the previous tenant, a printing company, was out of business and the creditors would not allow Bombardier use of the building to move the machinery until the courts got things straightened out. That took over a month. This "history lesson" was from memory, so a bit of research on my part could add some info if there are any questions, or errors on my part.
speckseeker	posted 04-26-2006 10:59 PM ET (US) BAsically the motor is a OMC with question marks then. Have ya'll heard of people blowing up the 00's & younger?
seahorse	posted 04-26-2006 11:24 PM ET (US) The troublesome FICHTS were the 150-175 series in 1998 and 1999. The v4's and the 200-225 motors of 1999 did not have the problems of their smaller bretheren. In 2000, the FICHT was redesigned and called FICHT Ram. They had 40 volt injectors, integrated computers called EMM's, water cooled EMMs, exhaust backpressure senders, etc. They were better running than the '99 versions. In 2001, the then OMC made a 10% displacement increase on the 200 on up motors and redid the cooling systems on the 150 and 175. The '01 motors were even better running than the 2000's. Then OMC went belly up in Dec. of 2000. Like anything used, have a qualified person do a complete inspection of the motor, including printing out the computer report.
speckseeker	posted 04-26-2006 11:41 PM ET (US) Man -some of ya'll know a boatload about engines. The 01-150hp engine has only 70hrs on it. I am going to get it tested & get the report from a Evinrude tech. I just want to make sure the yr I am buying is not when there were a lot of lemons. Sounds like I will be ok. If you have something you would like to add, please do.
jimh	posted 04-27-2006 12:36 AM ET (US) You could look at the engine this way: it has been running for five years. If it were going to blow up, it should have by now.
Tom W Clark	posted 04-27-2006 01:12 AM ET (US) seahorse, Let me ask you a question. Ignoring the Bombardier Fichts and focussing on just the OMC Fichts, what percentage of those motors ultimately had a failure of any sort significant enough to keep the motor from running and requiring a repair?
seahorse	posted 04-27-2006 07:06 AM ET (US) Probably not as many as you think. The '98 FICHT problem was really the first time something like this was all over the internet. Everyone said they knew of someone whose neighbor's first cousin's brother in law had a friend who saw a blown up FICHT somewhere. If you read the forum reports back in those days, you would think they were blowing up as soon as they were mounted on the boat. The '98 did have mucho problems. The then president of OMC David Jones announced that 20% of the 1968 25" shaft engines, not the 20" models, had issues. That is when they were starting a complete re-engineering program and sent out teams througout the US to upgrad customer's motors. The 20" models normally were on lighter faster boats, were propped better, and they did not have the off-idle, 1500-2500 rpm, soot buildup to stick the rings and score the pistons. Surprisingly, there are a lot of the '97, '98, and '99 150-175 engines out there still running. Questions about them show up on the various newsgroups almost weekly. Most say except for short sparkplug life, they are running OK but its hard to find someone who will work on them.
BarryGreen	posted 04-27-2006 07:54 AM ET (US) I believe Seahorse is absolutely correct. I had a 1998 175HP Ficht on a 20' Outrage, so that was really ground zero in terms of the Ficht problem. My engine ran like a watch for the four years I owned the boat. It started instantly, idled quietly, pulled wakeboarders and tubes like a champ, and was troublefree except for a fuel pump diaphram failure. I know a couple of others who had the same experiences. While there certainly were some Ficht problems, I really believe the true magnitude of the problem was overblown. I would also agree that what failures there were tended to come early, and if it hasn't failed by now the odds are more in your favor.
speckseeker	posted 04-27-2006 05:16 PM ET (US) There are no fix kits with the 00 & younger engines correct? THose were for the late ninety fichts. The one I am looking at kind of scares me because it has so few hours on it (70hr). I am hoping it is not a time bomb waiting to happen but I guess I have to roll the dice--practical new engine (hr wise) or possible problems that may occur within 100 hrs.