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wrote:
Del,
REMEMBER BACK 9 YEARS AGO, WHEN YOU STARTED READING THIS NEWSGROUP, A
LOT OF FOLKS POSTED ABOUT THEIR FICHT PROBLEMS WITH THE '98 AND SOME
'99 150-175HP ENGINES? OMC CAME OUT WITH THE FICHT 150 IN LATE SUMMER
OF '96. IT WAS ONLY AVAILABLE IN A 20" SHAFT AND 150 HP AND THE MOTORS
MET THE 2006 EPA EMISSION LIMITS 10 YEARS BEFORE THAY HAD TO.

This must have been the era of the Bassmasters Classic episode.

IN '98 THE FICHT CAME OUT WITH A 25" SHAFT FOR OFFSHORE BOATS, AND ON
THOSE APPLICATIONS, PROBLEMS SHOWED UP AFTER A WHILE IN CERTAIN
SITUATIONS. DAVID JONES, THEN PRESIDENT OF OMC, STATED THAT 1 IN 5
FICHTS WITH A 25" SHAFT HAD PROBLEMS, AND THEY WERE IN THE PROCESS OF
DETERMINING AND FIXING THEM. ALL THIS WAS IN THE MARINE MAGAZINES, ON
THE INTERNET, AND WAS SPREAD BY WORD OF MOUTH. EVEN THE AUSTRALIAN
BOATING MAGAZINES HAD ARTICLES ON THE PROBLEMS AND ON WHAT OMC WAS
DOING.

Never saw anything in Bass and Walleye boats, which is the only boat mag
I read. And I wasn't really poring over all the boat web sites either.

TO OMC'S CREDIT, THEY SENT OUT SERVICE TEAMS TO RE-DO ALL THE '98 AND
'99 150-175'S IN THE FIELD WITH NEW CYLINDER HEADS AND REMAPPED
SOFTWARE, SPARK PLUGS, LINKAGE, ETC., ABOUT A 4 HOUR JOB PER MOTOR. THE
TEAMS WENT ALL AROUND THE COUNTRY TAKING CARE OF CUSTOMERS AND DEALER'S
MOTORS. THE MOTORS WORKED OK AFTER THE FIXES. NONE OF MY CUSTOMERS HAD
MAJOR PROBLEMS BUT I SAW MOTORS FROM other places that did. I also did
a lot of upgrade kit installations. I still service operational FICHTS
that are still used by families every season.

That is an interesting point. If it was a fundamental problem with the
technology then it should eventually have gotten all the motors, unless
it is triggered by usage patterns or by some confluence of tolerance
build up.

Merc's problems with Optimax resulted in a class action lawsuit, and
there may be one for the Yamaha 250-300 hp problems, but OMC did not
have any due to their effort to fix engines in the field and not just
gloss over the problem.

Yamaha problems? Are they having HPDI problems? The information is
still not reaching the general public. There was just a 300 HPDI
article in Bass and Walleye boats, and I don't recall so much as a hint
of any problems.

I just looked, and the Optimax suit was settled for an extended
warrantee and some coupons. And you only get the coupons if you have
had a bunch of repairs. Oh, and a bunch of money to the lawyers I would
guess. And the 300 HPDI is a "salt water intrusion" but the web site
wanted me to register.

Also in 1999 OMC came out with the V4 FICHT in 90 and 115 hp sizes, as
well as a big block 200-225hp, and these motors did NOT HAVE THE
PROBLEMS THAT THE MID-SIZED 150-175'S DID.

Don't have to shout at me, I am a very reasonable person. Do you have
any theories or information about why? What was it about the 150s that
seemingly caused them to have more problems than the big blocks or the
V4s?

FOR 2000, the FICHT system was improved quite a bit and called FICHT
Ram, and really did well. It was quieter and smoother than the earlier
series, and was better on fuel use. In 2001 they came out with a new
block, the 3.3L and it is still used today, and that really made the
motors perform even better while the hp increased to 250. These
versions are still being produced today.

So what did they change? As an engineer I am interested in stuff like
that.

If the FICHT was so bad why is it still in production after 9 years?
Wouldn't you think that all you would read about was blown up motors
and powerheads stacked by the roadside? Why would a company still make
motors that are "blowing up"? Whay would Bombardier buy Johnson and
Evinrude knowing the motors were junk? Think about it !

I never said that they were bad. But they, at least some models, did
have problems, at least for a time. Bombadier clearly thought that they
could rehabilitate the brands and the product line and make money.
Since they and Genmar only paid 95 million dollars together and that
included the boat companies.

After a rocky start, FICHT and now its new E-TEC cousing is doing well.
It is only in the mind of "Karen-down-under", without any credentials
or experience in the outboard industry that FICHT is no good.

Even you will admit that a fair number of folks had bad experiences with
early Ficht motors, would you not?

You asked about buying a '98 150 FICHT. Well, if you believe Karen,
then there is no such thing. There could not be any used FICHTS. Every
one blew up, there are piles of powerheads littering the landscape, and
owners have something else.
I stll maintain old FICHTS for customers who are doing fine with them.

Actually I mentioned that I could have bought one in 98 when I was boat
shopping but instead went with a carb'd merc. So, knowing what you know
now, with the benefit of 6 years of hindsight, if I had bought a 150
Ficht in 98 for my Lund fishing boat here in Minnesota, what would have
been my experience? Would I still have it? Would I have had to spend
significant money on repairs? Would it have been available and working
when I wanted to go fishing in the summer?

What was the percentage of people in similar situations who had good
outcomes? No significant repairs, no lost vacation time, that sort of
thing. I don't get to put a lot of hours on the boat, living here in
Minnesota and working for a living, probably 100 hours a year.

I know Karen has theories, but I am an agnostic on the matter. I can
read a patent but I don't know what was implemented. And I have no
access to the kind of Failure Analysis and testing that would be required.

del cecchi

del cecchi