In thses discussions one should consider the source and qualifications of
those contributing.

AFAIK Karen (AKA The K of Oz) has never seen, touched, smelled, nor operated
a FICHT or E-Tec engine. Her only KNOWLEDGE of the engines is what she has
read and she seems unable to separate the wheat from the chaff of what she
has read.

I own a 1999 FICHT. I operate it year round in salt water and brackish
water. It has served me for six and a half years with no issues whatsoever.
As a PM exercise I've had the plugs replaced once. I generally operate at
3500 RPM but run at WOT for several minutes during each outing. I do not
troll. I operate at idle for short periods when launching/retrieving or
positioning the boat over a reef or hole.

Last year I had some starting issues with my then five year old batteries.
I replaced them with Optimas and normal starting resumed immediately.

Should I have to replace my FICHT due to theft or accident the most likely
replacement will be an E-Tec. I don't rule out a four stroke but weight is
an important issue for me.

In my boating area, central Gulf of Mexico coast, boats with FICHTs seem not
to suffer any devaluation.

IMO, the person with the most exrensive knowledge of FICHTs on this group is
Bill Grannis. Google him and draw your own conclusions. OTOH, IMO the K of
Oz is a notorious liar and fraud. YMMV.

Butch
"K. Smith" wrote in message ...
wrote:
Thats a dent in the track record

I havent been able to find much about the Etec online .... Would you
mind letting me know where to look for to gather more info?

Of course the guy talking about the comparison with his TDI doesnt make
any sense, the low temp issue doesnt look too serious but the Kabooms
are concerning ..

Are those little pains of a new product or a fundamental issue?

IF the Etec works it looks like THE motor for me ... light, quiet,
powerful, no maintenance ... What more can the boaters heart desire?
(Except no kabooms of course ..)

Matt


The "Kabooms" are a risk with any engine run lean at power & the risk is
aggravated if the injection pressure (therefore atomisation) is low.

Even at it's worst I guess there were 4 in 5 Ficht owners happy?? well
except their boats had become worthless:-) However a 1 in 5 risk is way
too high given they cost as much as a medium sized car. A 1 in 500 risk is
still too high for a consumer marketed OB engine.

As for the E-Tecs, all I can say is that when the Fichts were dying it was
exactly & I do mean exactly the same as right now; the reports were coming
in yet scared owners wouldn't/couldn't believe it & brain dead liars like
Krause even joined the dealers in fabricating stories to support the
marketing of failing engines.

Right up to about 2 weeks before OMC officially went under the dealers
were still here spruiking their BS about them, attacking anyone who was
trying to warn people of the dangers & essentially just telling lies.

The reason the dealers were so excited about selling defective engines
came out at the OMC bankruptcy hearings when it was finally
revealed/confirmed that the dealers were getting over 30% markup (total of
kickbacks & rebates) to sell sell sell known defective Ficht

Of course like all cowardly dealer liars they just went away after OMC
rolled over despite people all but begging for help or even the most basic
of info in this NG, the very same scum that had induced people to buy
their defective engines in the first place.

They're not worth the risk & if anyone who has had 1 in 3 fail says
otherwise ask yourself why they would be so silly as to take that risk
again & at full tilt no less:-) More money than brains?? yes obviously,
but at this rate pretty soon they'll have no money nor brains.


K