05 Evinrude FICHT

[fixit]

Any luck with these Motors?? I'm thinking about changing to a 225 Evinrude FICHT 05.. Great price at (hate to say it) Ed's marine.. May go for the E-tech but the price difference on the FICHT is awesome..... Now running a 250 Carb Johnson so any thing would be better on fuel..... If I do go to Ed's it will be a quick deal, Here's the money throw it in my truck and GO !!!![tongue]

[Pat N Mike]

Scott, I'm in the same position, the carb Johnson runs great, so I may go in for the replacement soon to get a couple $$ out of it. Looking at the E-tec as well. Just make sure you have a nice dealer locally to service it if you go that route. Ed's is a buy-it-and-leave operation for sure !!! Let me know what you're doing, sounds like I'm right behind ya ! Guess I'll need 2' letters of "Pat N Mike" on the side and we'll be twins !!!! [wink]

And you know to check out the www.thehulltruth.com Those guys cover all the options & comparisons !

check out this one if you like reading....
(#702183) - Suzuki 250/four stroke or Evinrude E-Tec 250/two stroke??

if you have a second, b-mail the prices, I'm curious what Ed's has.
thx

Patrick
Pat N Mike

[maestro]

Make sure it's the saltwater version !

Here's a performance report for that motor. Different boat, but it should be in the ballpark as far as hull weight, etc. Nothing wrong with 3.15 MPG, especially when your getting about 1.5 now !

Good Luck.

http://www.evinrude.com/NR/rdonlyres/9271EE1B-F754-432C-AB2A-2F4E89B06145/0/PE203.pdf

[rockfisher1055]

Good Luck Scott, Just let me know when you want to slap a little blodd on the new motor.

By the way you need to come down some weekend and fish the rock on my boat this fall!!!!

Donny

[fixit]

Maestro, You know it !!! That fuel mileage is impressive.. 1.5 is a calm day, When i drop the bow it's even worse.....3.5 and we could fish the 500 curve all day....
Donny, I sure do hope to hook up with ya soon... I may be going to VA to pick up that motor this weekend.. Hell of a deal.. Cherry picker and a few connections and I'm good to go........

[TommyTuna]

check the warranty - some manu won't honor if not factory service center installed!

[fixit]

Will do TT..

[Neighbor Dave]

Scott,

I have a 98 150 FICHT, Yep, the one with the problems. I got about 1000 hrs before I lost the powerhead due to carbon buildup.

I beleive most of the major problems with the earlier FICHT's have been worked out.

Couple of comments/suggestions:
* I would run pure synthetic XD100 oil to minimise carbon buildup
* I'm not sure 3.15MPG is realistic. My best cruising economy is at 4000RPM/25MPH/10GPH.....around 2.5MPG on a 20'WA weighing about 3500lbs (includes motor/gas/geat/etc)
* If you install yourself, once you are done take it to a Evinrude dealer to check out and certify the install (that's what I did and had no problems with Warranty work).
* I assume you troll a good bit. Consider a kicker for trolling. I believe most of the problems with the FICHT's is carbon buildup at low RPM's

If I got a really good buy I'd buy another...if pricing was the same, I'd go with a 4stroke.

Here's a really good site for FICHT stuff.
http://www.boatsetup.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=6;hardset=100;start_poi nt=0

Good Luck
ND

[fixit]

Thanks Neighbor Dave.. Nice site..... Was it hard installing your outboard ??? I do have a hydraulic lift...

[Neighbor Dave]

Don't know what kind of boat you have but it's not that hard at all. Since you have a late model Johnson it will bolt right on. Controls are the same. You will have to replace your oil reservour, the FICHT has a return line on it. Make sure you read the part of the manual about priming the oil, it's really important to get it primed right the first time.

If you have a lift, it should be about a 4 hr job (including beer breaks).

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

ND