stingfish

hi,

does anyone own this motor or had any expierence w/ this motor over the years?

i am looking for input on performance, realibility, and quality. please share your thoughts, i am new to this community, and boating. this motor comes with a boat i am interested in and I would like to find out as much as i can about this motor before i consider buying my first boat.

the boat is 19' 7" CC, and in my price range/budget. i would like to use it for cruising, fishing inshore and a few miles offshore and maybe pulling an occasional skier. i am concerned b/c the motor does not have a warrenty and although looks in great condition the hrs are unknown, so therefore if i were to purchase, i would be relying on the brand, make, and hopefully solid technology of this motor but have not had much luck finding details on the www.

if you have owned this motor, worked with this motor, or have a friend who has one, please share your knowledge on it.

thanks so much.

tully_mars

I just sold a boat with an Evinrude 75 FICHT which is the exact same engine, only difference is computer programming. The V4 series of FICHT motors didn't have theissues like the larger V-6 models did. Regardless, by 2001 Evinrude had figured many things out which means your 115 has the updates done by Evinrude around 1999 and 2000.

One thing to note, from many circles that I boat in, you really need to use the Evinrude XD50 oil (formerly FICHT oil) which is a synthetic blend designed for that motor. Everyone has told me that if you want good long term service out of the FICHT then run the Evinrue oil.

I know of several folks with hundreds of hours on V4 FICHTS, all of them ran the Evinrude oil. It isn't the cheapest, but I usually paid around $13/gallon for it.

The motors are miserly on oil anyway so it wasn't a big deal on the extra oil cost just to be sure. I think I only used like 2 gallons /year, and it took a lot of boating to do that.

If the previous owner hasn't been running a good quality synthetic oil, then I might pass on the motor.

stingfish

thanks tully for the great info and fast reply,

that is good to know about the oil.

"If the previous owner hasn't been running a good quality synthetic oil, then I might pass on the motor." <-- this is good, my dad recommend i locate the previous owner to ask a few questions as well about the motor. this boat is being sold by a dealer here in FL, b/c it's used there is probably no chance of a warrenty.

betchawill

Purchased a 1999 115 ficht new in 2000. Had problems that resulted in a new 2000 power head being put in. Since that time, the engine has many hrs and has performed outstandingly. Do use the correct oil as suggested.

Butch Davis

Have had a 115 FICHT for the past seven years. No flaws, no problems. Quiet and economical as well as strong.

I recommend it.

Yes, Run the Evinrude oil. I recommend the XD-100 oil vs the XD-50 because the 100 pretty much eliminates the requirement to decarbonize the motor every 200 operating hours. That's a PITA to do.

Check out the decarbonizing thread on this forum. Also check out boatsetup.com for good info.

theoldwizard

XD-50 is a synthetic blend. XD-100 is full synthetic.

A good lower price alternative is Pennzoil 100% Synthetic.

Butch Davis

I do not recommend any oil for a FICHT other than BRP/Evinrude XD-50 or XD-100. Generic TC-W3 oil, synthetic or not, is an uncessary risk in a FICHT or in any HPDI engine, IMO.

YMMV.

tully_mars

++++1

What Butch said.

Dae

I know a guy with a 2000 115 Ficht and he's never had any problems with it. It's been an solid motor for him. Like the previuos post, the problems with OMC Fichts were on the V6s and even those issues were pretty much fixed when OMC came out with the Ficht Ram. OMC's V6 Ficht Rams were inferior parts that didn't meet Specs. Once BRP took over, they trashed all those parts and have been building a quality motor.

BTW, to get engine hours you just need to take the motor to a dealer. They can pull hrs, operating RPMs and what not. If you want to know if this motor's been a problem motor, post the serial # over at BBC ( http://bbcboards.zeroforum.com/zeroforum?id=51 )and one of the techs there can look up the info for you.

- Dae

stingfish

Thank you all for the valuable input. I would like to also ask…. Is this motor considered a “Salt Water Engine”

For example, I noticed most modern Evinrude motors seem to be color coded. IE saltwater motors are white freshwater motors are Black.

This motor I am referring to in this thread topic is black. I am planning on using this motor in mostly salt water and hoping that this engine is built for salt water. Can anyone confirm this model/year make of Evinrude is built and will last in salt water?

intrepid313

i know this post is quite old but does anyone know the possible consequences of using just another 2-stroke oil and how to clear out the old oil. This might be the problem that im having with my motor. The motor is stalling at low rpm and isnt running well at high rpms. I have evinrude Ficht 115. thanks!