I guess I'm a little confused on how to identify what models are johnson/evirude fichts. Are they 2 stroke or 4 or both? Is there a year range, or are there more variables?
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I guess I'm a little confused on how to identify what models are johnson/evirude fichts. Are they 2 stroke or 4 or both? Is there a year range, or are there more variables?
Here Gewber. Read this:
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000863.html
You gewb. That link just has more people fighting about whether or not they are a piece of crap back in '02.
I was asking if maybe since it's been 9 years since that thread, maybe somebody's got some new opinions or if there was a certain year or landmark that the ficht was officially not considered a dirty word by the general public.
But that link did mention it being a 2 stroke. Are they all 2 strokes?
I dunno. I didn't read the whole article.Quote:
Originally Posted by EmptyStringer
They are 2 stroke motors and gas guzzlers.
There are also very few folks that will work on one. Ficht fuel injected engines are crap for the most part. Some people have had good luck but most have not. I would jump up to an E Tec and not worry about it.
A couple of boats I've been staring at have big silver shiny Johnson's on them. How do I know if it is a ficht?
The easiest way to spot a Ficht is from the color and the graphics. Here are two examples:
Attachment 55922
Attachment 55923
The first pic is the one you'll see most offen on bass/crappie hulls. The color of the engine is unique to the Ficht motors by Johnson/Evinrude and the graphics on the cowl with the swirls of Red and Gold are as well. They also all say FICHT Direct Injection on them. Now, the Saltwater motors were white, but had the same graphics.
The second pic is a Saltwater Ficht of a later year after Bombardier bought them out. They changed the graphics but continued the technology for a couple more years before they switched to the Etec technology.
Wannabe...
Ah ha! Complete with picutures. Gracious amigo
You make it too easy fer the gewb.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wannabe...
One caution, Evinrude made a lot of mid range 4 strokes that were white and had updated cowlings, so if you see a white Evinrude, it could be a 4 stroke, but requires some scrutiny such as a clear pic of the graphics, which will say 4-Stroke.
If you see a Johnson, it's non-ficht. Pretty sure all FICHT motors were Evinrude Brand only. FYI, don't try to google "Picture of a big Johnson". I'm just saying.
Wannabe...
I had a long conversation with my boat mechanic the other day. We got on the topic of worst motors ever. He mentioned the ficht at the top of the list. Told me never to get one and he wouldn't work on if I did. Luckily I have a 99 Johnson 90 hp that is easy to work on. He did tell me not all manufacturers make all their own motors. Different hp 2 or 4 stroke. I was so confused when I left I couldn't tell who built what.
It is pretty confusing a'ite. Tohatsu used to make all Merc, Yammie and Nissan motors up to varying degrees, but pretty much all motors of any size are made by that brand - their flagship engines. Nissan and Tohatsu are still the same. Yammie switched to all in house mfg. Not sure about Merc. Guessing Bombardier (OMC, Johnson, Evinrude) are all in house too, but doubt their 2 stroke small motors are.
Oh, and your mechanic is right. Ficht was the worst EVAH. That said, you'll find folks like Triton who's been running the dog snot out of 'em for years with no problems whatsoever. Matter of fact, never walked up on anybody with a FICHT who's run it for any length of time who had a bad thing to say about them. Then again, there are many, many, many stories of repeated failures and rebuilds from back in the day of motors that made folks go broke. Know of a couple who had theirs rebuilt up to 5 times under warranty and got so sick of down time, they basically wrote it off and bought another motor and took basically a total loss on them through trade.
Wannabe...
pretty much what WB said. I have ran a ficht engine for years and as of today I love it. Quiet, cranks easy, great on gas. But with that said I have also seen some ficht motors go to crap in a hurry. One thing I can say is I am very picky about yearly maintenance on my my motor. I do not know if this has helped with its performance or not. I did have the gear box go out last year and had it not been for insurance that would have cost me about 3,000 as it was I paid the 500 deductible and got a new gearcase.