250 Evinirude Ficht need advice

I took my 2002 Evinrude 250 Ficth DI to the Dealer to have a new water pump installed as preventive maintenance and they also installed a new fuel rail. I went for a test run when I got it back and the tell-tail was spraying water very hard ( not a steady stream like normal) and the motor vibrated between 1500 and 4000 RPM. I took it back to the Dealer and they hooked the laptop to it and we went for a ride. All showed normal and all they could tell me was that it was pumping too much water and not letting the motor warm up enough to burn all the fuel and fouling the plugs. They checked all locations for any blockage and found none and then called BRP for help. That was over a week ago and they are still stumped. Has anyone had or heard of this problem or am I the only lucky dog to get this one?

Re: 250 Evinirude Ficht need advice

Why would they check for a blockage if the engine was running too cool? That is what I gathered from your explanation of what they found when they went for the test run.

Overcooling can be caused by missing or rotted out thermostats. It can be caused by the "spider" valve on top of the engine, also known as the poppit valve. A blockage would not cause overcooling, I don't know why they are looking for one.

Ask for a printout of a "snapshot" while your engine was being test run. Look for a history of overcooling. Look for the temp at the speeds where you are having the problem. There are many tools available to the technicians and I find it hard to believe they have not found the problem yet. The cooling system is straightforward and simple really.

Also, when the spark plugs are changed does the problem go away? Spark plugs will not foul as soon as they are put in, unless the problem is more than an overcooling situation.

Have they checked the temperature switches? Maybe they are telling the engine is too cool and enrichening the mixture because it "thinks" it is cold.

Good luck.

Re: 250 Evinirude Ficht need advice

maybe some trash got into the new fuel rail and is clogging one or more injectors.....why did they replace the fuel rail anyway???

Re: 250 Evinirude Ficht need advice

How could blocked injectors cause plug fouling? Which is what I understand is part of the problem? How could that account for the overcooling the shop is telling him he has? Not questioning you SparkieBoat, am interested in your thoughts. I think the shop is barking up the wrong tree frankly.

I think your shop is giving you the run around a bit. With Evdiags connected to the engine, they can drop cylinders.get a real time overall temp reading of the engine and back that up with a pyrometer check, amongst other checks. It takes about two seconds to check the spider valve and no time to check the thermostats.

The fuel rail is a hard plastic, fixed pipe to the injectors. No reason the replace it other than a leak at the injector or a crack.

Get your shop to give you detailed reports on their work and an engine report with a snapshot monitor of the engine on the test run. Post a copy of it and we'll have a look see.

Re: 250 Evinirude Ficht need advice

if it is over cooling, you pretty much covered the causes for that. My though is the skipping/vibrating is fuel related, not an over cooling/fouling issue. possible too much oil being injected if it is a fouling issue, but I think the shop is wrong. most likely after the motor sat up all winter with ethanol fuel in the lines, it left the white powdery residue through out the whole fuel system. fuel rail was probably changed because it was dirty, (just a guess). I am not real familiar with ficht motors as I pretty much avoid them like the plauge, but on other EFI motors they have a small screen on the bottom of the HP fuel pump which gets clogged, and sometimes other little filters that nobody seems to know exist. these have caused much grief since the ethanol fuel has become so dominant. the injectors also should probably be sent off and flow tested and cleaned, cheaper than popping a piston.