115 Ficht

[lmuss53]

So, right or wrong, I have bought a well running 2000 115 Ficht Evinrude, model E115FSLSSH. It has been run on Evinrude oil only, and plugs changed regularly. I know very little on the history of these motors except that they were supposed to be the reason for the downfall of OMC. I heard something about software upgrades from OMC/BRP to keep these engines from doing whatever they do to fail. The owner, who bought it new, says there were never any upgrades done to this one.

My question to the forum is this, is there anything I can do to keep this motor from having the injector issues that they are known for? I'd like to use it for a few more years, it is replacing a 1985 model motor that is still running well.

 

[jakedaawg]

I know they changed the plugs depending on whether or not you have the "pinned" heads. I think faztbullett knows a lot about these.

I don't recall a software update but I don't see many of those and didn't pay much attention to em back then. We really only had emm issues most likely from running hot I believe. But like I said, only serviced a few for any length of time. Hopefully one of those guys will come along and help you out.

 

[mjf55]

So from my quick search, it would appear that the 115 fitch was not much of the problem, some love the engine. The major fitch issues were in the higher hp ranges - 175/200/225 .
I have not seen any discussions in a switch upgrade.
I would see what the engine computer has to say ( that's what I read) , level of software it is running and talk to a dealer as to possible upgrades.
The engine is 16 years old and as you said , running good. Ifor it we me, I would investigate, but not necessarily change anything. Keep doing what the previous owner was doing.

 

[emdsapmgr]

The Fichts that we had all the problems with were the 60 degree 150/175 V6 engines made by OMC up through the 1999 model year. The V4 Ficht engines seen to run just fine. Ditto for the big block 90 degree engines. During the production years of the early Fichts, OMC issued a number of service bulletins for field fixes on these 60 Degree V6 engines. I know one of the fixes involved new brackets for the injectors. Plus other vital field fixes. I know many of our customers had these mods done. Others opted not to do the fix. Does not seem to be much correlation regarding catastrophic failure whether the fixes were done or not...You can probably call the Bomardier customer hotline and give them the serial number of your engine. They can tell you if any of the mods were done, and which are still open. Likely the open ones have "expired" and since the mod was an OMC mod, likely the surviving company (Bombardier) will say it's not their issue. My understanding is that Bombardier took over at the start of the model 2000 year, so yours is likely put together well.

 

[lmuss53]

Thanks guys, I read up a little on them today and saw that the V4s didn't have many of the issues that haunted the larger engines. I think I'll keep doing what the previous owner did, and trust the majority of the other posts I saw that say this is a good reliable engine when proper cared for.