Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

[sheboyganjohn]

I have the above motor that I purchased used to put on the boat I just built. After installing and wiring everything (came with all the gauges, wiring harness, ignition, etc) I fired her up. Hooked up the laptop and checked all the usual checks (high RPMS, high temp on EMM, etc). Other then a slight variation in idle speed, ran fine. Shut it down. A few days latter went to try it again to do some more checks with the laptop. Turned the key and nothing, not even a fuel pump. Popped the cover and double checked the connections, all seemed well. Tried the switch again and it fired up fine. Took it out of a maiden voyage, all was well. Went for the first use a month latter (it is an open water hunting boat) and it turned over once. Dumb me left the battery hooked up the whole time in the cold and never charged it. Took it home, charged up the battery and again, there was nothing on the key turn. For the next week and a half I would go out to the boat each day and hit the key with nothing. Finally it was working again, starter bumped and fuel pump was working. Hooked it up to the hose and winterized it. The battery is not the issue since it is brand new and was able to fire it with-out an issue after the week and a half (was on the charger for a day to get it back up). My initial thought is the key switch. Just want to know if anyone else has had this experience so I know where to start testing. I have the factory manual and can do the checks, just trying to figure out where to start. On a related note, it did not come with the systems check gauge and the warning horn does not seem to work. I plan on getting the guage and will mess with the horn in the spring. I was not too worried about those missing, not working at first since I was running on the laptop.

Edit:almost forgot. The PT/T works fine at the motor and throttle when the key is dead.

And just to make the premtive strike on the jabbing comments:
First mistake, you bought a FITCH
FITCH"s even make lousy anchors
You can't even pay someone to take those
You just make your boat worth less then with-out a motor putting that on there.

 

[aerobat]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

First mistake, you bought a FITCH
FITCH"s even make lousy anchors

thats for sure a big mistake. fichts can make problems but also a great boating day- but a fitch is surely only a lousy anchor. such lousy that it never existed

normally running that engine without the check gauges is a no go, it sounds all a little provisionally . and here we have a ton of possibilities what might be wrong since these engines are compicated.

my best guess is a simple loose cable connectiton somewhere- maybe on the ignition lock. without check gauges you cannot even say anything about check lights or if something happened at all when you turned on ignition and nothing on the engine happened- but you say it fired straight away next try.

start at the wirings installation, then try to look for error codes stored , finally work up to the EMM and check if its working properly.

when thats all a quick and dirty installation without any knowledge on these engines you may run out of luck and a carbed engine would be a better choice- thats IMO a key factor for the bad reputation of the fichts.

btw - what year is this engine ?

cheers

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

FICHT, FITCH, I always put the T in the wrong spot.

The motor is a 2000, the engine on top is newer, it was replaced with a factory unit at 800 hrs.

I did a lot of research about the FICHT motors before I bought and came to the same conclusion, lack of knowledge of the motors and the issues that OMC had when the rolled them out are why they have such a bad wrap.

I am sure I just have something jagged up with a wire somewhere, but there are a lot of wires and connections, just trying to make it a shorter trouble shooting event if possible.

 

[woody66912]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

The next time it won't turn over, hold the key in the start position and move the control Handel back and forth, could just be the shift cable needs adjustment, or the neutral switch in the control is failing.

 

[Outsider]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

lack of knowledge of the motors and the issues that OMC had when the rolled them out are why they have such a bad wrap.

Really? Lack of knowledge and corporate issues? Sometime a bad rap is justly deserved because the product simply sucks ... :facepalm:

 

[woody66912]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

lack of knowledge of the motors and the issues that OMC had when the rolled them out are why they have such a bad wrap.

Really? Lack of knowledge and corporate issues? Sometime a bad rap is justly deserved because the product simply sucks ... :facepalm:

Hold on there, this guy has what he has, and we are hear to help." NO MATTER WHAT". yes are there bad products out there, yes: we are hear to help!.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

The next time it won't turn over, hold the key in the start position and move the control Handel back and forth, could just be the shift cable needs adjustment, or the neutral switch in the control is failing.

I took that into account and bypassed the neutral safety switch as the first trouble shooting item,forgot to mention that in the original post.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

Hold on there, this guy has what he has, and we are hear to help." NO MATTER WHAT". yes are there bad products out there, yes: we are hear to help!.

Thanks woody. I know these motors can always get one hell of an argument going on these boards. That is why I brought it up in the off season hoping it would stay a bit calmer then normal. I am sure I could trouble shoot this, but I was hoping someone had already dealt with a similar issue and would be willing to share. I know most want to keep out of these threads in case they take a bad turn.

And you are right, it is what it is. When I had it running it was wild running a home built boat at 40+mph.

 

[woody66912]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

I would think your next move would be a PDP panel.

 

[aerobat]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

a 225 rude on a home build boat sounds fancy !

like said - check all cable connections , also in the ignition lock.

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

Sounds like broken joint in PDP panel as posted earlier as they had issues with this.. also has the motor had the cooling update installed?

 

[seahorse5]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

The next time the key is dead, use a digital voltmeter and trace the B+ from the battery, through the switch and PDP and to the EMM. Do not overlook internal corrosion inside the 20 amp fuse holder that feeds the EMM.

Get a factory service manual !

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

Got the factory service manual and the accessory manual that covers all the wiring.

Now I have a good starting point to trouble shoot. Thanks to all for your help.

As for the cooling update, if you mean the water cooled EMM, yes it has it. I have also cleaned the gunk out the EMM by backflushing with water.

I noticed on Evinrudes website that in 2002 the part number changes for the PDP. If that is what I need I will have to double check what is on the engine since it is not the orginal power head.

 

[woody66912]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

This is not in the manual but in the past i have either had the engine running or had some hold the key in the start position, and taken a flat screwdriver and (lightly) pushed in between the fuses on the PDP and try to force it to fail.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

This is not in the manual but in the past i have either had the engine running or had some hold the key in the start position, and taken a flat screwdriver and (lightly) pushed in between the fuses on the PDP and try to force it to fail.

I will give that a try in a few months when things warm up, from your location you know how it is right now around here. I am assuming you are pressing on the plastic frame of the PDP between the fuses. Would this just be in the fuse area or also around the relays.

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

As for the cooling update, if you mean the water cooled EMM,

No this is not the one, it the roll pins installed in the t-stat head/housing.........

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

No this is not the one, it the roll pins installed in the t-stat head/housing.........

I am unsure if this one was done. I would have to look, plus I would have to know what I am looking for. The powerhead was supposidly replaced at 800 hrs with one from the factory, but I don't know if that was a short block or long block. I would guess if there was an update it would have been done at that time by the dealer.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FICHT - chase the motor gremlin - Update

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FICHT - chase the motor gremlin - Update

Have an update of what I have found so far. I pulled the PDP off the motor and found that one of the relays had slightly corroded contacts. I decided to send it in to DFI. They inpsected the whole unit, and cleaned the contacts, but found nothing wrong with it. I talked with them at length on the phone (they are great to deal with). They are also stumped with my symptoms. The only other items they can think of are the key switch or a damaged wire in the harness going to the motor. Since the key switch is old I am going to replace it. I will do some testing with the old one on the bench when I get it off. I am also going to recheck the harness and connections at the motor with a fine tooth comb. If that all turns up nothing I am going to send in the EMM for them to run a full check on it.

 

[multimech]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

Be sure and check all of the connections from the engine harness to the PDP.

I had a similar problem the other day. To make a long story short. The 20amp fuse holder had some corrosion in it and would cause an on again off again connection. I cleaned the holder. Inserted a new fuse and all was well.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Re: Evinrude 2000 225 FITCH - chase the motor gremlin

Thanks for the tip. I will check the fuse holder and may just put a new fuse in while I'm at it.