Evinrude FICHT Question

I know I am opening a can of worms here. Would you buy one? Why or why not? Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

What year and block size or horse power? That is the main question. From 97′-99′ the smaller block, 150-175 hp engines had issues. But during those years the 200-225 were fine. So other than that I would. I had a 2002 200hp that was fantastic for four seasons.

Dad had a 2001 225, blew 2 times, went to n 02, blew once. I would be leary.

Go yammy or merc!!!!
Eric

I have over 500 hours on a 115 FICHT with only one small problem since 2003. The problem came from my brain fart not a FICHT issue. I know of 2 other that have one and would not want anything else. GOOD LUCK with your decision

You need to make up your own mind. There are and have been issues with everyone out there. Everyone knows of a guy that had a bad one, and we all know of good ones. The FICHT is a great engine. It may be more important to find out how many hours are on the particular engine you are looking at (if used) and go from there.

What is an average hours used per year on a bassboat, in your opinion? Is there a way to know the actual use, like a odometer in a car?
I am looking at getting my first bass boat in the next year and I would like to avoid getting hosed.

The newer motors will have a computer chip or something that can tell a dealer [have it checked at a dealer] just how many hours are on the motor and how many of those hours were run wide open. Also a dealer can do a compression check on the motor too.
Thanks, Bill

Bill anwsered some of your question. What is average??? I personally put on roughly 100 hours a year on my engine. I believe that may be above average. I would say 50-75 a year is more average. But in my case, of all those hours on my FICHT 200, 59% were idling(between 0-1000 rpm). The computer printout you can get off an engine tells much more too. If there was hot alarms, highest temp engine reached, etc.