ficht 150 hard start

[gohawks688]

Hello all,
I am trying to trouble shoot a 98 ficht E150ILECR . The symptoms are hard starting. He told me that it wont start cold unless primed with gas/oil into intake. Once warmed up it will start fine.
I am having trouble getting it started in the driveway as well. have gotten lucky a few times but very difficult. It will crank, then pop once and kick the starter. have to do this multiple times (10 +) to get it to finally catch. after started it seems fine but I am new to outboards.
So here is what I have done so far...
replaced battery with brand new one. 850 cca seeing 250+ rpm on diagnostic software during crank
cleaned all battery terminals/starter hook ups
regapped cps to .30
new factory plugs gapped to .028 and indexed
boat had old gas so I hooked it up to a fresh 5 gallon tank and used fuel pump to purge old gas out and drained the fuel filter
with inline spark tester I verified spark at all cylinders
hooked up a fuel pressure tester inline from one of the pumps (not sure which as I am new to ficht I am a carb guy) and got 35 PSI when pump was on. ( can here pump prime when key is tested.)
Used fuel pressure tester on two Schrader valves on fuel system, didn't get any pressure but fuel spurted from them when hooking up and disconnecting tester. Not sure no pressure is a bad sign.
compression on all cylinders 90-95 PSI warm motor all plugs removed

See below I have attached the initial report from the engine not running.
The tps codes are null as I think it was not in neutral at the time of the test.
codes 22 and 35 concern me but are not super recent. will dig into them once I get it starting reliably.

I am trying to upload a snapshot of the engine diagnostic while running. Not super savy on the diagnostic software yet. it shows no active codes and I do not have any check engine lights at the moment. Though the oil light did come on before I had the software. MY MAIN CONCERN IS THE OIL PRESSURE FAULT TAB AT THE TOP OF THE DIAGNOSTIC IS ORANGE. This confuses me with no codes associated.

Any help from the experts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[gohawks688]

Also when connecting the diagnostic software I get the message "invalid or missing fuel injector serial number cylinder #1"

 

[Faztbullet]

Recheck that CPS as it has to sync with flywheel.....1998 is bad year to be dinking with.

 

[gohawks688]

What exactly do you mean by recheck? I just regapped it a few days ago, and when running the CPS light in the diagnostic is "green ok".
i gapped to .030 per other posts I read though the manual says .04x-.05x
Also resistance on the cps is correct. Fly wheel is also clear of rust.

I keep hearing the poor reputation of the ficht but it made it 700+ hours. There has got to be something to that....

 

[Faztbullet]

Need to use software to check timing reference from CPS or do timing setup. If flywheel does not sync with CPS it wont start. Also use the software to monitor injectors to see if the pulsed when key is cycled at cranking as could be ECU. The early 98's used different ignition and ECU which your serial in report say you have. I have been told that the newer software doesn't comm right with a ECU and have to use the version 1.42 DOS series.

 

[gohawks688]

Need to use software to check timing reference from CPS or do timing setup. If flywheel does not sync with CPS it wont start. Also use the software to monitor injectors to see if the pulsed when key is cycled at cranking as could be ECU. The early 98's used different ignition and ECU which your serial in report say you have. I have been told that the newer software doesn't comm right with a ECU and have to use the version 1.42 DOS series.

Hmm that would suck if my software doesn't work properly. Any idea how to get the old version?

ok so I will explore mycmy software and factory service manual for timing check/checking the CPS.

Is there a reason there is no CPS fault/the CPS block on tab on the diagnostic says it's ok when I have the engine running?

 

[gohawks688]

more troubleshooting updates today... started working my way through the manual starting at fuel.​

ran the static fuel tests. pressure at both Schrader valves on the vapor separator check out 2-10 psi and 20-30 psi. On my original tests the pressure tester adapters were not letting fuel into the tester. ​

lift pump holds 15 psi indefinitely on either side. diaphragm should be ok. ​

circulation pump turns on when it should and I see 30 psi on pressure test. it checks out ok.​

injectors all click when performing test with software.​

all fuses check out. ​

got to the voltage section of the fuel section of the manual. it says install emergency stop clip. I am assuming that's the pull cord attached to the key? it wasn't installed this whole time but I did get the motor to run without it? this confuses me. anyway I am not seeing the voltages at the purple white wire "j" at the power distribution panel during step 4 verify switch B+. I jammed my probe in there maybe not making a good connection maybe no voltage. next test sends you to the ignition system and that's where I stopped today. could my kill switch be faulty/intermittent? how was I able to run it without it plugged in?​

also checked resistance of tps, air temp sensor and cps, coil primary side and spark plugs. all check out. ​

removed and lubed Bendix as it wasn't always engaging the flywheel. seems to be better now. maybe a battery issue??battery is getting low from all the cranking. its back on the trickle charger and on the hunt for another battery to install.​

still getting water in the fuel code. How can this be? I am running on fresh gas in a remote tank? is this code doing anything to the engine that is causing the hard starting? (computer wise I understand bad the bad gas part)​

still need to verify timing. that could be the hard start issue (it just doesn't want to catch) ​

 

[Faztbullet]

still getting water in the fuel code. How can this be? I ​

This is a ghost code common with these models...

 

[gohawks688]

This is a ghost code common with these models...

Is this just a code I can ignore if I know I have fresh gas or is the computer itself making it difficult to start because it is seeing the code?

 

[Faztbullet]

It will start and run with code...

 

[gohawks688]

That's what I figured. Gonna ignore that for now.
Going to look into timing. as everything else seems to be normal. The symptom of just not wanting to catch feels like when I have had other motors with bad timing.
My Evinrude factory manual doesn't say much on timing. Just says use the software. Does anyone have any tips on this? I have gapped the CPS properly. What is the next step?