1999, 175 Evinrude Ficht, anything I need to know?

[loctopus]

I have a 175 HP, 1999 Evinrude Ficht that I bought a year ago and used on my 200 Proline with great results last year. I know these engines have a history of trouble, and all the updates/fixes have been done to it, but are there any other important things I should know/do on an annual basis- outside of the usual stuff? Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[sjlnys]

Re: 1999, 175 Evinrude Ficht, anything I need to know?

I have 1999 200 HP bought new, and after blown powerhead in 2000 and all upgrades, it has run flawlessly since then.
I run Evinrude synthetic two cycle oil exclusively, change plugs every 100 hours at the very minimum, decarburize the engine avery spring after winter layup, sometime every other year depending on usage.
Boat is used on the Great Lakes in the North East. Layed up from Nov 1st to April 15 every winter.
Follow factory maintenance schedule in the owners manual. Good luck to you as the 150's and 175's of that era where more trouble prone than the 200's and 225's.

 

[sjlnys]

Re: 1999, 175 Evinrude Ficht, anything I need to know?

Forgot to mention, whatever you do, do not troll at low RPM's for extended periods with this motor. Get a kicker if you need to troll. These motors where designed to run at mid to high RPM's, and although they where originally advertised to troll down to nothing, running them at low RPM resulted in many blown engines including my own in 2000.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 1999, 175 Evinrude Ficht, anything I need to know?

find a good mech that knows about them.. the manufacturer got ahead of educating the mechs on this motor. that was one of the problems with them.