found this ... maybe.... go to the link and read all of it
Evinrude Ficht: Intermittent No-Start SOLVED
I have a 2000 Evinrude Ficht 200 HP that had a nagging, annoying intermittent problem.
I do a lot of drift fishing around bridges, pilings and jetties, and the motor always starts and runs flawlessly... 98% of the time. But on occasion, when trying to restart, you get nothing. No fuel pump, no starter, nothing. Just the tach letting you know you have key power. But then, after sitting maybe 15 minutes, it would restart normally and run great, until the next time. Maybe an hour, maybe 10 mins, or maybe a week later. Very random. But of course, this happens at the worst possible times, when the tide is sweeping you toward the rocks or pilings. That really shakes your confidence!
After checking the basics, replacing the wiring harness and key switch and a number of other things, I could not figure it out, so I sent the EMM in to DFI, since it controls pretty much everything. Got it back, and the motor ran even better after the updates. Nice, All fIxed, right? Well, the next spring, it started doing it again. I sent the EMM back on warranty, and they could not find anything wrong. So Chet at DFI decided to send me an entirely different EMM, just in case it was a cracked board or something strange. Great customer service!
I reinstalled the EMM, and everything was great again. I thought it was fixed this time, but about a week ago, it started doing it again. AARRRRGGGHHH!!!!!! This was making me crazy!
With a completely different EMM, it HAD to be something else. So right there on the water, I pulled the cowl and started shaking wires. Nothing. Then I pulled the cover to the fuse panel, or the PDP (Power Distribution Panel) and I started pulling fuses and replacing them. Nothing. I went back to shaking wires, and I bumped the PDP and the fuel pump kicked on. AHA!
Focusing on the PDP, I bumped it again, and fuel pump came back on. Cracked PDP? Well eventually, I narrowed it down to one of the square relays, similar to a tilt/trim relay.
I went home and pulled the PDP from my 2001 parts motor, and stuck it in my truck. Next trip out, motor started and ran well, but on maybe the third drift, it wouldn't start. I pulled the relay, and it was HOT.
YESSS!!!! You can't imagine how excited I was to finally have a smoking gun!!! The socket was clean, with no sign of arcing, so I felt good that it was the relay itself. I swapped out that relay, and have had zero issues since, over several trips and dozens and dozens of start cycles. I feel very confident that this was the problem the whole time.
NOW I feel 100% confident in this motor, like the last one I had. Great motor, very powerful, Outstanding on fuel, and now very reliable. Finally!
Interestingly enough, now I'm getting 43 MPH+ at 5800 rpm, same 17p prop. Thanks to Chet at DFI for the updated software!
So if you have a Ficht or an Etec that occasionally won't start, check the relays @ your PDP. I have never found this information anywhere, so hopefully this is helpful to someone.
I have a 2000 Evinrude Ficht 200 HP that had a nagging, annoying intermittent problem.
I do a lot of drift fishing around bridges, pilings and jetties, and the motor always starts and runs flawlessly... 98% of the time. But on occasion, when trying to restart, you get nothing. No fuel pump, no starter, nothing. Just the tach letting you know you have key power. But then, after sitting maybe 15 minutes, it would restart normally and run great, until the next time. Maybe an hour, maybe 10 mins, or maybe a week later. Very random. But of course, this happens at the worst possible times, when the tide is sweeping you toward the rocks or pilings. That really shakes your confidence!
After checking the basics, replacing the wiring harness and key switch and a number of other things, I could not figure it out, so I sent the EMM in to DFI, since it controls pretty much everything. Got it back, and the motor ran even better after the updates. Nice, All fIxed, right? Well, the next spring, it started doing it again. I sent the EMM back on warranty, and they could not find anything wrong. So Chet at DFI decided to send me an entirely different EMM, just in case it was a cracked board or something strange. Great customer service!
I reinstalled the EMM, and everything was great again. I thought it was fixed this time, but about a week ago, it started doing it again. AARRRRGGGHHH!!!!!! This was making me crazy!
With a completely different EMM, it HAD to be something else. So right there on the water, I pulled the cowl and started shaking wires. Nothing. Then I pulled the cover to the fuse panel, or the PDP (Power Distribution Panel) and I started pulling fuses and replacing them. Nothing. I went back to shaking wires, and I bumped the PDP and the fuel pump kicked on. AHA!
Focusing on the PDP, I bumped it again, and fuel pump came back on. Cracked PDP? Well eventually, I narrowed it down to one of the square relays, similar to a tilt/trim relay.
I went home and pulled the PDP from my 2001 parts motor, and stuck it in my truck. Next trip out, motor started and ran well, but on maybe the third drift, it wouldn't start. I pulled the relay, and it was HOT.
YESSS!!!! You can't imagine how excited I was to finally have a smoking gun!!! The socket was clean, with no sign of arcing, so I felt good that it was the relay itself. I swapped out that relay, and have had zero issues since, over several trips and dozens and dozens of start cycles. I feel very confident that this was the problem the whole time.
NOW I feel 100% confident in this motor, like the last one I had. Great motor, very powerful, Outstanding on fuel, and now very reliable. Finally!
Interestingly enough, now I'm getting 43 MPH+ at 5800 rpm, same 17p prop. Thanks to Chet at DFI for the updated software!
So if you have a Ficht or an Etec that occasionally won't start, check the relays @ your PDP. I have never found this information anywhere, so hopefully this is helpful to someone.
