Re: 97 johnson 150 ficht opinions
The '97 did not get the updates that the '98 an'99 150-175 motors needed. The '97 didn't have much of a scoring problem that the later ones did, plus the computer did not have enough capacity that the later software required. There were other internal design changes in the later motors also that the '97 did not have.<br /><br />All in all, the '97 performed well and worked as intended. Since it was made only in a 150 20" size that year, it was not used on large boats and run in the 1800 rpm transition range for long, so it was spared the piston problems. The original sparkplugs wore out at 35-50 hours, though. Instead of the now recommended Champion 7712, use the QC12PEP from the 200-250 hp FICHTS for longer life and less fouling.
