FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

[zslnk]

Hello,
I have a 2000 FICHT 90hp that is new to me and missing on 1 cylinder. All compression is good and the cylinder in question has a new plug and the wire is OK. I have not tested for spark but the plug is clean and wet when pulled. All other plugs good colour.

If the motor is idling and you pull that plug no change in motor, pull another and it dies. Are there any diagnostics that I can do to pin point the problem?

Thanks,
Craig

 

[jonesg]

Re: FICHT No Spark on 1 Cylinder

Re: FICHT No Spark on 1 Cylinder

Swap a couple of coils, if the problem follows the bad coil its the coil, otherwise look at the power pack.

Also clean coil grounds, inspect the bottom of the coil for cracks where its potted with the black plastic resin they use.

 

[zslnk]

Re: FICHT No Spark on 1 Cylinder

Re: FICHT No Spark on 1 Cylinder

Thanks for the help,
After some tinkering... I do get good spark with an inline spark tester, the issue is that plug comes out very wet with gas. It is also not burning because if you pull that plug when running (runs pretty well on 3 cyl.) there is no change in the motor. If I pull another plug it dies.

I did swap the coil packs first and the problem was the same after I realized that I did have a good spark on the in-line tester...

Could my injector be dumping fuel so heavily that it drowns the plug? Can I pull an injector and run it to see what is coming out? If I pull the harness on the injector there is no change in running, just a check engine squeal.
Craig

Swap a couple of coils, if the problem follows the bad coil its the coil, otherwise look at the power pack.

Also clean coil grounds, inspect the bottom of the coil for cracks where its potted with the black plastic resin they use.

 

[jonesg]

Re: FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

If its constant injection you could try swapping a couple of injector plugs, the injectors on my volvo inject whether they're on compression stroke or not. Or put a meter on the plug and watch for the pulse, then check to see what the spray pattern looks like, it should be atomized, if it drips and dribbles its dirty.

If that doesn't work, try swapping a couple of injectors, might need seals.

If it turns out to be a dirty clogged injector, theres a few outfits on ebay who clean injectors cheap.

 

[zslnk]

Re: FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

Thanks but this is a FICHT, they are quite different and you can't interchange the injectors without a software change. Not like a std. fuel injector.
Craig

If its constant injection you could try swapping a couple of injector plugs, the injectors on my volvo inject whether they're on compression stroke or not. Or put a meter on the plug and watch for the pulse, then check to see what the spray pattern looks like, it should be atomized, if it drips and dribbles its dirty.

If that doesn't work, try swapping a couple of injectors, might need seals.

If it turns out to be a dirty clogged injector, theres a few outfits on ebay who clean injectors cheap.

 

[mnydvr]

Re: FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

make sure you index each plug

 

[woody66912]

Re: FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

yes you can swap out injectors it's just the hole you swap the good injector to will run rich or lean your just checking to see if the wet plug will follow the failed injector.the software is for installing a new injector witch will compensate for machining tolerance in the injector pintle.this will change injector pulswith within the emm.

 

[jonesg]

Re: FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

Ditto.

You might try a noid light too, but I prefer to go cheap with a meter to check for pulse to injectors.

 

[zslnk]

Re: FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

So the injector isn't addressed in a serialized manner, it's just for calibration? How is the injector calibrated in the first place? Does the serial number that the EMM requires contain pintle delivery infomation?
Thanks,
Craig

 

[jonesg]

Re: FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

fall back and regroup,

symptoms,

1. plug is wet ,
2. plug doesn't seem to fire.

To check if its flooding look at the injector to see if its leaking.

Another troubleshoot is remove sparkplug and crank the engine, see if it sprays excess fuel out. If so , go back to the leaky injector idea.

 

[zslnk]

Re: FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

Will do tomorrow,
Another hunch, after reading the service manual, the fuel canister with the vapor vent that goes to that cylinder in the throttle body. I'm thinking that either the injector is leaking or that the float on the vapor can (or needle/seat) is not seating and just pumping excess fuel into that cylinder.

My friend at the dealership also said that if the injector is leaking you can pull them apart, just be "careful". Another approach would be to pull out the injector and pressurize the system to see if it leaks in a non-cranking situation.
Craig

 

[jonesg]

Re: FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

I've seen injectors pressure tested with a bicycle pump.!
The volvo guys also run carb cleaner through them by applying voltage to the terminals. Just be sure of the correct voltage, see this link.

http://www.mikeponte.net/volvo/injectors.htm

 

[seahorse5]

Re: FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

To test for a leaking injector, hook up a fuel pressure gauge to the test port and watch for leakdown after you turn the key to OFF. If it drops rapidly to about 10 psi, then chances are an injector is leaking. The service manual shows how to pressure test an injector. If bad, they can be rebuilt at www.dfitechnologies.com but a laptop and an interface cable is needed for installation.

You can't use a "noid lite" because the system runs on 40 volts and makes 24 volts while cranking.

 

[zslnk]

Re: FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

Diagnosed!

Well I couldn't find a pressure gauge in my small town on a Sat morning so I did some other tests. With the vapor vent off and system pressurized, no issues.

No squirt at the schrader valve after about 20secs of pump running, hmmm. Pulled the injector and pressurized the system, fuel pumping out with reckless abandon! The pintle of the injector was sticking out and as I rotated the injector, it slid right out! It is clearly broken off and fuel pours out!

Craig

 

[jonesg]

Re: FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

aha!

the tech said you can carefully take it apart?

Can it be fixed or did somethin snap?
They ain't cheap to replace.

I wonder where they source them, mine are bosch with volvo stickers on them, the mass air flow sensor says volvo until the sticker is peeled away, guess who? General motors.!

It kinda looks like a bosch.

 

[zslnk]

Re: FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

The pintle is clearly broken. I've contacted DFI to see what they do for me. I'm not sure if I can just get 1 fixed or if I require my set rebuilt. Either way, I'm a happy guy now that the source is found, no more mystery. You should see the black slurry coming out of the bottom of the motor (exhaust hub) due to the gas washing out the exhaust system.
Craig

 

[zslnk]

Re: FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

Question,

The FICHT injectors are compensated, that is they varry in production and deliver different quantities of fuel so with the coefficient number you can get 4 injectors that all perform the same because the EMM can drive them differently. Can I get a used injector and is the coeff number right on the injector or encoded in the serial number so it will work?

Does this matter? Understanding there are emission impacts, do the injectors varry enough that I may lean out a cylinder by using the wrong injector coeff?

Craig

 

[jonesg]

Re: FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

I would probably let a dealer take care of it, you could crank the engine and measure the fuel it sprays but who knows what its doing at WOT.

 

[zslnk]

Re: FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

I got the injector back from DFI. ~$300 for a rebuild on my broken injector and it was back in about a month but that was over christmas. The boat is getting soda blasted and its -20 out so I can't report back on the fix for about a month.
Craig

I would probably let a dealer take care of it, you could crank the engine and measure the fuel it sprays but who knows what its doing at WOT.

 

[zslnk]

Re: FICHT Wet Plug on 1 Cylinder, no fire

Follow up:
After about 40hours of use on my 1999/2001 Evinrude FICHT's since the rebuilt injector went in no troubles and I'm very happy with the motors. They have 900+hours on each of them (recently rebuilt but EMM hours didn't get reset) and with good compression they run as they were new. No smoke, no fuss, good fuel consumption. They do use oil it seems and I'm using XD50Rude oil with the carbx. I'm very happy with the motors.

Thanks for the help.