new guy with a question

[fd1]

Hey everyone,
I'm in the market for a boat and may have found one that I am interested in. It has a 1999 90hp Johnson direct injected two stroke outboard. What are the pros/cons of this motor? Does anyone have any experience with it?

Thanks for the help.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: new guy with a question

if it is a FICHT, run the other way.

 

[reeldutch]

Re: new guy with a question

Run forest run

look at ebay and do a ficht search, plenty of ficht stuff for sale. dirt cheap.
nobody wants it anymore.

 

[fd1]

Re: new guy with a question

What are the problems with them? How can I tell if that is what it is? The boat is about 250 miles away so I want to make sure I am ready to buy before I go see it.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: new guy with a question

ask the seller if it is a FICHT, 99% chance it is. it was a technology, that OMC came out with, and did not provide good customer/dealer support. they had a lot of electronics, that proved to be hard to deal with. a lot of dealer will not service them.

 

[fd1]

Re: new guy with a question

I've been doing some research on this motor and I have seen that some people believe the problems were mostly associated with the larger motors(>115hp). Can anyone confirm or deny this? I haven't heard back from the dealer yet to find out if it is a FICHT or not. This is going to be my first boat and I want to be sure I get something I will be happy with. Thanks for the help.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: new guy with a question

it was all FICHTs, technology not work out completely, before marketing.

 

[fd1]

Re: new guy with a question

I just got a reply from the dealer and they say it is not a ficht. Thanks for the help everyone. Hopefully I'll be going to look at this boat next weekend.

 

[Rusty Boater]

Re: new guy with a question

I would be careful man; they may be trying to pawn the boat off on you. Be careful...

 

[Silvertip]

Re: new guy with a question

That is true. The 90 was not nearly as troublesome as some of the larger motors. The motor will say "Ficht" on the cowl if it is indeed a Ficht motor. And not all Fichts were as terrible as reported. I have a friend who is still running a 150 on a Stratos. Had the ECM replaced under warranty but other than that it still performs well. You definitely are in the drivers seat from a bargaining standpoint and if you have some reasonable electrical and mechanical troubleshooting skill you could make a great deal. Buy the boat and head for E-bay to snap up a couple of ECMs injectors, etc. Maybe even a complete blown power head for spare parts.

 

[boatguy823]

Re: new guy with a question

Buy the boat and head for E-bay to snap up a couple of ECMs injectors, etc.

I included the quote to correct a bit of misinformation... be aware that you cannot just throw another emm on a ficht nor can you just throw on an injector or two. They are, for lack of a better term married to each other through the engine map which means you also cannot swap injectors from one cyl to another. the emm is calibrated with the flow characteristics and co-efficients of each injector and can only be replaced with service replacement injectors which come with software that must be uploaded to the emm through proprietary software from brp. When a ficht is running right, great but when there is a problem get your wallet out because it isn't going to be cheap. Thats just the tip of the iceberg with these things. Personally I would stay away from it if it's a ficht but thats just my opinion.

 

[4.0l sahara]

Re: new guy with a question

I know a few people that have them they arn't that bad. As long as the ecm is up to date and it was maintained.

 

[fd1]

Re: new guy with a question

Is there anything else to look for to make sure it isn't a FICHT other than the name on the cowl? If it is a non-FICHT two stroke, is there anything I need to know about it?

 

[boatguy823]

Re: new guy with a question

post the model number off the sticker on the port side motor bracket and we'll let you know. As far as other things to look for....compression check is number 1 have the lower unit oil drained check for water intrusion (milky cream color) metal shavings, bits, burnt looking /smelling l/u oil. Any maintenance records from owner. under the hood look for corrosion if its salt water engine paint on powerhead should be failry glossy in the area of the heads...if dull and really flat looking it could be a sign of past overheating. Ideally you want to hear the engine running and take for a demo ride. But the3 MAJOR things to look at are spark,compression, and fuel. make sure its runnning on all 4 cyl if not then there is a problem with one of those three. Hope you make out with this.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: new guy with a question

i think as long as it is one of the model #s you will be fine.

Johnson
1999
90
BJ90PLEEB 1999
BJ90PXEEB 1999
J90PLEEB 1999
J90SPLEES 1999