Powerhead Down!

[BowPro]

2005 Evinrude 225 HO DI. Running down river and lost a lot of power, it slowed down immediately, and I could hear knocking. I shut it down and then tried to start it just to see what it would do. It was locked up. About 5 minutes later, after cooling down, it started up, but had the knock. I shut it off and towed it in. Pulled the plugs at home and the middle plug on the port side showed me which cylinder gave out. All other plugs were up to par, and their respective cylinder compressions were 118 to 120. The jacked up cylinder, with the metal shavings welded to the plug, was zero. Time for a new powerhead I imagine. Would a diagnostic show what caused it? I cleaned the plugs and reset the widened gaps to .028, and cleaned out the exhaust pressure nipple as well, just prior to the failure. I certainly believe that that part was concidental. I did that because it seemed to be a little sluggish on the hole shot in the days before. Any ideas on things I can look at or test, just out of the curiousity while it's here at home? I don't want the problem reoccurring after a rebuild. Pic of plug included for those that wanna make an educated guess.

 

[BowPro]

I should mention that no alarms or buzzers were going off. Pee stream was solid. I always watch that stream!!!

 

[RCO]

There is no magical "diagnostic" that will tell you what happened. The only way to find out is by a tear down and inspection by an experienced eye. Usually aluminum deposits fused to the plug are caused by a lean condition at high speed.

 

[racerone]

This is a 2005 computer controlled injected motor -----How does the " lean condition " cause this problem on this motor?----Rebuilt powerhead is around $5000

 

[Sea Rider]

If engine is a 2 strokes with injectors that cylinder injector could be failing, that's delivering way much less fuel/oil mixture than required and consequently overheating cylinder/piston due to poor oiling. If it's a 4 strokes, lubrication point on that cylinder could be somewhat clogged, failing, has issues ?

Happy Boating

 

[BowPro]

It's a shame that these small failing external parts ruin the life of a block at the owners expense. So much for so called "good strong motors. " lmao .... until an injector fails and these expensive computers can't shut the cylinder down and throw a warning. Smdh. So, for the future, will those 90 dollar diagnostic kits do the job of checking the status of the components whenever I want to run one? Would my laptop be all I need with those kits? I've got a little mechanical sense, but it's almost like you have to be a certified tech to own a boat anymore. Hindsight tells me that when my hole shot was weaker than normal, I should have ran the diagnostic to tell me an injector wasn't performing up to par, rather than clean and gap plugs and clean the exhaust pressure nipple. "Nope, you were wrong buddy.... go get you a new powerhead and try again later." Smdh

 

[BowPro]

If engine is a 2 strokes with injectors that cylinder injector could be failing, that's delivering way much less fuel/oil mixture than required and consequently overheating cylinder/piston due to poor oiling. If it's a 4 strokes, lubrication point on that cylinder could be somewhat clogged, failing, has issues ?

Happy Boating

Its a 2 stroke

 

[racerone]

But the injector basically injects gasoline only with perhaps a wee bit of oil to lubricate the moving parts of the injector.-----The computer age has split up the function of a 2 stroke of old so that during a portion of operation it is exactly the same as a 4 stroke engine.----Lubrication is looked after by a separate oil tank / pump / lines / recovery system.-----Find out what happened or a rebuilt powerhead may fail in short order.-----If you replace the powerhead you may want an experienced shop to monitor the systems before dropping the green flag for all out operation.----Even the injectors can not be replaced without matching them to the ECU from what I understand on these.

 

[Sea Rider]

Small parts such as lube hoses, nipples, injectors dealing with lubrication can and will ruin a costly engine. Seen a couple of 2 strokes large engines literally melting piston due to lube hose lubricating that particular cylinder/piston was found cracked losing fuel/oil miture or severely clogged. Lubrication parts that deals with correct engine operation are overlooked most times with fatal consequences.

Rebuild that particular cylinder and piston keept all rest as it is to lower repair costs to minimum, check that injector, can clean it with a ultra sonic cleaning machine if not spraying right, just squirting, an indication that's partially clogged, not working right.

Happy Boating

 

[Faztbullet]

Injector, EMM or ring locating pin migrated out. You cannot clean that injector with a cleaning machine. When was impeller changed last as for these to live needs changed every 2 years no matter how good it pees

 

[BowPro]

Apparently the injectors aren't available anymore, if that's what it's gonna also need. wth?

 

[jimmbo]

Pay particular attention to the crankshaft, connecting rod, and piston pin bearings of the pooched cylinder upon disassembly.

 

[daselbee]

Apparently the injectors aren't available anymore, if that's what it's gonna also need. wth?

You are experiencing the pain from a company that wants to let a certain model/product family DIE!
BRP wants this Ficht legacy gone.
Injectors, oil injector pumps, and other miscellaneous parts are NLA. Getting an EMM repaired thru BRP is a difficult task. The independent EMM repair shops around the country are more efficient at such a task.

So, you must have the Ficht "design" of the 225HO for 2005 and NOT the ETec design. Post your model number for clarification.

We have spoken before I believe. I will tell you this....my 2004 225HO will one day suffer the same fate as what happened to yours. No doubt in my mind that there was an injector problem, leaning out the fuel supply to that cyl, causing the cyl burn temps to go high, and burning down the piston.

So what to do? I have collected spare injectors as I have found them. I have no idea if these injectors are good, but I have spares, and for sure....one of those will be good to use. I have a few oil injector pumps, too.
I even located a NOS bare block!!!! Brand new. Obtaining and installing injector co-efficients is always a bi**h. But I have figured a way around that, but only for 2002 and newer DI engines.

So, regarding your question on how an EMM can shut down an engine when it detects a cylinder burning down...whew.
Tough one. I guess one approach would be to have a cylinder burn temp sensor monitoring each cyls exhaust temp.
They do that in research racing shops. But it would have to be integrated into the EMM software. Even the newest G2s do not have such monitoring.

You are correct. This is a very big vulnerability in these engines. But I have burned down a carbed engine before too...just as fast....

 

[jimmbo]

"BRP wants this Ficht legacy gone"

All companies want previous designs gone, so consumers are hoodwinked into buying new. They only boast about Longevity about their Newer Current products(ones that haven't been around very long).

I doubt the problem is with the injectors. On a DI engine, if the cylinder is starved of fuel, it just doesn't fire. It isn't receiving any great amount of oil with the fuel(around 300 - 400:1). Failure of the oil system to deliver shots of oil to the crankcase will be fatal.
FICHTS were known to carbon up behind the rings, so there may have been no failure of the oil system either. A lot of TCW-3 oils are not up to snuff when it comes to DI engines. Engine manufacturer Oils would meets the needs but who knows about the others

 

[daselbee]

^^^^^^ I think we are going to have to agree to disagree.....

 

[BowPro]

Well, without sinking money into a dinosaur. What's the opinions of a 2010 Yamaha 250 HP V-MAX SHO Four Stroke VF250LA? I've had Yamahas up until this Evinrude. I really liked them, along with their performance. Rest assured, I'm gonna replace all the fuel lines in this 2004 Triton before any outboard goes onto the back. Are the four strokes worth the bang?

 

[Faztbullet]

Be some of the best dollars spent....

 

[BowPro]

I have a 2004 Triton TR21X with this Evinrude 225 HO DI trotline weight, model number E225FHLSOB on the back. Looking at Vmax four strokes to replace it. My question is..... What length shaft Vmax would I need to look for to go on the back. It looks like the drive shaft part number for the trotline weight is 5000614, replaced by 5007671. It says the shaft measures approximately 25 11/16" long. Seeing that there's different shaft lengths, what's the science behind picking the right shaft length of the Vmax for my Triton?

 

[racerone]

You measure height of transom.-------20" means a long shaft motor fits.-----25" means an extra long shaft motor fits.

 

[BowPro]

Roger that. Thank you.