Evinrude 115 HP V4 FICHT

Pros: * Quiet, clean and reliable. * Immense salt water resiliance. * Prooven V4 engine.
Cons: * OMC's bad name following bankruptcy

Evinrude has forever been recognised as the leading designers of V4 outboard engines, a company that was initialy behind the invention of the original V4-designed outboard engine. The OMC Evinrude Ficht Ram Injection for 2001, (2000 model pictured) is...

Pros: Very fuel efficient,quiet,powerful,reliable.
Cons: Bankruptcy of OMC, expensive spark plugs and oil.

I have put many hours on this motor and it still performs like it did when I got it. It starts right up every time, no matter what the weather conditions, and gets me to where I need to go quickly. I was told by a mechanic that part of the reason why OMC got into trouble was due to the money they put into the research and design which led to this engine. There have been problems with the pre 01 model Fichts but anything built after are pretty reliable. Now Bombardier owns Evinrude and if you look all they did to this engine was put their sticker on it, otherwise it's the same engine that OMC built before going under. I've told everyone looking for a new motor that an Evinrude Ficht can't be beat. The only downside to this engine is that the spark plugs are ten dollars each because they are specifically designed for this engine, and the oil for it is twenty bucks a gallon.

Pros: excellent performance
Cons: leaking oil, computer failure at 5 years

I have owned a 115 Evinrude 2000 since new and so far after
a initial o-ring problem leaking oil, have had no problems.
On August 12, 2005 I got stuck two and a half miles out from shore on Lake Ontario from Toronto. My dealer is now
telling me that my computer has died any that it will take approx 2-3 weeks to get the part. I was running the motor at trolling speed and the motor just stopped running. When the key was turned to start it ... nothing.....
If the key was set to ON position and left there, it ran through its trouble-light check which after running lit up the NO-OIL, HOT and CHECK ENGINE warning lights.
Since these lights are now flagged the motor will now not start due to the signaled lights. I am now out $710.00 and cannot believe that this computer problem will cost me another $2400-3000 Canadian. The motor is only five years old and since I live in Canada, this motor has had maybe one actual use. I have never hit the motor with anything and actually have babied it.

Sincerely ,
Mike Harman August 17, 2005

Pros: Nice design to look at
Cons: Not dependable, fuel economy, quality, everything that could break broke on that engine

Had a 2003 model witch gave me nothing but trouble here is a short list of the failures:
Engine sized after 50 hours - new short block
Piston burned after 72 hours
Gear box broke down after 102 hours
Numerous fault codes and alarms going of every now and then

This engine is probably the worst build and designed OB i have ever owned - and the service from Bombardier is worth nothing - engine was at the dealer for 9 month total in the 3 years i owned it. I

I will NEWER buy any product from Evinrude or Johnson again NEWER.

Sold it and lost a lot. Bourght a dependable 4 stroke Suzuki.