Weel Larry, yeah the synthetic oil is expensive. But, in ETEC, use of the
latest oil cuts comsumption by 50%. Just a guess, but I'll betcha the ETEC
uses less oil than any other 2 stroke.

FYI, specially-indexed spark plugs do not exist AFAIK, and I've been fooling
around with engines since 1954. It's necessary to install the spark plugs
in FICHTs correctly. Many high performance engines require some extra
effort and attention to detail when installing plugs. Indexing of plugs is
simplicity itself. It simply means, in our case, that the electrode gap
should be pointed more or less toward the fuel injector. Pretty difficult,
eh?

If you need more info to understand the process, let me know and I'll send
you the directions in an Adobe document.

Four strokes are making great headway and will, at some point, probably
replace two strokes in the marketplace. But, for those of us to whom weight
on the transom and hole shot/acceleration continue to be an issue, two
strokes generally tend to be the answer.

YMMV.

Butch
"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Butch Davis" wrote in
k.net:

Obviously I have no axe to grind over the final engine choice you
make. I own no stock in BRP. You were seeking information and got a
what I personally know as a FICHT owner for the past eight years.
There are NO out of the ordinary FICHT issues. On the used market
there may well be some FICHTs for sale which were not factory updated
when that service was offered. I believe the 150 and 175 HP early
FICHTs had problems requiring updates and sometimes new power heads.
ETECs have been performing more or less faultlessly from day one.



Horse****....company horse****. It STILL requires very expensive lube
oil and specially-indexed spark plugs to keep the blowtorch injection
from eating the head off them. It's STILL A FICHT!, no matter who owns
the company at the moment or what their ad agency contract says.

http://parts.evinrude.com/OIL%20WEBSITE/home.html

http://www.outboardrepairs.com/ficht/

(sarcasm ON)
What surprises me is why Chevy and Ford haven't abandoned 4-stroke
engines and put Ficht or Optimax engines in the cars! They use less
fuel, require almost no maintenance and are just wonderful to own! We'll
probably all be driving Ficht Hondas and Fords by 2010 with such
wonderful technology....(c;
(sarchasm OFF)

Now, let's look at a little reality looking forward from today:

1) They're all ABANDONING 2-STROKE ENGINES.

2) With the abandonment certain, why would anyone buy a 2-stroker noone
will admit they ever made, say, 3-5 years from today? Where's the parts
going to come from, blown powerheads which are abundant?

I'm with the poster....get the 4-stroker....

Ficht - a bad patch to a bad idea....

I have several friends that did buy FITCH engines when it was still
OMC. They were probably one of the worst engines ever built, they all
went through multiple engines and power heads, every single engine had
problems. Local boat dealers were even refusing to take boats in on
trade with FITCH engines on them, they couldn't get rid of then. All of
this appears to be in the past, and Bomarbier appears to have bone a
very good job of correcting problems with the mess they "inherited". I
spoke to a friend of mine that works for one of the largest dealers in
the area, I've known the guy for almost thirty years. He indicated that
the new ETEC engines have been very reliable, better than the Yamahas
they also sell, their quite happy with them. He makes his living
selling boats and engines. Don't kid yourself, It's a lot easier to
sell a good product, than it is selling a bad one. You don't have to
deal with unhappy customers that will never buy another thing from you
again.