2000 Evinrude - 200 HP RAM FICHT

[BeeReel]

Considering this for a repower on '94 Tournament. Seller indicates motor wont crank (possibly electrical). plan to do my homework. Does anyone have experience with these outboards? I have found that they have EMM issues which can be repaired by two repair outfits. Some say parts may be hard to get. Others say they have good experience. Any help appreciated.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Welcome aboard. I'm thinking you probably won't get many replies from people on here that have experience with those kind of motors as they're about 20 years old and most Grady White's come with Yamaha's. I'm sure a few on here probably have experience with them on other boats, or maybe even older GW's but likely not a ton. I was actually looking at a few boats before I bought my very first boat back in 2017 that had a FICHT motor on it, read about the multitude of issues that they can have and I moved on. There's a good deal of threads about this very topic on The Hull Truth, which I take a lot of what is said over there with a grain of salt from those that don't personally have any experience with the topic at hand, but those who do can give some great insight. From the little research that I've done, the EMM issues sound like they were still happening in 2000 and in the bigger 200-225 HP motors, although some say the RAM model is the redesigned model and is supposedly better? With Evinrude no longer making outboard motors and Mercury doing the warranties and repair work on them, I'm not sure how many would be able to work on a 22 year old motor that was no longer produced when the company essentially went out of business and/or stopped making outboards. You might want to call around locally to see if any outboard mechanics will even work on them. If the motor is a steal, then it might be worth purchasing but if not then I'd maybe look at something that has an outboard with a better reputation. And I always recommend to anyone purchasing a boat and/or motor(s) inspected by a competent marine surveyor. Just my opinion, I don't personally have any experience with these motors, just word of mouth.

https://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/303524-looking-boat-twin-2000-200hp-evinrude-ficht-outboards-run.html

 

[BeeReel]

thanks so much for the feedback. I have been wrestling with the same thoughts you highlighted all weekend. The motor would be a steal, and visually looks great. But it doesn't crank and the current owner, who bought this as a project, does not have the motor history. I was planning the survey you suggest, but it would likely require electrical troubleshooting and possible EMM. I have some feelers out with mechanics in my area, and will likely lean towards a pass. thanks again for taking time to reply.

PS - going by your handle, i take it you have a mustang. I have a 2007 Shelby GT and enjoy the heck out it!

 

[Mustang65fbk]

thanks so much for the feedback. I have been wrestling with the same thoughts you highlighted all weekend. The motor would be a steal, and visually looks great. But it doesn't crank and the current owner, who bought this as a project, does not have the motor history. I was planning the survey you suggest, but it would likely require electrical troubleshooting and possible EMM. I have some feelers out with mechanics in my area, and will likely lean towards a pass. thanks again for taking time to reply.

PS - going by your handle, i take it you have a mustang. I have a 2007 Shelby GT and enjoy the heck out it!

I'd take some time, a few days to a couple weeks or whatnot, do a bit more research on the matter and see if anyone can give your their professional opinion, and/or have a tech come out and look at the motor in person. I highly doubt that there's a crowd of people trying to beat down the seller's door in order to buy the outboard off of him, and I think you have a good deal of time to consider your options. That, and with it almost being November and the peak season being over with, I honestly don't think you have to make any decisions right now about buying it or not. I will say this, if the motor is an absolute steal and either you or a mechanic think it wouldn't take very much money or effort to get it running again then I'd personally offer less than the seller's asking price considering the motor isn't running and roll the dice. The worst thing that the seller can do is say no, and who knows maybe he'll say yes? As stated above, I highly doubt the seller has a multitude of people waiting in line to buy the motor off of him, so do some more research on the matter, make a few more phone calls to mechanics and so forth, then go from there. Although obviously it's your money and at the end of the day is your call.

And yes I do, I've got a 1965 mustang fastback that my father and I bought when I was 15 and slowly restored it over the years to one of the last things I did on the car was the motor about 10 years ago. I bought a 351w crate motor that was bored .030 over with aluminum heads and 450 hp/tq, and boy it is fun to drive. All new suspension, tires/wheels, brakes and everything else you can think of. The car isn't scary fast but you do have to pay attention while driving it as you can lose control of her rather quickly if you aren't paying attention. My YouTube handle is 65Fastbackman and I have a few videos of the car on there, if you want to check it out.