Any outboard experts here?? I need some help diagnosing an engine issue and I can't bear the thought of throwing more cash at the dealer's shop.

My 2001 Johnson Ficht 175 starts fine and idles fine. every time I turn it on and engage the prop, though, it bogs down. I used to just gun the throttle (in forward gear) to correct the problem when I turn the engine on and everything would be fine. letting the engine warm up and revving in neutral hasn't helped the problem. NOW it is starting to stall and die when I first engage and put it in gear (getting worse).

again, once I get going it will be fine at all speeds UNTIL I turn off the engine and try to start it again.

I read in another forum that someone had similar problems with a '99 and his solution was a new stator and power pack? does that sound like it could be my problem? If so, is that a repair that someone with light/moderate ability can do? I haven't changed the plugs and decarbed since 2007. could that be the problem?

TIA

[This message has been edited by Towns03 (edited 1/17/2014 10:50a).]

Sounds like the same problem I was having on my '03 Mercury.

Your shop should have run a compression test first thing. Once I had one run on my motor, they told me the headers needed to be replaced or rebuilt and I was looking at $3-5k worth of work. Hope you have better news than I did.


Edit:
It could also be ethanol damaging your fuel lines if you haven't been using stabilizer. Replacing fuel lines isn't terribly expensive.

[This message has been edited by rather be fishing (edited 1/17/2014 11:07a).]

I had this happen BIGTIME when I had too much water in my separator or fuel filter. When you have the throttle at idle or very low, it just sucks the lighter gas off the top, but when it is full of water, it pulls up a lot of water droplets with the gasoline through the filter once it is saturated, and when you put that in your engine, it stalls or chokes.

A pinhole leak in your fuel lines can also cause it to be hard to start and hard to run wide open. Sucks in air, and the pump can't mantain proper flow at higher speeds.

EDIT, nevermind. I didn't read that it runs fine once you have it in gear. I would check for spark and compression on all the cylinders, first. I had an ignition coil fail once and it was a real pain to diagnose.

When you put it in gear, it goes from no load at low RPM, therefore low torque, to a considerably higher load, so if it is underperforming, or has a deficiency in power, that is where it would show up.

[This message has been edited by MouthBQ98 (edited 1/17/2014 11:29a).]

It has carbs? They need to be cleaned periodically. I redid the ones in my yammie a couple years ago.

I had a similar problem with my '89 Johnson 125. I replaced the fuel pump / VRO and it fixed the issue. The motor would run fine without any load but once I engaged the prop in water the engine would bog down and die.

I replaced the part myself for $400 so hopefully it is that and not a more expensive powerpack.

I wish the problem was as consistent as y'all are saying...

once I gun the throttle in forward gear the engine will work fine at all speeds. I can idle/neutral and slowly build speed, even pulling a skier. it's just the first time after turning the engine on.

I put a new fuel tank in a year or two ago with all new fuel lines and a new separator. I would listen to the fuel pump idea, but it just seems odd that it only happens the first time I put it in gear, not every time.

thoughts??????



[This message has been edited by Towns03 (edited 1/17/2014 11:58a).]

p.s. it's fuel injected.

If you do a web search, or on a few common gear head sites like the www.thehulltruth.com and you will hear horror stories on johnson/evinrude ficth motors. I believe you were lucky to get this far out of it for its age.

For obvious troubleshoots, i would start with fuels lines, gunky spark plugs & wires, voltage regulator, water in fuel, gummed up fuel filter. Then it's on to major concerns like engine ECU, bad coils, bad injectors, low compression and others = more $$ than it's probably worth.

Will tell you from experience that ficth motors have damn near ZERO resale value because of bad mechanical reputation. However, you are somewhat lucky because you have already got more than a decade of service out of it, and for some reason the smaller block 2.6L V6 had a better service life than the bigger block 3.1L V6 engine block ficth.

[This message has been edited by rms007 (edited 1/17/2014 12:18p).]

bump for the mechanics on Monday.

.........

Just had the same thing with mine.

Once it was running i could put it in gear and at high RPMS (2500 or greater) it ran like a champ. At idle it would die and not start back up, or would, and sounded like crap.

Pull the spark plugs a few minutes after running it. See if there is water on them. And yes i mean water. Water will bead, gas will evaporate.

My 09 Honda had WATER (not fuel) on the number one and four plugs. We cleaned them, drained the tank and replaced the fuel/water sperator. If there is no water, you just had water in your tank. Instead of draining th tank, you can also run HEET through the tank and take it on the lake and run half a tank of gas through it... But i drained it anyways because thats not a abd idea and HEEt can only do so much...

If not...

step two: take to a mechanic

I was still getting water on the plugs. Turns out, as im still in the process (mechanic should have me fixed Friday) i blew the powerhead. What was happening was at low RPMS it was getting water on the plugs and fowling them. I would clean the plugs, and after running at low RPMS, they would get more water on them.. At high RPMS, it was burning hot enough to dissolve the water. Luckily i am still under warranty

FYI - i forgot to add... BUT IT COULD be a head gasket as well. They checked mine, replaced it, and determined it was the head itself.

Unfortunately the outcome is likely not good. These motors are notorious. I know because I have a 20' hull without a motor because by 2000 175 Ficht Johnson died. They were over-computerized for their time. Ended up causing them to run lean. There was a recall that was supposed to fix the problem, but I don't think it did.

Your only option is really to either get an entirely new powerhead or just get a new motor. I have done hours and hours of research on mine and there is no doubt this is the problem. Hope yours is not this but I doubt it.

[This message has been edited by jregan (edited 1/20/2014 9:08p).]

Find a used yamaha.. It will run, and run, and run.....