01' evinrude ficht motor electrical issues

[HomesteadDan]

Ne w to this type of thing looking for some answers to what i think is an electrical problem with my 01' 225 evinrude ficht motor. I was fishing this weekend and after being anchored for a couple of hours i went to start the motor and it could barely turn the starter motor. I borrowed a battery from anothe boater and it fired up right away. After leaving the area about a mile and a half on toward the dock at 4000rpms the engine died completely would not crank over again. Batteries completelly drained. I am thinking something with the onboard charging system such as the stator or voltage regulator type thing but needless to say i am not a mechanic. I am presently charging the batteries again try and get it running and if successful starting it will remove the batteries from the electrical system and to check if the stator is producing voltage and the correct voltage if anyone has any suggestions or ideas please fire away. thx Dan

[highcountry]

You can cause new problems by unhooking the batteries while you are running. If you have a multi-meter check and see if the battery volts go up when the motor starts, if they don't then you have a charging issue. Check your manual if you have one on how to trouble shoot the problem.

[FichtFan150]

Highcountry is right, don't disconnect the batteries while the motor is running. The DFI system (EMM) needs the battery in the system. I would run it and hook up the multimeter to the battery and see what ya get.

[HomesteadDan]

01' evinrude ficht 225

I went ahead and took the batteries out and had them tested. The results were as u guys suggested one was shorted out and the other was low on voltage. After some re-search I found out out also as you guys said these ficht motors require minimum 9v in the electrical system to work properlly. So i replaced both batteries, checked the voltage at the motor with motor running isolating the batteries and with the batteries on line through the battery selector switch and everything is working great. Thanks for the info, hope if anyone else has similar problem this helps...

[FichtFan150]

That's good to hear! It's nice when problems can be diagnosed and fixed that easy.

[corydukart]

after owning a ficht for 11 years ands countless times at ramp motor turning over and no go all becouse of poor design.a outboard motor needs to start every time. how could they sell a motor that wont start without a certain voltage.if it turns over fast it should fire. i believe all owners of the ficht shoud file a cl*** action lawsuit.i have resorted to carrying a small honda generator in the boat at all times,i should have got a honda outboard but hindsight is always 20 20

[FichtFan150]

Gotta remember Evinrude (Ficht) was one of the first outboards to be DFI. There will always be issues with new technology and working the bugs out. Look at the problems Toyota has had. From what I hear, Merc's first EFI engines had issues as well. I like the hole shot power the Ficht gives over a 4-stroke, but you're entitled to your opinion.