A List of Notable Jet Skis
- Thread starter numer0us
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- California
True, pretty sure BRP killed FICHT when the went with Oribital direct injection for their DI engines.FICHT was originated by OMC (Outboard Marine Corp Johnson/Envinrude) back in 1999. Polaris adopted it in early 2000 and implemented it in the first Genesis. FICHT was an outright nightmare of a fuel injection system. We had to do numerous software updates that continued to never work on a 1999 90hp Evinrude. The only fix they finally found for it was to make the injectors look like spark plugs having a standoff bridge for the fuel charge to hit and fan out to properly vaporize. Without that the injector just dumped raw fuel into the cylinders wrecking the extremely expensive at the time spark plugs within hours. I believe it was in December of 99 when OMC sold out to both BRP and Mercury Marine. Where the FICHT system went from there I do not know but I believe the original injection system version was scrapped and redesigned. This was just after 2003 when Polaris pulled the plug on their watercraft line and dropped it entirely. Polaris also had serious issues with 3 cylinder watercraft crank shafts almost constantly getting thrown out of phase...for how easy it was to throw one out of phase I have to wonder if Polaris was making those crankshafts out of chocolate
I was riding down at the Spot years ago and a Stunt hull owner opened his hood.I saw the water coming in as quick as the bilge was pumping it out!
Evinrude outboards produce two-stroke direct-injected engines ranging from 25 hp (19 kW) to a 3.4L V6 300 hp. They used carburetors until the late 1990s when EPA clean air regulations mandated new technologies. OMC partnered with FICHT of Germany to introduce direct injection. Extensive and thorough durability testing took place to assess the rigor and longevity of the design but the first design did not pass testing standards.
Initial production of the first design started prior to another round of EPA regulations. At the beginning, the company tried retrofitting the previous design in order to bring the motors up to the new standards. These modifications were not carefully engineered or designed and caused significant engine failures, most notably the powerhead failure. This eventually resulted in a recall of that generation of motors. The losses on these motors, the loss of reputation and the surge of competition from Japan and Mercury pushed the company into bankruptcy in 2000.
In 2001, Bombardier acquired the Evinrude and Johnson Outboards brands; the FICHT technology was reengineered into E-TEC direct injection. This improved fuel efficiency and reduced emissions, oil consumption, noise levels and maintenance needs. This is due in part to a pin-point oiling system which only applies oil to the necessary components, unlike the original two stroke motors. Evinrude E-TEC was the first outboard engine technology to win the US Environmental Protection Agency's 2004 Clean Air Excellence Award which recognizes low emission levels.[1]
All modern Evinrude motors were built and assembled in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, south of Milwaukee.
Initial production of the first design started prior to another round of EPA regulations. At the beginning, the company tried retrofitting the previous design in order to bring the motors up to the new standards. These modifications were not carefully engineered or designed and caused significant engine failures, most notably the powerhead failure. This eventually resulted in a recall of that generation of motors. The losses on these motors, the loss of reputation and the surge of competition from Japan and Mercury pushed the company into bankruptcy in 2000.
In 2001, Bombardier acquired the Evinrude and Johnson Outboards brands; the FICHT technology was reengineered into E-TEC direct injection. This improved fuel efficiency and reduced emissions, oil consumption, noise levels and maintenance needs. This is due in part to a pin-point oiling system which only applies oil to the necessary components, unlike the original two stroke motors. Evinrude E-TEC was the first outboard engine technology to win the US Environmental Protection Agency's 2004 Clean Air Excellence Award which recognizes low emission levels.[1]
All modern Evinrude motors were built and assembled in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, south of Milwaukee.