OMC FICHT 150

In basic terms, FICHT Fuel Injection (FFI) is Outboard Motor Corporation's (OMC) version of the 'clean air' fuel-injection technology that's moving inexorably across the trailerboat world. In essence, FFI takes the place of conventional carbs or fuel-injection and is fitted to otherwise conventional two-stroke powerplants.

Controlled by a computerised electronic control unit, the system injects highly pressurised fuel into the combustion chamber via specially-designed fuel injector units (one per cylinder). There are no air pump or air injector units.

According to OMC, FFI-equipped outboards deliver all the performance advantages of conventional two-stroke powerplants, without the perceived emissions and fuel-economy downsides.

Making its debut in 1996, FFI arrived Down Under a year later. Since then, OMC has continued to develop the technology and recently licensed the system to Polaris.

My first opportunity to sample OMC's FFI system came in June 1997, with the FICHT-equipped V-six 150 hp. Since then I've sampled three versions of the engine and each has impressed with its virtually smoke-free trolling, quietness and smooth power delivery across the entire rev range.

Nonetheless, many buyers continue to shy away from this new technology, because of its perceived complexity.

According to OMC's Graham Henniker, the FFI-equipped V-sixes are in fact much simpler to work on than their carburetted counterparts. Says Henniker, when you consider that a conventional 150 has three carbies each with three jets, plus the linkages to balance them, and, of course, a conventional ignition system, the FFI installation is far less complex.

In contrast, the FFI powerplant features an ECU (fuel and ignition), engine sensors and six injectors. There's even a programmed period via which the fuel/oil mix is automatically doubled for the first five hours whenever the engine runs above 2000 revs.

A boon of the FFI system is that a relatively inexpensive laptop computer can be used to 'tune' the powerplant and examine any engine operating faults (these are stored in the computer's memory, which holds information for around 50 operating hours).

One tunable feature is the point at which the FFI engine switches from stratified (trolling) to homogeneous (performance and BTDC) combustion. By way of explanation 'stratified combustion' (ATDC) works by 'layering' the air/fuel mix from sparkplug area to piston crown to create an overall air/fuel ratio of only 75:1. Combined with a petrol/oil ratio as lean as 300:1 (at idle) this form of charge allows the FICHT two-strokes to run almost as cleanly as a four-stroke.

This was exactly the change that skiboat owner Peter Hingst made to his FICHT 150.

Peter was keen to eliminate a slight flat spot that occurred when his Bullet 1800 came on the plane. By plugging in a $300 laptop, we were able to move the switch-over point from 2800 to 2000rpm.

Peter's Bullet was fitted with the first Ficht 150 I tested and spinning a 21inch stainless Viper prop, planed our three-adult load at 38kmh on 2500 revs and wound out to 99kmh at 5800rpm.

Peter's Ficht 150 has now clocked up many troublefree hours. He reports fuel consumption has been reduced by 34% (oil down by more than 50%) compared to an equivalent carburetted engine.

The most recent Ficht 150 I tested was coupled to a Seafarer Victory 6.0 and was an XL-shaft Ocean Pro model.

Pushing an estimated total of 1500kg and spinning an 18inch Raker prop, the test Ocean Pro achieved a clean plane at 38kmh at 3500rpm. It cruised effortlessly at 43kmh on 4000rpm, consuming a very reasonable 21lt per hour. By 4500rpm we were doing 58kmh and at WOT averaged 72kmh at 5100 revs. Consumption at this speed was around 49lt per hour way under that of a carbie 150.

And over a mix of normal cruising and towing a single waterskier, the consumption worked out to 14lt per hour, about half what a carburetted 150 would use!

Both Peter's motor and the Ocean Pro unit ticked over at 650rpm like a four-stroke, with no oil smoke and only a slight oil smell when trolling in following seas. Like the EFI-equipped Suzuki DF60/70 and Honda BF115/130, the engine management system maintained the same revs in or out of gear.

The FICHT 150 has sensible features such as the 40 amp regulated alternator which features a dual battery system isolator.

Servicing the FICHT 150 is straight forward (every 100 operating hours or once a year) with good access to the platinum-tipped sparkplugs and fuel injectors.

The waterpump impeller should be replaced every 100 hours, says OMC. However, according to long-time operators such as the NSW Waterways Authority, the impellers can last up to 700 hours!

Recently, the first of the FFI line-up, the FICHT 150, was joined Down Under by the 175 and 225 hp models. Aussies can expect the 90/115 FICHT-equipped V-fours soon, to be followed by a 70 hp later next year.