Hello and Merry Christmas to all. This is not the way I wanted to introduce myself to the board, but I have a little problem with an outboard, and my good buddies Fish & Woodsy told me to post it here as this is the place of the outboard Guru’s.
<O</O

I did some research on past posts about motor rebuilds and got a wealth of good info. Marking, bagging, inspections, encouragement, etc., but I did notice most of the posts were related to Mercs…..and I have OMC, and I’m curious about specific issues related to OMC rebuilds.
<O</O

OK, specs: 2000 model, Evinrude FICHT Ocean Pro, 225 HP, approx. 475 hours

I run 87 Octane Fuel (Chevron & Shell mostly) and TCW-3 oil, several brands

This is one of two on my 1998 Donzi 30ZF.
<O</O

From the mechanics report

Compression

Starboard 1-110, 2-115, 3-110, 4-110, 5-110, 6-115

Port 1-105, 2-85, 3-110, 4-109, 5-110 6-110

Port computer board overheated and needs to be replaced

From the looks of the report they gave me it was the ring on #2 that let loose and is loosing compression. The motor was running OK a few minutes before the "Check Engine" light and buzzer went off, no idle problem, nothing like that even after the buzzer. The only issue was one of killing the motor when I put it in gear, that had been a problem the last few times I was out (and only intermittently), but it ran OK, and no codes from the ECM, so I chalked it up to not running as often in the winter time. Of course they could not get the ECM to hook to the computer and they want to replace that as well.
</O
The marine shop wanted about $9,000 to do the work. I about croaked so I plan on tackling this myself. I’ve never done an outboard rebuild but have done some older carb’ed car engines (nothing with ECM/PCM's on them).</O

Some specific questions:
  1. Carbon Build up, reportedly bad on these motors. Could this have caused the ring to stick? What can be done to eliminate or prevent it?
  2. Fuel & Oil. Do I need to run higher Octane? I have heard that Super is not good for the High pressure injection motors. Oil, I always use TCW-3, but I am not picky about the brand, should I be?
  3. ECM, anything you have on this, replacement suppliers, reprogramming, etc.
  4. Oil Injection, it seems to me the issue may be lack of lubrication. The oil is being used, but I don’t know if it is enough, is the pump not working correctly??? Can the Oil system be removed and oil pre-mixed (I have heard yes & no)? If it can, pros & cons.
  5. Parts suppliers, rebuild kits, etc. I’ve seen them on the web for all kinds of prices, what & who do you recommend?
  6. Can DSP1’s powerheadfit my motor?
  7. Anything, tips, tricks, advice specific to an Evinrude FICHT rebuild….I am into uncharted territory here.</O
Thanks;

JEFE