225 HP EVINRUDE LOWER UNIT QUESTION???

A friend of mine had the entire lower unit replaced on his 225 FICHT (mounted on a 21 ft Stratos bass boat). The replacement was a rebiult without the speedo tube (original L/U had one)….Problem; boat is slower and rpm’s are lower. He was wondering if maybe he got a lower unit that was geared for a different application or were all 225 FICHT’s geared the same???… The fact that the replacement doesn’t have a speedo tube has him thinking he’s got the wrong one.

Jim-
Post this on outboardrepairs.com… There’s guys on there who know just about everything there is to know.

Was his a 225 High Ouput Rude? I know the HO’s have a different gearcase than the standard FICHTS.

What color was the lower unit? Blue usually denoted the H.O. There were two different units for these motors.
Tuck

Thanks for the info fellas…come to find out the shop that rebuilt it puts different gears (one extra tooth)in the FICHTS because the original parts have a tendency to fail. No offence to the FICHT owners but its seems FICHT and “fail” seem to go hand and hand…

Are you saying the FICHT gearcases fail? The FICHTS came with the magnum gearcase and they are proven darn near bullet proof. The lightning gearcase in the HO’s are the weak ones. The still work and aren’t junk but they are much more prone to failing than a magnum gearcase. The lightning gears are smaller and lower profile to fit them in the small gearcase and the magnums have the original sized gears packed in the old gearcase size.

Very true! I also heard that the Lightnings employ some nylon and plastic gears or parts….
Ficht is the manufacturer of the fuel injection system. They have nothing to do with the lower units.

What year is his motor? I have a 2001 225 ficht and I did some re-arranging of my lower unit last year. The guy who repaired it said that the original one was not easy to find and after he tried several places we ended up putting in a different one- my rpms and speed also dropped some but it runs smooth and i really have no complaints overall. Im not much of a “gear head” so I dont know specifics but I assume that what is posted above is probably true.

My friends 225hp is a 2001…Edgewater Marine on Castle Rock lake did the repair and also had a hard time finding a replacement. The only thing they could find was a shop down in Florida that rebuilds them. An individual at the rebuild shop told him that the original gearing isn’t as good and tends to fail thats why he’s putting in the beefier gearing. Maybe he’s just “blowing smoke” to back up his work, who knows. I’m also just speaking from experience with my friends boat. He never hit anything. The thing imploded running accross the lake…it also did extensive damage to the inside of the lower unit housing, thats why he had to have the whole thing replaced. Insurance doesn’t cover a no-reason, internal implosion. Believe me he tried.

Sounds like the same story I got- I trust the guy who told me that and now even more. FYI- I did my damage long before the thing gave out- about 2 hours solid of running after i hit some rocks and then it just stopped. Insurance covered it and I am told this is common (to have it give out later)- I learned that if you hit something, check it out early to minimize repair/replacement costs.