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Posts: 4269
Location: Ashland WI | My outboard has oil injection. The gas tank is only a 5 or 6 gallon, so mixing oil would not be a big deal for me.
Just wanted to get opinions on if I should disconnect the oil inject. What are everybody's thoughts?
I guess my reason is just that the motor is more than 20 years old, and it seems like the oil pump is something that could go. Also, like I stated, at those amounts, I would not be bothered by mixing. |
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Posts: 1638
Location: Minnesota | A guy I work has a older Johnson when the pump went out he said it was more to fix it then what is was worth he just mixes the gas had no problems |
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Posts: 4269
Location: Ashland WI | muskyhunter47 - 12/15/2014 9:38 AM
A guy I work has a older Johnson when the pump went out he said it was more to fix it then what is was worth he just mixes the gas had no problems
This is kind of what I have been thinking.
I read that there is supposed to be an alarm that will sound if the oil stops. What if the alarm faults?? Sounds like possible disaster.
On the other hand, I have read about some leaving the oil inject on, and pre-mixing their gas at 100:1. |
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Posts: 84
| I wouldn't fix what isn't broken. I'd just keep an eye on the level and make sure it smokes every time i start it up, and keep a quart of oil in the boat just in case. |
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Posts: 60
Location: Colgate, WI | Had the VRO on our 60hp Evinrude. During a vacation the pump failed and the engine failed shortly thereafter. We had to completely rebuild the powerhead to the tune of $500 (I did most of the work myself). We now just mix the gas. In a 6 gallon tank it's no big deal.
To replace the VRO pump was more than $500, in addition to the powerhead repair.
Blair
Edited by Lucky Loon 12/15/2014 12:26 PM
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Posts: 1082
Location: Hayward, WI | They have a long history of failing without warning. Disconnect and cap the oil line, uhplug the alarm harness and mix 50:1. |
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Posts: 49
| I had a Johnson 120 VRO on a boat that I sold two years ago. I never had a problem with the oil pump and reservoir, but just like you I always worried about the pump going bad and the engine getting cooked. I had a very good marine mechanic tell me it wasn't an issue to disconnect the pump and to disable the alarm and then premix my gas. I do remember him telling me that I should never rely on the alarm though...he had plenty of anecdotal stories of owners blowing the heads before an alarm ever sounded. Google is full of instructions on how to bypass the VRO system. I ended up selling the boat before ever going the premix route. |
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Posts: 283
| I bought a 2000 johnson 70 with VRO this spring. I got a really good deal on it, got to drive the guys boat around and then the marina took it off and loaded it in my vehicle for me. I watched the mechanic take it off the boat so I would have a better idea of how everything went together.
While shooting the breeze with the mechanic, he said if it was his motor that he would disconnect and pre-mix the gas. He stated that since the pump is external (on a the oil tank in the boat) they have a much higher chance at failing than the Merc pumps (on the motor and driven by the motor).
I got the motor all set up on my boat in the following week or two, just in time for an overnight, 4 lake trip. I took it for a test run at the lake down the road from my house- worked great. That weekend we started our trip and on the first lake the oil alarm went off. The light on the tach that came with the motor came on and displayed "no oil". We did a little troubleshooting on the water, from what we could tell the motor should have still been getting oil. Luckily it was a really small lake and I used the bow mount to go back to the launch.
We stopped at my house and disconnected the oil pump and mixed the gas. I hadn't researched te VRO disconnect yet so I didn't know how to unplug the alarm. The rest of the trip went smooth (we skipped one lake in place of mechanic time). Once I got home I looked up how to do the whole disconnect. It literally takes 5 minutes and there is no more worries in the back of my mind.
I don't use my boat enough for me to really worry about mixing gas, any time I do get to go I look at it as a treat so mixing gas is no different than tying leaders or any other prep. I just know that I would rather be safe than sorry, heaven forbid you are miles from the launch at the end of the day and it blows up on you and you don't have the juice to make it back with a trolling motor, plus you're out a motor which aren't exactly cheap. Best of luck! |
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Posts: 4269
Location: Ashland WI | Thanks for all the answers. I am thinking I will probably disconnect it. |
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Posts: 270
Location: SE WISCONSIN | I had a 1990 Johnson 70 hp with vro my mechanic advised me to switch the 3 wire vro pump to a 4 wire pump. |
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Posts: 283
| I think sometime in the 90's they made a change, my 2000 is/was a VRO II if I rememer correctly. I will add that in reading about the disconnect, I seem to remember mention of the VRO mixing at a variable ratio depending on different situations, sometimes as little as 100:1. I think I read that people solved some idle issues by doing the disconnect but again, that's what I think I remember reading on the Internet....so don't take that to the bank!
If you don't mind mixing the gas, I would definitely do the disconnect, better safe than sorry in my eyes.
Edited by Tigerhunter 12/18/2014 7:42 PM
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