When To Add Oil?

[Seon]

When do you add oil ...before or after filling the gas tank?
I disconnected the oil line and alarm wires along with the oil tank on my '88 VRO 110 Johnson today. Then it occurred to me that I filled the 20 gal tank before getting home on my last outting. I'm sure that adding oil now in a full tank of gas will mix alright during the 50 miles drive from home to the launch ramps over some very bump rough roads. Just curious for future reference :redface:.

 

[BaitThrower]

Re: When To Add Oil?

What you are doing is fine. It will be mixed nicely after the 50 mile drive. Should mix nicely even after short drives. I wouldn't worry. The biggest thing to remember is to add the oil in the first place!

 

[ezeke]

Re: When To Add Oil?

Add your fuel stabilzer at the same time that you add the oil, it does very little good if you wait.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: When To Add Oil?

agree. i add my estimate oil first, then then add any extra afterward.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: When To Add Oil?

One more solid reason for not unhooking oil injection.

 

[109jb]

Re: When To Add Oil?

One more solid reason for not unhooking oil injection.

Except the Johnson VRO system is not known to be the most reliable.

I add oil first then pump the gas. With the built-in tank you will have to estimate how much fuel it will take to fill to determine how much oil to put in. With my boat, I ran it just about empty one time and when I filled it up the next time, I turned on the electrical so the fuel gauge would read and then started filling. I made note of what the pump read at each 1/4 tank mark on my fuel gauge. After doing that I was able to estimate pretty accurately how much fuel to fill.

You may already know this, but you can also get yourself a ratio bottle which is just a plastic bottle with printing on the side that makes it easy to measure the oil. No calculating, just put oil in the bottle up to the line corresponding to the number of gallons of fuel for your mix ratio. Real easy. They are available at most places that sell boat stuff. This is the one I have.

 

[109jb]

Re: When To Add Oil?

I had one more thought. If you unhooked your oil lines, then any fuel in the line from the tank will be pure gas. You should purge the line with mixed oil before you run the engine if you haven't done this already.

 

[mthieme]

Re: When To Add Oil?

I put my oil in prior to filling the tank.

I have one disconnected oiler...just don't trust 'em; it's just one more thing to have problems with.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: When To Add Oil?

We've been over this a million times. The bad reputation of oil injection is largely (very largely) based on mis-information. Even back in the VRO days very, very few oil injection units actually failed. Almost every engine issue was blamed on the pump because; 1- it was very misunderstood at the dealer level. That misunderstanding was passed on to the public. 2- dealers knew that if they claimed "VRO failure" on the warranty form the powerhead would be replaced without question.

The worst thing about the old VRO system was that it didn't have enough alarms. The newer OMS system has that issue corrected. Plus a level of security not offered by disconnecting the unit.

If you do premix you'll want to add a couple gallons of fuel to an absolutely dry tank & lines before adding oil. Today's TCW III oils have emulsifiers that allow the oil to mix easily and stay mixed. They'll even keep small amounts of water suspended. As long as there's any gas in the tank the oil should mix quite easily. Back in the dark ages the accepted method was, if you're going to add 12 gallons (for instance) add a couple gallons of gas then a quart of oil. If it turned out you only got 10-11 gallons in you're good + on oil.

 

[Seon]

Re: When To Add Oil?

All good repies.
The reason why I decided to disconnect the VRO is because I trolled for over 10 hours last Sunday and the alarm would sound for about 10-15 seconds then cut off. This is a "new to me" boat so I don't know what the alarm is telling me. The motor runs great so I don't want to burn it up. So the other day, I decided to just disconnect and remove the oil tank and disconnect the wires to the alarm.

As for measuring the oil, I went to Wally World and bought a plastic measuring cup that's marked in ounces, cups, pint & ML. It'll work great for me. So today, I'll pour the 3.2 pts (51.2oz) of oil to mix the 20 gals of gas that's in the tank then disconnect the line right at the motor, then squeeze the bulb to squirt gas out until the color changes which will indicate the oil is mixed with the gas.

Oh yeah, while I'm at it, I'll install a water seperator canister. I've already put a clear gas filter so I'll be good to go.
Thanks all.

UPDATE: I poured the required ozs. in the gas tank then disconnected the hose from the motor, removed the connector, sqeezed the bulb about 6 times squirting the gas from the line into an empty gas container. After 6-7 squeeze, the mix gas filled the clear bowl filter. Painless operation.