Reliabilty of oil injection?

[dtherrien]

I have a 1997 merc 150efi. It has oil injection.I am wondering how reliable this system is? are there any preventative maintanence tips for these engines? also is it better to buy pass the oil injection and premix the gas....if so how do you do it? There is nothing wrong with my engine now...it seems like it could be a problem in the future moreso if there are nylon gears ect...<br /><br />Thank you ...<br />David

 

[JB]

Re: Reliabilty of oil injection?

I have heard of no oil injection failures on Mercs, David. <br /><br />The unreliability of the early (only) VRO systems on OMC outboards seems to have poisoned the rep of all oil injection systems.<br /><br />I would leave well enough alone.

 

[heybaylor]

Re: Reliabilty of oil injection?

I have heard of hundred's of merc failures.<br />altho usually the cause is "storage"<br />and/or zero maintenance<br /><br />Not running the engine causes the steel gear on the pump to rust. i/e sits all winter. or longer<br />then the rusty gear wipes out the "plastic" drive gear on the crankshaft..<br />Now mercury has a good warning system for this .<br />the "rotation" sensor will sound if the "pump quits turning.<br />trick is ..Check your warning system..<br />with engine running on "muffs" pull the rotation sensor ..see if horn beeps.<br />then with engine running .pull the engine oil tank cap,( with float) turn upside down see if horn beeps.<br />..<br />they are good warning sensors ..but make sure they work..<br />also there is NO warning if the "plastic line from the pump to the fuel line /fuel float chamber breaks .keep a good one on ..<br />mine is eighteen years old , and still running on the original pump..<br />replace the oil lines ( plastic hose ) periodicaly..<br />And check your warning system ..often <br />But the system is a lot better than premix<br />in my opinion

 

[Moody Blue]

Re: Reliabilty of oil injection?

My approach is 'if it aint broke, don't fix it'. Good advice about replacing the oil lines. Changed mine this spring and they were hard and brittle. Put on urethane lines now and they will outlast the motor. No worries.

 

[heybaylor]

Re: Reliabilty of oil injection?

Rod , if it aint broke dont fix is good ..<br />But if you dont check your warning system..<br />how do you know it aint broke??<br /><br />hmmm pump failure , no warning ..now it is really ,really broke

 

[dtherrien]

Re: Reliabilty of oil injection?

Thanks for all of your info! I guess tomorrow i will be checking the oil lines and running it to check the sensors.I just wanted to make sure there wasnt any maintanence on the pump.

 

[Moody Blue]

Re: Reliabilty of oil injection?

heybaylor, never said don't check the system. I was implying not to disconnect the system if it is working. Checking the operation of any and all warning systems is always part of a good preventative maintenance program.

 

[heybaylor]

Re: Reliabilty of oil injection?

RodC , I see ..we are on the same page ..<br />I misread ...sorry

 

[Scali]

Re: Reliabilty of oil injection?

Im still mixing 100-1 premix in my 1994 as an insurance policy so to speak, I havent gotten around to pulling the gear for inspection, supposedly theres a plastic gear that drives the pump that has been known to strip out .<br />Littlr smokey & extra carbon I guess but she runs great this way, smooooooooth..<br />Well oiled machine, LOL

 

[Moody Blue]

Re: Reliabilty of oil injection?

Scali, they can we can see you coming down the lake a mile away. The smoke gives you away . What HP motor do you have ? Thought only the larger HP models used the plastic gear ? Am I wrong ?

 

[ronmold]

Re: Reliabilty of oil injection?

Scali, I run 100:1 Amsoil in my V6, injection went bad and was removed. Hardly any smoke / carbon. Been over a year and it still runs great.