VRO or not

[lmuss53]

I bought this 1990 Johnson 90 HP in May for on my pontoon, and so far I am real happy with it. Before I got the motor someone unhooked the VRO by cutting the oil line into the pump, and unhooking the wirirng harness. I have been mixing the gas and oil at 50 to 1. All of the VRO parts and pieces are in the donor boat and I'm thinking of hooking it back up. Aside from being a good bit more convenient is there any reason to want to have the VRO hooked to this motor. I've read a nice article on a Whaler site outlining the history, evolution, and function of the unit and I believe it is a reliable unit. I'm looking for advice pro and con from folks who are using it, or not using it. Mostly I'm looking for a convincing argument that it is my best interest and that of my motor to hook it back up. I'd like to have it, but I'm scared of what happens if it doesn't work.

 

[tedious]

Re: VRO or not

From the shop manual for my 70, at initial install and after any change to the VRO system, they recommend running 100-1 premix until you know the VRO is functional. There is a test involving removing the 'oil out' line and making sure it is pumping when the motor is running, and they also indicate to just make sure the level in the tank is going down.

Tim

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: VRO or not

I bought this 1990 Johnson 90 HP in May for on my pontoon, and so far I am real happy with it. Before I got the motor someone unhooked the VRO by cutting the oil line into the pump, and unhooking the wirirng harness. I have been mixing the gas and oil at 50 to 1. All of the VRO parts and pieces are in the donor boat and I'm thinking of hooking it back up. Aside from being a good bit more convenient is there any reason to want to have the VRO hooked to this motor. I've read a nice article on a Whaler site outlining the history, evolution, and function of the unit and I believe it is a reliable unit. I'm looking for advice pro and con from folks who are using it, or not using it. Mostly I'm looking for a convincing argument that it is my best interest and that of my motor to hook it back up. I'd like to have it, but I'm scared of what happens if it doesn't work.

OK, You have me confused here.
You bought the motor on a donor boat and have been using it as a premix motor on your pontoon......Yes ??
The rest of the VRO system parts are on the donor boat still and you want to hook them up again to your pontoon.
Biggest thing is.....is everything in good shape ???
Why was it disconnected in the first place ????
Does it still actually have a VRO / OMS pump installed on the motor ???? or has it already been changed out to a premix pump ???
Personally I changed to premixing a couple of summers ago when my VRO pump began to fail and although it is more work measuring and adding oil to the fuel I know it always has lubrication to the motor as long as I remember to mix. I prefer to premix now.
There are many opinions on this subject this is just one of them.

 

[lmuss53]

Re: VRO or not

I bought a boat, motor and trailer from a storage place that had seized it, and put the motor on my boat. The boat has a broken transom, soft floors,

VRO pump is on the motor, everything looks to be in good condition. Everything else was in the boat, it just looks like they unhooked the wires and cut the hose and stopped using it.

I can't say why it was unhooked.

My original idea was to hook it back up, but I'm not sure it's worth the trouble.

I know one thing for sure, it can't fail and do any harm right now, because it isn't hooked up. I'm good with pre mixing gas and oil, and 6 and 12 gallon tanks make the mixing formulation easy. I'm kind of on the same page as you, as long as I put the oil in the fuel I know the motor is getting lube.

The fuel pump works just fine with the dry VRO side along for the ride.

I'm looking for someone to tell me why I should have it hooked up, how it will make the motor work better or last longer.

One thing that concerns me is the alarm. It does not sound when I turn the key on, and I think it should. It will sound when I touch the tan overheat wire to ground. I have the factory service manual on the way so I can get a better idea of how it was set up originally.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: VRO or not

Reason to hook it up would be that it will vary the amount of oil it uses depending on RPM of the motor. If I remember correctly it will mix at around 100 to 1 at idle and gradually more oil as the RPM increase. You will use less 2 stroke oil especially if you do a lot of trolling. The other thing is that you can not forget to put oil in with the gas. You do however have to remember to top the oil tank up. If your warning horn is working it will warn you as the oil level gets low. It is a great system when it is functioning as it was intended no question. It is also a lot more expensive to replace than a pre-mix pump. The latest version is an OMS pump. I am not certain about them but I believe they give a more constant mix ratio.
I do however as always stand to be corrected on this.