Mechanically mix oil? Manually mix oil?

[Greg New Zealand]

Re: Mechanically mix oil? Manually mix oil?

I have to pre-mix (1977 Merc 50) but I have the oil in the boat and always mix at the gas station.<br />I know that if I stick to this routine there will never be a problem.

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: Mechanically mix oil? Manually mix oil?

Snowmobiles are 2 stroke engines spinning 9000 rpms with oil injection, we have yet to see an oil injection system fail on one, and the systems are basically the same as an outboard, as DJ said- maintain the engine.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Mechanically mix oil? Manually mix oil?

I'm burning up 80-120 gallons of fuel on every trip so I can't see screwing around with gallon jugs every time I pull up to a pump. Heck, it's bad enough just refilling the oil tank every couple of trips. Keep the thing maintained and enjoy the convenience.

 

[NGABaldEagle]

Re: Mechanically mix oil? Manually mix oil?

I can see pros and cons.
I have the autoblend system on my 87 classic 50 Mercury.
I just got the boat and bypassed it.
Im not comfortable with the first oil injection units.

Apparently it has been used since 1987 and hasnt failed as proven by the fact that the engine runs like a scalded dog. (Thats hillbilly speak for FAST)
Im assuming it has never been rebuilt and that the boat hasnt been used much since it still has original uphostery in good condition.

I would like to run oil injection for convenience but my autoblend system has a hole in the oil reservoir. Just cant find it in my heart to buy one.

I mix and dont know how I could forget to add oil unless the fish are jumping in the boat. I just think about what Im doing and add the oil first so when I look back to check things out I have the empty oil container.

I use Quicksilver oil only in my Merc.
Is there a cheaper alternative without giving anything up?

I would add autoblend back to the system if I had one.
I mix and do put in main tank 6 gallons at a time.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Mechanically mix oil? Manually mix oil?

Just so everyone knows, The oil injection on my '73 Yamaha motorcycle is much more sophisticated tha the oil injection on my '98 Johnson. The cycle has a crank-driven pump that injects the oil into the intake manifold so it is picked up by the intake air/gasoline. The pump stroke is changed by the throttle setting, such that when you have the throttle wide open, more oil is injected. The pump turns at the speed of the crankshaft, such that at high speed, more oil is injected. You therefore get a wide gas-oil ratio, depending of RPM and load.

The Johnson outboard has the VRO-2 fuel pump, where oil is added to the gasoline at a constant rate.

Has any outboard had a similar kind of oil injection?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Mechanically mix oil? Manually mix oil?

this horse has been beat to death several times on the forums. i have never owned a Vro outboard, my pwcs, are auto mix. with no problems. do what feels right for your situstion. here's more fuel for the fire. two post in the engine faq section. http://forums.iboats.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&f=31&page=1&pp=50&sort=lastpost&order=desc&daysprune=-1

 

[j442w30]

Re: Mechanically mix oil? Manually mix oil?

I have a 1993 Oil Injected Mercury outboard that I considered disconnecting before getting some opinions on here. The VRO system and the AutoBlend systems I would be a little wary of but looking at my design it seems pretty simple. I don't know why some companies used plastic gears for the oil injection, that just seems like asking for problems.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Mechanically mix oil? Manually mix oil?

Using the VRO system on my 1985 140hp Johnson. No issues so far but plan to give it a service before hitting the water this season.

 

[jimmbo]

Re: Mechanically mix oil? Manually mix oil?

How many people worry about the oil pump in their cars engine? The VRO or MRO as it was later called is a fine system. Very few failures were/are due to the pump. most troubles are from leaky air lines, or running out of fuel.

Plastic gears are used because if the parts do grenade the relatively soft plastic shouldn't do much if any damage to the internal, unlke harder metal

 

[omahaladysman]

Re: Mechanically mix oil? Manually mix oil?

I knew a guy that built an airplane from a kit, used a two cycle, twin cylinder snowmobile engine, I think (Rotac or something like that). Anyway...he had cylinder head temperature gauges and exhaust temp gauges and could tell right away if something was wrong. How hard would it be to hook something like that up on an outboard? Sure might save some headaches. Of course, he also had an explosive-fired ballistic parachute that could float the fuselage down if things REALLY went bad! All we have are paddles.