1988 40 h.p Johnson V.R.O (Victim of Bad Gas?)

[JohnnyRuuDe]

Hello All! This is my first post, but not my first motor. I recently purchased an 88' 40h.p V.R.O on a 17' 1968 Starcraft boat. The gentlemen I bought it from said that he was getting rid of it because it would periodically bog down. Not being a very mechanically inclined individual, he had decided enough was enough and sold me the whole set-up for $750. He informed me that his mechanic suggested it may be bad fuel or a fuel filter issue. he had been running the motor off of the original metal fuel tanks from 68! When I got home and dumped out the fuel I diiscovered severe corrosion inside the tanks and approx. 1" of orange gel at the bottom of the metal fuel tank Also, not surprisingly the fuel filter seemed quite clogged with orange gel. I got a new fuel tank, fuel line, primer bulb, fuel filter, and spark-plugs. I now can get it running at a rough idle but I get a constant V.R.O alarm which indicates either a fuel flow restriction or overheat condition. Plus the primer bulb does not stay hard which makes me think fuel flow restriction. I spent hours researching the V.R.O debate(disconnect or let-it-fly) and it occured to me that a VRO from 88' probably didn't appreciate all the bad fuel and is likely damaged and causing fuel flow restriction. In that case I will replace the VRO with a Fuel-only pump and premix my fuel...however, before I spend $150 on the fuel pump conversion Im wondering if there are other possibilities? I pulled the carbs, cleaned em'...didn't notice anything wrong. Any help would be so greatly appreciated- Thanks, Lewis

 

[iwombat]

Re: 1988 40 h.p Johnson V.R.O (Victim of Bad Gas?)

Try pulling fuel from a different (portable) tank. Could just be your fuel delivery system is all gunked up.

 

[JohnnyRuuDe]

Re: 1988 40 h.p Johnson V.R.O (Victim of Bad Gas?)

Model #: J40ELESR..........Seriel #: G02493758

 

[JohnnyRuuDe]

Re: 1988 40 h.p Johnson V.R.O (Victim of Bad Gas?)

I have a brand new fuel tank, fuel line, and primer bulb...should'nt that eliminate that possibility?

 

[iwombat]

Re: 1988 40 h.p Johnson V.R.O (Victim of Bad Gas?)

Yes, it should. Did you also replace the water separator?

Is the alarm you hear a constant tone, or an intermittent tone? The different types of alarms and their meaning should be in your owner's (and service) manuals.

If it's a fuel delivery issue, I believe that the VRO fuel pump side can be rebuilt. And, that's where I would start.

If it's an overheat alarm you have other issues including a possible blown head gasket.

It wouldn't hurt to start with compression and spark tests while we're on the subject.



Bottom line - let's figure out what that alarm is first and then proceed.

 

[JohnnyRuuDe]

Re: 1988 40 h.p Johnson V.R.O (Victim of Bad Gas?)

first off...thanks for the quick reply! 1)I did not replace the water seperator.
2) The alarm is a continious tone which can mean one of two things, fuel-flow restriction or overheat. It sounds ANY TIME the engine runs...even when its cold. That leads me the believe it is a fuel-flow issue.
3) I will pull the VRO and look inside the fuel-pump side...good to know!
4)compression and spark test I will try a well.

 

[JohnnyRuuDe]

Re: 1988 40 h.p Johnson V.R.O (Victim of Bad Gas?)

Some new news!

I realized I hadn't given the oil tank more than a casual glance. I opened it up and found the tank to be 3/4 full of what appeared to be oil...when I dumped it out I found that the tank was 1/2 full of WATER(on the bottom), and 1/4 full of OIL(floating on top). This, in addition to the original bad gas, was a recipe for disaster to say the least. I'm suprised it ran at all and I'm grateful it didn't sieze my engine. After refilling the Oil tank with fresh oil, I got the engine to idle much smoother with only a backfire here and there. Then it stopped running and now Im having trouble getting her started again. I messed with the slow speed adjust screws on the carbs a bit to try and get the best idle...Im not sure where they should be set?