1988 Evinrude VRO Wiring

eb_90041

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Joined
Mar 1, 2003
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I recently came into ownership of a 1988 Evinrude 70 HP VRO. The previous owner says the boat sank, dunking the engine win Saltwater. He says it was pulled and completely rebuilt, and not run since (several years). He didn't have the tank, so I bought a one off the Internet. It has a harness coming out, which terminates in a connector, then a couple wires with bullet connectors on the end. Black and tan, if I remember correctly. I can't find any obvious place where these are supposed to terminate. Can anyone give me advice as to where I should connect them?<br /><br />I see a lot of posts by people who've disabled their VRO, and some who say they're reliable. Any comments on reliability of 1998 VRO's?<br /><br />Thanks :confused:
 

dragonslayer

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Mar 17, 2002
Messages
30
Re: 1988 Evinrude VRO Wiring

Not sure as to the year of engine you have. At first you say 1988 70, but at the end you ask about 1998 vro pump. The black and tan wires from the tank is for the low oil warning. There should be a place to hook up the tan wire on the engine wiring harness. You may have to look to find it. The black wire attaches to ground.<br /><br />The connectors may not be the same as they used a couple of different styles.<br /><br />As to the reliability of the vro system, I have had very good luck with the pumps. The big thing is to make sure all the hose connections stay good and tight. If your engine has snapper clamps on the hoses, look at them carefully, they can appear good but actually be broken.<br />Take some tool like a screwdriver and push at the clamps, usually if they are broken they will spin on the hose.<br /><br />Good Luck....
 
D

DJ

Guest
Re: 1988 Evinrude VRO Wiring

LA Guy,<br /><br />Good advice given so far.<br /><br />Make sure you pre mix oil with the fuel at a 50:1 ratio until you can verify the oil injection is working.
 

Joe Reeves

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Joined
Feb 24, 2002
Messages
13,262
Re: 1988 Evinrude VRO Wiring

LA..... When you refer to the "tank", I assume you're speaking of the oil tank. The black wire would lead to a powerhead ground, the other wire (tan) would join in with the other tan wires (VRO and Heat Sensor) which lead to the warning horn.<br /><br />The warning horn should sound off when you ground any of those tan wires (have the ignition key in the ON position). If it doesn't, find out why as that will be your only warning of big trouble (No Oil to the engine or Overheating).<br /><br />With the engine being underwater, the VRO pump should absolutely have been replaced. Was it?<br /><br />You say at the beginning of your post that the engine was/is a 1988 model. However, at the end of your post, you refer to it as a 1998 model. Which is it?<br /><br />Hopefully you've been able to verify if the engine has been rebuilt or not as saltwater, even if someone was able to get the engine running within a short time, may cause damage that will only show up later.<br /><br />The VRO pumps that first came out with a warning system had three wires leading from the back of it to its rubber connector plug. This warning system would create a false warning. Later, the VRO incorporated a four (4) wire warning system that corrected that condition..... and this type VRO has been superceded many times.<br /><br />You can check the oil side of the VRO by simply having the engine running, then clamp off the oil line close to the engine. The warning horn should engage within sixty (60) seconds or so, beeping every other second. If it does not, find out why! Let us know what you find.
 

eb_90041

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Mar 1, 2003
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Re: 1988 Evinrude VRO Wiring

Sorry for the typo. 1988 was barely in my budget, definitely not 1998. Thanks, that gives me something to work on. I'll post an update.
 

G DANE

Commander
Joined
Nov 24, 2001
Messages
2,476
Re: 1988 Evinrude VRO Wiring

Hi La guy<br /><br />Remember all testing of VRO takes place with motor running on premix 1:50 or you will get huge problems instead.
 

eb_90041

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Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Messages
3
Re: 1988 Evinrude VRO Wiring

Yes, I did know about the 50:1 premix. I think I figured out where the wire plugs in, but when I grounded the tan wire from the temperature switch, the horn didn't sound. I think I'm going to pay the local repair guy to fix that and see if it needs anything else.<br /><br />Thanks again for all the input.
 
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