1989 Evinrude 50hp alarm sounds constantly after 15 seconds

[loose rivet]

I was given a boat this weekend with a rather clean looking 1989 Evinrude 50hp on it, the motor has two issues, the tilt piston is gone, broke off at the motor bracket side, and when I run it, the alarm in the controls sounds constantly after about 15 seconds.
It's not hot, when it goes off it don't have the chance to get hot. The motor was a VRO motor, but I was told that don't work and to run premix. I've been running it on 50:1 mix. The oil tank is still in the boat but the hose is cut off and plugged where it goes into the motor. The tank is full. The motor is still running a VRO pump. The last owner said they had the VRO disconnected after their other boat's motor seized up when it's VRO failed.

It runs fine, no noise, it don't overheat, and it pumps water fine. I tried disconnecting the overheat sensor at the motor and the alarm still sounds. If I disconnect the wire from the VRO pump, the alarm goes away.
The pump and all it's lines are still intact, they simply put a bolt and clamp on the line near the fuel line connector externally.
Could their running it this way done any harm? I can't imagine anyone running it for very long with that alarm sounding all the time either, so I doubt its been that way all that long.

 

[flareds]

Re: 1989 Evinrude 50hp alarm sounds constantly after 15 seconds

It def could have done damage if they did not premix. also, before you run it too much it would be a good idea to do a compresion test now. with the no oil alarm for the vro sounding, something def sounds fishy.
that is certainly not the right way to disable a vro pump. also, i would say that the pump is likely still good and works fine. they are pretty durable. when working properly they mix oil much better than a human can

 

[boobie]

Re: 1989 Evinrude 50hp alarm sounds constantly after 15 seconds

When you disconnect the vro and run 50:1 you have to disconnect the warning system from the vro by disconnecting the warning system from it which you did. Other wise you'll get false warning horns.

 

[loose rivet]

Re: 1989 Evinrude 50hp alarm sounds constantly after 15 seconds

I checked the compression, I have 147 on top, 151psi on the bottom.
I called the old owner tonight to get a better explanation of why he did what he did and he said that the boat all of a sudden started to smoke real heavy and have trouble idling. He said disconnecting the oil pump hose and running premix fixed this.
The boat also has a canister filter on the gas side, I had to remove the filter and lock the bracket in a vise to get the filter off. The thing was on so tight the wrench twisted the canister before it broke loose. For now, the filter is bypassed but it'll have a new filter when the motor gets mounted on my boat.

There's no doubt that the gas in the boat's tank is premix, its so heavy with oil it looks like blue paint.
My guess is that he was running both premix and the VRO pump together, and as the filter clogged up the oil ratio increased?

My concern was whether the entire pump would dead head on both sides since its plugged on the inlet side of the oil half of the pump. The line to the motor is still connected. If not, maybe lean out the motor by sucking air of the line to the motor isn't removed and the port plugged?
Right now I plugged off the port at the motor.
Should the oil side of the pump be left open to atmosphere or capped?
I'm not 100% sure the thing is even bad, the motor is super clean and don't look to have many hours.
The last owner said that he's mixed some oil in the gas since it was new because he didn't trust the oil injection.
Myself, I've got two other VRO motors which have never given me an ounce of trouble.

Is there a way to test the VRO side of the pump? Maybe the right fix is to hook the VRO back up?

Since the boat has been home here I've been running it off one of my portable tanks with fresh 50:1 mixed fuel.
The previous owner told me to mix two quarts of oil per tank, the tank in the boat looks to be about 12 gallons and is strapped down. My guess is he added two quarts every time he added gas.

Are these old VRO units that bad? Should I leave it disconnected or put it back stock?

 

[marauder11]

Re: 1989 Evinrude 50hp alarm sounds constantly after 15 seconds

I am buying a 120 hp with a vro. I called three shops 2 said take it off and one said keep it. I am sure if it is working they are the cats meow. I would like to know the VRO ansewer aswell

 

[flareds]

Re: 1989 Evinrude 50hp alarm sounds constantly after 15 seconds

I myself have not seen too many bad vro pumps. my opinion is hook it up and see if it is pulling oil to see if it works.
Also, when the vro is being used i believe it leans out the oil mix some at idle which makes the motor run more smoothly at idle.
problem with premix is you have a rich oil, runs rough symtom at idle. it should run much better with the vro.
Personally, that warning horn is there for a reason, hook it back up, make sure your oil primer ball works and ther are no leaks.
the horn works so,give it a try.
oh, one more thing, take the top off the oil tank and make sure its clean in the bottom of the tank. and ther should be some kindof a screen in the tank. also, if that oil is old or questionable, dump it and start over with any QUALITY oil. OMC motors in those year ranges dont like to burn the cheap stuff(crap) very well.
Also, 50:1 calls for 16 oz oil, half a quart to 6 gallons of gas. At a quart per 6 gallons i bet the motor smokes really heavy at low speeds right ?

 

[loose rivet]

Re: 1989 Evinrude 50hp alarm sounds constantly after 15 seconds

I haven't run it here on the old tank, I've been using a tank of known good premix fuel I already had. The fuel in the boat's tank is way too rich with oil. My guess it's closer to 10:1 by the look of it. It's getting tossed or diluted and fed to the lawnmower over time.
The boat came with a gallon and a half of OMC oil, the oil in the tank looks clean, but I'll dump it out and strain it just to be sure. I plan to clean both the fuel and oil tanks out, replace both primer bulbs, and then reconnect everything and see what it does.
How will I know right off whether it's working or not? Will the alarm sound if the oil side of the pump isn't moving oil?
Does the warning sensor on the pump look for oil pressure?

Could the way they were running it done any harm? My guess is that it never hit the water like this but they may well have been running it on the ears without properly disconnecting the VRO pump. There's little doubt it had enough oil judging by the old owners directions and seeing what's in the gas tank.

 

[Haffiman]

Re: 1989 Evinrude 50hp alarm sounds constantly after 15 seconds

The VRO is more reliable than a lot of people think, they just do not understand the system.
For each pump stroke the pump makes, it puls an amount of oil and fuel, mix it and sends to the carbs.
If no-oil in the system, you have the alarm.
If for some reason, air leak or other, the pump draws LESS fuel but still the same amount of oil, the mix will be rich and the engine smoke. That is a warning signal!!!
If running pre-mix, you will not get the same warning, the engine will run lean and burn down the pistons!!
that alone is two big advantages in favor of keeping the VRO.
As for all membrane pumps, they may fail.
Fuel membranes may be leaking, air pump membrane may break, but there are parts available.
But where most pumps does not give you a warning until too late, the VRO does and if one does not react to those warnings, do not blame the VRO if your engine melts down.
The only 'negative' I have to say about it is that if you run out of fuel, the VRO fills your carbs with oil and not fuel and makes restart a bit tricky!

 

[Pipestone Kid]

Re: 1989 Evinrude 50hp alarm sounds constantly after 15 seconds

Check this site <http://www.maxrules.com/fixomcvro.html> Near the bottom of the page there is a box talking about the VRO pump and how to use it as a fuel pump only. Also has a good article on how it is disconnected.

 

[loose rivet]

Re: 1989 Evinrude 50hp alarm sounds constantly after 15 seconds

I think it was smoking so bad when he had it because he was running so much oil in the premix fuel. He was mixing it at least 25:1 going by his instructions, he may have put even more oil in the tank since it's so dark in color.

I'd rather have it all original, my other two VRO motors run fine and have for 20 years without a single issue.

 

[Haffiman]

Re: 1989 Evinrude 50hp alarm sounds constantly after 15 seconds

Try just too hook back up the VRO tank and see if the alarm disappears. If it does, you know your VRO pump is working!!