1993 Johnson Oceanrunner 175 VRO questions

[mattsmall1972]

Hi - I recently repowered to the 1993 Johnson Oceanrunner 175 and want to understand the VRO hookup before I try it out. Before I ask any questions, I'll say that I really don't want to disconnect it.

1) There are two wires coming out of the pump area where the oil line goes into the tank. I *think* these are a low oil alarm. Am I right, and if so, how do you wire it up?

2) It appears the oil line from the tank takes a bulb pump. Is that all that is needed to prime the oil for startup?

3) Will standard gas line work for this, or is there some kind of other special line that is required for an oil tank? I just want to be cautious here.

Thank you,
Matt

 

[Chris1956]

Matt, The two wires on the oil tank are indeed for low oil warning. You only prime the oil line, if the oil line was disconnected. So that means no need to prime everyday.

The oil line is likely just standard OB fuel line BIA certified.

A good question is how many wires are on your OMS (oil) pump? Likely three wires, but a good question, as it will tell you if it was ever replaced.

 

[SparkieBoat]

hey Matt, I thought that I would just mention that some guys disconnect and plug off the oil line going to the VRO and premix their gas. there are several reasons to do this one would be that you can only rebuild the fuel side of that pump and not the oil side. the rebuild kit runs about $145 last time I looked, you can also get a replacement pump that does not have the oil side. but a replacement VRO pump is about $450 and up. But some people just do not want to premix their oil and that is fine just make sure your oil alarm is working properly.

 

[mattsmall1972]

Hi guys - thanks for responding! I've had two other posts that went neglected and was thinking about needing to find a new forum.

Chris - AFAIK, there are only two wires coming from the oil tank pickup. I see from your response and from other posts about the VRO that there's a three-wire hookup somewhere, but I don't know where to find that on the engine. If you can give me really explicit details, I will check. I am very interested in hooking this up correctly.

Sparkie - Even with my initial response that I don't want to disconnect the VRO and run premix, I am considering it right now. I looked on youtube and someone cut a line near the VRO pump and plugged it (see the video below) =. Would it be enough to simply plug the oil intake into the engine (the line just above the gas intake), or do I need to do something else to make this right?

 

[Chris1956]

Matt, The OMS pump is in the front of the engine, under the airbox (naturally), midway between the two mid-carbs. It is slightly below the main strainer with it's white knurled knob.

 

[SparkieBoat]

it is as simple as cutting the hose and plugging it. make sure you plug it good with a clamp so it will not suck air. you should also disconnect the wire harness going from the pump about 4-6 inches down the wire from the pump you should find the connection. that will stop the oil alarm from going off. the video looked pretty thorough.

 

[jakedaawg]

Just a thought here.. take it for what its worth..there are a bunch of guys/gals with more experience here than me.

In all my years taking care of these motors I have never had a properly maintained, freshwater engine modern 4 wire VRO fail without the alarm going off first. The only times it has actually grennaded the motor was due to the operator continuing to run the engine with the alarm sounding. In my experience they are very reliable and tend to fail to over oiling.

With that said, all motors have the warning horn and no oil circuit tested at spring start up yearly. It is a service they pay me for but you can do it yourself easily.

I can understand doing away with the VRO (due to replacement cost) if it has failed, but I would not delete it if not necessary.

Just my humble opinion. I dont mean to start a flame war here. I know many here will not agree but I did mention modern style VRO.

 

[mattsmall1972]

Hi Jake - I think you're likely right about this. This engine works amazingly well, and I think the VRO is likely in good shape. I just need to make sure that I have the alarm hooked up properly and I'll be fine.

Interestingly though - I didn't have the wiring hooked into the VRO when I tested it the other day, and the buzzer attached from the boat-side wiring harness did not go off. Shouldn't I get that? How can I test to make sure the alarm is working properly?

 

[dingbat]

Do you have system check system? If so, you should get a beep and the warning lights should sequence each time you turn the key

 

[racerone]

Perform a test on the VRO pump tyo make sure it is working properly.-----Or mark the oil tank and run on a 5 / 6 gallon tank untill it is empty.---The top up the oil tank to the mark to see how much oil was used.

 

[SparkieBoat]

if the wire going to the oil pump is disconnected you should not get any alarm.

 

[mattsmall1972]

No Title

So here's my issue: I rigged this myself without any prior experience. The only alarm/buzzer I have is connected to the beige wire from the ignition as described in the image attached to this post. Is there another alarm system that I can rig to this motor? If so, how?

Thanks!

 

[mattsmall1972]

No Title

It looks like I have a 4-wire connector going to the VRO. Picture attached.

 

[SparkieBoat]

that should be the only alarm. there are ways to test it and make sure that it is working properly. yes you have the 4 wire vro.

 

[mattsmall1972]

It doesn't make any noise when I start the engine. Is there a way to test it?

How should I hook up the two wires from the oil tank into the VRO?

 

[CatTwentyTwo]

I have a 94 175, the wiring diagram looks just like yours except that the wires terminate in a connector on the left side. I could try tracing a few wires or take a couple of pictures of certain areas if that would help.

 

[mattsmall1972]

Hi Cat - that would be very appreciated!

 

[CatTwentyTwo]

If the warning horn is okay and wired correctly you should get a momentary beep when you turn the key to the run position. Like I mentioned, this is how my 94 works so hopefully your 93 is the same.


This is the black and tan wires at the remote oil tank.

They connect at the port side of the motor here.

You can check the alarm circuit by touching one of the temp switches to ground.

 

[mattsmall1972]

I've seen those wires but was unaware of what they did! The wiring that comes off my tank looks literally like house wires off a lamp. I will work on checked them out and getting them wired in. Thanks!

 

[Chris1956]

Matt, Your motor could have 4 alarms. overheat, low oil at the tank, no oil at the OMS pump and vacuum in the fuel line. However, originally, I think it came with a three wire OMS pump which did not have the "no oil at the OMS Pump" alarm. However, I would have thought you have had 3 alarms originally.

The wiring on my '98 Johnny sends the 4 alarm wires to the System Check Tachometer, which has 4 alarm lights, and an 8 pin modular plug. It is wired to the buzzer, and the logic in the Tach determines whether the alarm sounds continuously, beeps, short alarm or long alarm.

You might see if you can get a wiring diaghram for your motor and a newer one and see what you can upgrade on your motor. The alarm wires are grounded when the alarm is active. The two overheat sensors on the heads are tied together and sent to the tach, and that ground signal is also sent to the powerpack to cause the motor to go into SLOW mode. The low oil and no oil as well as the vacuum alarms travel on separate wires to the tach.