87 Johnson VRO beeping

[porz0011]

Ok. So i fixed the previous problem. Now i have a VRO issue.
I primed the VRO bulb on my 1987 johnson 150GT. The bulb was firm. As i squezed the out flow side of the primer bulb came out and oil leaked out. I reconnected it and put on new clamp.

New issue after i did that and wanted to test my engine from a previous issue.

I started the motor and as is was running great. about a minute into it running my buzzer started sounding at the control box. BUZZING ON AND OFF. I shut down motor and bulb was not soft or rock hard firm. I primed and restarted same buzzer sound.

What could it be. Would it be no oil.flow and could i have an air lock some were from when the buld came apart or is my pump messed or does a buzzer on amd off mean something else. My oil tank is 1/2 full.

 

[fhhuber]

Not fond of the VRO... nor is my local boat mechanic. His advice is to disable the VRO oil injection and go to 50:1 pre-mix because the alarm usually goes off just in time to tell you that you have major engine damage from lack of oil.

I've seen a few local boats come limping in with thrown rods and other issues due to VRO failure.

Running 50:1 pre-mix in my 1990 Johnson 150 GT.

 

[jakedaawg]

Replace oil hose from tank to connector at engine. Unhook oil hose from VRO. Have someone squeeze bulb till oil comes out the hose, have them hold on the last squeeae while you hook up the hose. Make a mark on tank at the oil level. Run engine on 50:1 premix for a few hours. No oil alarm should stop after a few minutes. after a few hours you should notice the oil in the tank dropping. This lets you know you are useing oil and that the system is self priming. After everthing works out okay quit pumping that oil ball. It is only neccesary to use when hooking up the oil line.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Follow Jakes' procedure. Keep in mind that engine has a whitish/clear plastic sight glass in the oil hose line right before it goes into the pump. Disconnect there when you do Jake's procedure. The sight glass should fill with the dark-colored oil and will be visible. If you do replace the oil hose, make sure you use the special yellow-stripe Bombardier oil hose and the special 1/4" oil primer bulb. (not the same as gas)

 

[porz0011]

VRO is shot. Disconnected fuel from gas tank to 50:1 premix tank. Purged everything as said. Ball stayed hard the whole time. Ran for 15 mins at 2000 RPM oil did not drop at all. Ball never got soft. Alarm stayed on the whole time. Plugged VRO lines. Disconnected it and pre mixed main tabks. Not spending the $600 on a new VRO pump

 

[flyingscott]

Here is how you reconnect a vro pump straight from bombardier instruction manual. You have to disconnect the oil line from under the pump then you pump out 12-15 oz of oil. then you start the motor with the oil line disconnected wait for the alarm to go off then reconnect the oil line to the pump and the alarm should go off in about a minute make sure you are running 50;1 fuel mixture while this happens.

 

[flyingscott]

One more thing when you reconnect the fuel line to the do not pump the ball and vro primer balls never get soft they are full of oil. if it is soft you have a problem

 

[jakedaawg]

I wonder, with all the diagnosing you did for the kill circuit open condition you had, if somehow the sensor wire got grounded. Did the alarm go off immediately after resolving your previous condition? It could be as simple as a wireing problem leading the sensor to act like it has a no oil condition. Just a thought. The modern 4-wire VRO when properly maintained is incredibly reliable.

 

[Blazinmonkey]

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/VRO.html

` [h=2]VRO STORY?The Myth of the Mixer[/h] [h=3]by Bill Grannis[/h] Whenever there is a gathering of boaters, the conversation usually turns to engines, then gravitates to stories about problems. One of the bones OMC owners like to pick concerns the oiling system. A typical conversation that we've all heard at one time or another might go something like this:

1. "Yeah, my boat smokes like hell at low speeds and fouls the plugs," bemoans one boater. "Must be that worthless VRO pump acting up."
2. "Uh huh, my neighbor had a blown engine," quips another. "Took out two cylinders on his V-6. The mechanic told him the VRO went bad. He didn't get an alarm or anything."
3. "Come to think of it," the third member of the group chimes in, "my brother-in-law's offshore rig with twin outboards must have a flaky VRO; one motor always uses more oil than the other."
4. "My engine is hard starting at times," says a fourth angler, "the VRO pump must be getting weak and the warning horn blows constantly whenever I run at full throttle on my 150."

The truth of these stories is that none of the symptoms described is the fault of the VRO, yet the poor VRO pump gets the blame. Each rig has a different problem that is blamed on the oil pump because of misunderstanding, ignorance, and misinformation. Even many "experienced" mechanics do not have the knowledge of how the system operates and are quick to blame something that is unfamiliar to them.'

 

[porz0011]

The mechanic i took it to has 25 years experience on OMC. I did not want to tackle this one on my own. He ran tests of his own yesturday. Rebled the lines and went over the work i did and he even said its pooched.