'99 35HP Johnson 3 cylinder with VRO removed

[rtw_travel]

We just bought a '99 Johnson 35HP 3 cylinder motor from our local marina to replace the '76 evinrude 35hp that overheated. With the power trim and newer motor/prop, the boat goes about 10 mph faster!

The marina removed the VRO from the engine before selling it to us, and told us to run 50:1 mixed gas. I understand this is becasue there is no warning of a VRO pump failure.

Was this the right thing for them to do? We kept all the old parts.

 

[dajohnson53]

Re: '99 35HP Johnson 3 cylinder with VRO removed

My personal opinion is that it is a trustworthy system if maintained properly. Many people think it is not and feel pre-mixing is more trustworthy. Having premixed for years, I feel that pre-mixing is not fool proof, and is probably as likely to be forgotten as the VRO pump is to fail- in other words, unlikely.

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

 

[rtw_travel]

Re: '99 35HP Johnson 3 cylinder with VRO removed

Interesting reading, thanks. Do you know if an alarm kit (like the OMC "Systemcheck") is available for the Johnson?

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: '99 35HP Johnson 3 cylinder with VRO removed

8-9 year old VRO pump. I can see why they removed it. Maintenance is the key to reliability with those units and the dealer probably did not know the history on that particular engine....