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I am looking at the omc auto blend system for a 1983 johnson 50:1 75 hp.Is the auto blend system reliabel and do that make one for a 50:1 ratio?And are there generic systems like it outhere?<br /><br />THANKS<br />-------
steven - What you describe is called a VRO. The new ones are said to be very reliable. Unless money is no object and you want to buy a new one you will want to rebuild one that comes off of a junked motor if you find one for your motor. Your motor is 21 years old and I would not trust one that old. My motors are 17 years old and I had mine removed before I put my boat (a 1988) in the water ten years ago.<br /><br />Go to the red search at the top of the page and enter VRO if you want more info.
Steven<br /><br />I believe the autoblend pre-dated the VRO. The autoblend was a six gallon tank with an oil reservior built in that would pre-mix the fuel. The later VROs had a separate fuel tank and oil reservior. The VRO pump within the motor would mix the fuel and oil. I've heard nothing but bad things about the autoblend tanks. You're probably better off running 50:1 premix in a standard tank on that motor.
The Autoblend isn't supposed to be used on motors larger than twins. On small motors, you had to replace the fuel pump with a larger motor version. There were Autoblends in the portable tank and separate ones for boats with built-in tanks. Early ones were 100:1. I think there was a later version for built-in tanks that mixed at 60:1. I don't think they ever made anything but a 100:1 portable tank version, although they did make a kit to convert those tanks to regular non-injected tanks. I don't know, but I don't think they're available in any form anymore. I rigged a few for kickers over the years and they worked well. But those were way smaller than 75Hp.
The VRO came out in '84 and there were different passageways in the V-4 cylinder block to feed the main bearings, compared to earlier models. I'm unsure if they changed the 3 cylinder block when they added VRO several years later.<br /><br />For the cost of the pump, brackets, hardware, tank, plumbing, warning system adaption, I doubt that it is worth it on a 22 year old motor.
