oil alarm??? please help

[chipman]

I am new to boating and new to this forum so any advice would be helpfull

I bought a 1982 ranger bass boat with a blown motor, I recently installed a 1985 Evenrude 150, everytime i go to plain i get a low oil alarm, Beep beep beep every second or so until i shift into neutral then it stops until i power up again, i think i made it to plain twice with out this happening. I dont understand why i would get a low oil alarm when i mix oil with the fuel, i dont have one of them fancy oil pump systems.

My question is, is there anyway to stop the oil alarm without disconnecting the alarm, i plan to install a temp gauge but still want to keep the overheat alarm. i disconnected the alarm completly for now but the only wire i see coming out of it is for the overheat alarm, how does the oil alarm work.

any help would be appreciated

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: oil alarm??? please help

That's not a "Low Oil" alarm, it is a "No Oil" alarm, caused by either a oil restriction, a oil leak at some point that would let the pump draw air into the oil line, OR and most likely, a failing VRO pump.

DO NOT disconnect the alarm as it is the only warning you'll ever receive if the oil system fails, the engine has a fuel restriction or overheats, of the oil tank drops below the 1/4 full level.

When this problem takes place, apply a slight bit of pressure to the Oil Primer Bulb. If this causes the alarm to stop momentarily and start again in a short time....... it's time to rebuild or replace the VRO pump or convert back to premixing your gasoline and oil. Should you decide to convert back to premix.........

(VRO Changeover Judgement Call)
(J. Reeves)

The VROs first came out in 1984 and have been upgraded quite a few times. In my opinion, back around 1988, they had perfected them but I think that they were upgraded even more since then. As long as the warning system is operating as it should, I feel quite at ease with them.

Some boaters have voiced their thoughts such as "What if that overpriced plastic horn should fail while I'm under way for some reason, and the VRO decides to fail five minutes later?" Obviously that would result in a big problem which really brings their fears into view.

The word "ease" is the key word though. If one has the slightest feeling of being ill at ease with that setup, then they should take the route they feel more at ease with. A judgement call each individual would need to make on their own.

When time permits, visit my store at: http://stores.ebay.com/Evinrude-Johnson-Outboard-Parts-etc?refid=store
********************
(VRO Pump Conversion To Straight Fuel Pump)
(J. Reeves)

You can convert the VRO pump into a straight fuel pump, eliminating the oil tank and VRO pump warning system, but retain the overheat warning setup (and fuel restriction warning if so equipped) by doing the following:

1 - Cut and plug the oil line at the engine so that the oil side of the VRO pump will not draw air into its system. Trace the wires from the back of the VRO to its rubber plug (electrical plug) and disconnect it.

2 - Trace the two wires from the oil tank to the engine, disconnect those two wires, then remove them and the oil tank.

3 - Mix the 50/1 oil in the proper amount with whatever quantity fuel you have. Disconnect the fuel line at the engine. Pump the fuel primer bulb until fuel exits that hose with the tint of whatever oil you used. Reconnect the fuel hose.

That's it. If you want to test the heat warning system to ease your mind, have the key in the on position, then ground out the tan heat sensor wire that you'll find protruding from the cylinder head. The warning horn should sound off.

 

[chipman]

Re: oil alarm??? please help

when i purchased the boat there was no oil pump. when i purchased the motor i removed it from the sellers boat and didn't see any oil pump on it.

is the alarm connected to the motor somewhere so it thinks there is a oil problem. or would the alarm be connected to the boat somewhere and was not removed.

when i installed the new motor i used the omc controlles that were already on the boat, and also took the controlls of the boat i took the motor from "same ones" i noticed the one i got with the motor had the alarm removed. so i guess he had the same problem.

i hate having the alarm de-activated but have no idea how to stop this alarm and keep the temp alarm.... please help!!!!

if there is no way to stop oil alarm. is there a way to install a oil pump. i don't even see how one will hook up.

thanks for the advice

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: oil alarm??? please help

The 1986 V6 would not have a separate oil pump. It would have one large black plastic VRO pump that mixes the oil with the gasoline. What kind of fuel pump(s) are you using on that engine?

The alarm setup on the 1985 V6 model is:

(VRO Horn Warnings)
(J. Reeves)

1 - A steady constant beep = Overheating - The V/6 engines, possibly some others, have a fuel restriction warning which is also a steady constant beep.

2 - A beep every 20 or 40 seconds = oil level has dropped to 1/4 tank. (Late model engine = Every 40 seconds)

3 - A beep every other second = VRO failure, air leak in oil line, oil restriction, (anything that would result in a lack of oil being supplied to the engine).

NOTE - If the warning horn is the black plastic (overpriced) three wire type horn, the warning horn should beep once when the ignition key is turned to the ON position. If it does not, it is either faulty or someone has disconnected it (a stupid move!). At any rate, if it does not beep which indicates that the horn is non functional, find out why and do not run the engine until the problem is corrected.

 

[chipman]

Re: oil alarm??? please help

I looked over the motor, and the boat there is no black oil pump or any other oil pump installed, nor is there any obvious wireing for an oil pump, only wires i found that are hooked to alarm are both heat switches and i found a tan wire on the motor not hooked to anything and don't see any where it would hook up, and when grounded the alarm does go off. is there only two heat switches???

could this be caused by restricted fuel flow. i was on the water today and motor ran good, plained well then sputtered like out of fuel and died, had heat gun and was not overheating, i was using the right tank for the first time may have sucked crap into it, switced back to left tank ran better but still acted like not getting enouph fuel.

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: oil alarm??? please help

With the VRO disconneted and removed, there should be two (2) small fuel pumps on the port side of the engine, one pumping fuel to the other, with the second fuel pump feeding the carburetors.

You will have left..... one (1) overheat sensor in each cylinder head (2 total), and one (1) fuel restriction sensor (vacuum switch), also on the port side, rather high location, to the rear of the electric starter. You should see a TAN wire leading to it and a small fuel line leading to it from a "Tee" in the main fuel line a short distance from entering the hood pan.

If a fuel restriction exists, the fuel primer bulb should be affected and drawn flat somewhat.

What confuses me is that either the overheat sensors or the fuel restriction vacuum switch should result in a steady constant long never ending beep, not a beep beep beep every other second or so as you describe.

With the engine not running, but having the key in the ON position, ground out one of the overheat sensors to see how that affects the horn.

Let us know about the fuel pump scenario, the flat primer bulb possibility, and what the horn does...... and anything else you can think of.

 

[chipman]

Re: oil alarm??? please help

i seen the two wires going to the cylender heat switches and grounded them out and alarm did go off. i will look at the fuel restriction vacume switch tomorrow. i am definetly getting a oil alarm of some kind and not the steady BEEEEEP alarm.

with the suspected fuel problem, the primer bulb feels normal, pumps up tight i start the motor, get on plain for about 4-5 minutes then bogs down bulb is soft again i pump it up and repeat.

these motor issues seem pretty confusing to me, is it common to have alot of trouble finding problems, or is it just my inexperience

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: oil alarm??? please help

What about the small fuel pumps, are they there? Where does the fuel hose lead to after entering the engine's hood pan? It should lead to the first fuel pump.

If no fuel pump exists, the only pump would be the fuel primer bulb filling the carburetors..... and that wouldn't last long.

 

[chipman]

Re: oil alarm??? please help

it turns out i do have a vro pump installed on this motor "i think" there is a black pump located below the starter fuel line goes into the pump then to the carbs, next to the fuel line into the pump is a hose that has been cut and pluged, im guessing thes is an oil line.
wireing coming from this pump, i have a purple, black, gray, and one that is light tan almost lite pink, i think this is the alarm wire.
there is also a hose coming out the bottom going to the side of the motor, im assuming its a vacume line.



fuel line-- comes into motor goes through an inline fuel filter, then T's for the vacume fuel alarm you described earlier, then goes though the "vro" pump then to carbs.
the fuel filter sits upright and is about 3" tall with the fuel line entering from the side about 1/3 down and exiting through the top, i noticed there is only about 1/8 inch of fuel in it when running and i can see air bubbles leaving the filter and going to the carbs is this normal???? or do i have air leaking into my fuel line somewhere??

Alarm-- i dont have the three wire alarm described earlier, mine only has two, tan and purple. and does not beep when key is turned on

thats about all i can tell you about the alarm and fuel system right now, do i need to disconect the light tan wire coming from the vro pump to stop the no oil alarm?? and should i remove the vro and install the two small round fuel pumps, i still have the ones from my old motor??

thanks for all the help so far Joe you have been a big help!!!!!

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: oil alarm??? please help

Okay, so you do have a VRO pump but have converted to pre-mix, mixing your oil with the gasoline in the fuel tank.

Trace the wires from that black VRO pump to its connector and unplug it. That will get rid of that ennoying beep you speak of.

 

[chipman]

Re: oil alarm??? please help

do i un plug all 4 wires, or just the alarm wire?
will i still have fuel pump? the only pump i see the fuel lines go through is the vro. im thinking if i do this i will need to install the small round fuel pumps, what do you advise

what about the inline fuel filter i talked about earlier, i think it should be full of fuel not just a little when running, what do you think

 

[chipman]

Re: oil alarm??? please help

just another thought, would it be a good idea to get an oil tank and hook it up to the vro?, it would be nice not measuring and mixing oil/fuel, but ive read alot of forums on this site having trouble with vro. i want to be sure i am getting good oil/fuel mixture.