Percent chance of oil injection failure?

[KRS62]

Most of my boating experience was with an older Mercury that I needed to premix oil. I now own a 2003 50hp with the oil injection (or pump...whatever it is) and hear a lot of people not trusting it.

I certainly understand that it would be a big deal to run w/o out oil in the event of a pump failure, but how common is this? How many people on this board has had a failure?

I must say that I love the convenience of it and do not (currently) worry about it failing. Should I?? Also, is there any periodic maintenance or checks that are specific to this issue?

KRS

 

[Robot1947]

Re: Percent chance of oil injection failure?

Mercury / Mariner outboards and Sport-Jet engines have a history of oil injection problems. The plastic gear that is mounted on the crankshaft strips for a number of reasons. Replacing the gear may not solve the problem.

Marine Solutions offers a kit that drives the oil pump with an electric motor and computer controller. Check them out at www.marinesolutionswi.com.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Percent chance of oil injection failure?

The truth is that the oil injection systems are very reliable. Just like any other mechanical device on your engine, they can fail and when they do the damage is usually extensive.

The reality is that there are other parts on your engine that can and do fail just as often and have the potential for causing the same amount of damage.

My advice is to keep your automatic oiling system and enjoy it.

 

[lineman22]

Re: Percent chance of oil injection failure?

I have owned a few boats in the last 35 years and all but one had an outboard. If the engine had oil injection when brought home, it was still in service when sold. I have heard all the stories about failures and know someone who claims he did have a vro failure.
A little article at http://http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/VRO.html

I don't worry about the oil pump in any of my trucks failing and know of many engine failures attributed to no/poor lubrication. 3 of my last 4 outboards were Mercury/Mariner with injection and those were great motors. My last was a 1999 Yamaha C90 that didn't have injection and oil was added to the large built in gas tank. I believe it all had to do with offering a lower cost engine for the boat/motor package.
I think you can tell by now, but i agree with sschefer. Leave the injection system connected, enjoy the convenience and have fun.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Percent chance of oil injection failure?

I have owned a few boats in the last 35 years and all but one had an outboard. If the engine had oil injection when brought home, it was still in service when sold. I have heard all the stories about failures and know someone who claims he did have a vro failure.
A little article at http://http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/VRO.html

I don't worry about the oil pump in any of my trucks failing and know of many engine failures attributed to no/poor lubrication. 3 of my last 4 outboards were Mercury/Mariner with injection and those were great motors. My last was a 1999 Yamaha C90 that didn't have injection and oil was added to the large built in gas tank. I believe it all had to do with offering a lower cost engine for the boat/motor package.
I think you can tell by now, but i agree with sschefer. Leave the injection system connected, enjoy the convenience and have fun.

The earlier systems were trouble, but this one, which has been around since the mid-80's is probably more reliable than most boat owners mixing their fuel and oil manually.

The plastic gear hangs together unless something else catastrophic happens to the motor. An extreme overheat will wreck the gear. Some of the early versions of this present system had a bushing under the pump that could swell in storage and lock up the shaft, shearing the worm drive gear in the process. That got fixed in the early 90's sometime. If an earlier one has lived this long, it is probably broke in well enough that it wouldn't be a problem anyway.

So, if I were you, I'd enjoy the convenience, and go boating.

hope it helps
john

 

[sschefer]

Re: Percent chance of oil injection failure?

I've never owned a motor with the autoblend system but I've heard the horror stories and agree with John. I would be inclined to remove that type but also in agreement with John, the newer ones are fine.