Re: VRO. means???
A couple of things here - oil injection, regardless of what variation, was not the demise of OMC. Their downfall started years before oil injection was available or probably even being developed.
The first generation (VRO) was still a basically good unit, it simply didn't have enough warning systems to overcome owner error / neglect. Of all the oil related failures we saw on that generation, the oil tank was either empty or had water in it. Neither case was the VRO pump at fault.
I've actually heard owners talk about their motor locking up and then they put oil in the empty tank. I know of dealers that took perfect running motors in on trade and put in a warranty for a new powerhead hoping the old one would not be recalled. If it wasn't, they had a good used powerhead for sale. Or perhaps a new one for sale.
We saw many motors with 1 scuffed / burned / detonated piston and the rest with plenty of oil. That is not a pump faiure. The OMC system cannot pick on a single cylinder like the Merc and Yamaha systems. If any one carb is getting oil, they all are.
In the era when oil injection was new on OMC motors, every powerhead related failure was blamed on the VRO pump. I can't tell you how many powerheads were replaced because a hole was burned in the top of the piston or a ring broke and the "cause of failure" on the warranty form was "VRO failure". Yet there was lots of oil in the powerhead. It was, and still is in many cases, a crutch some "mechanics" love to lean (pardon the pun) on.
There was a running joke at OMC about "My bow light burned out. Must be the VRO's fault. OMC should buy me a new one."
Regardless of what people believe or don't believe about the oil injection being good or bad, the oil injection pump can sense when the motor has a fuel restriction and immediately start pumping more oil to try and save the powerhead. Can premix do that? No way. Can a tank full of premix tell you when you forgot to add oil? Or even the right ratio?
A couple of things here - oil injection, regardless of what variation, was not the demise of OMC. Their downfall started years before oil injection was available or probably even being developed.
The first generation (VRO) was still a basically good unit, it simply didn't have enough warning systems to overcome owner error / neglect. Of all the oil related failures we saw on that generation, the oil tank was either empty or had water in it. Neither case was the VRO pump at fault.
I've actually heard owners talk about their motor locking up and then they put oil in the empty tank. I know of dealers that took perfect running motors in on trade and put in a warranty for a new powerhead hoping the old one would not be recalled. If it wasn't, they had a good used powerhead for sale. Or perhaps a new one for sale.
We saw many motors with 1 scuffed / burned / detonated piston and the rest with plenty of oil. That is not a pump faiure. The OMC system cannot pick on a single cylinder like the Merc and Yamaha systems. If any one carb is getting oil, they all are.
In the era when oil injection was new on OMC motors, every powerhead related failure was blamed on the VRO pump. I can't tell you how many powerheads were replaced because a hole was burned in the top of the piston or a ring broke and the "cause of failure" on the warranty form was "VRO failure". Yet there was lots of oil in the powerhead. It was, and still is in many cases, a crutch some "mechanics" love to lean (pardon the pun) on.
There was a running joke at OMC about "My bow light burned out. Must be the VRO's fault. OMC should buy me a new one."
Regardless of what people believe or don't believe about the oil injection being good or bad, the oil injection pump can sense when the motor has a fuel restriction and immediately start pumping more oil to try and save the powerhead. Can premix do that? No way. Can a tank full of premix tell you when you forgot to add oil? Or even the right ratio?
