VRO YES or NO

[jonesg]

Re: VRO YES or NO

I've read a few posts where guys forgot to add oil to the fuel tank or grabbed the wrong tank, theres no alarm for that.

Another guy had an oil tank full of water , just a film of oil floating on top , so the alarm didn't sound. Silence is quiet.

If the oil tank runs dry the engine can run on fuel only, at low rpm.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: VRO YES or NO

hos is the OMS different. the OMS, is a oil mixing system that mixes just at a continuous 50:1 ratio. the VRO, VRO2 are Variable Rate Mixing systems, at different rpms, the mixing is done at a Variable rate, could be 100:1 to 50:1. they are also known to fail. OMS has a good reputation.

 

[Fl_Richard]

Re: VRO YES or NO

My boat holds 135 gallons and when I fill up the credit card stops at $100 increments. At $200 I have no idea nor do I care how many gallons I've pumped and my twins are gonna burn. I do know that my two OMS pumps will supply the proper mix of oil from tanks and I'm ready to go!

 

[dozerII]

Re: VRO YES or NO

I have a couple more questions on the VRO/OMS systems. From the info that was posted by Ezeke I have conclude I have the OMS system. The pump has four wires coming out of it, the pluse vavle is blue and the outlet has an oval metal ring with two torx screws. I tried to test the warning system and have run into a snag. When I turn the key on I get a momentary beep then nothing, the oil tank is empty as that is the way it was sent to me, everything is hooked up, so should I not get the 1/2 second beep every 20 to 40 seconds for low oil warning?
Glen

 

[clanton]

Re: VRO YES or NO

Dependes on the year of the engine and what kind of Tach. All had the self test, one beep when key turned on. Changed in 1995 I will have to dig out book for the correct info, don`t have time. The system after 1994 with tach and red lights was different. Eng must be running for all alarms to work. Then I THINK the sensors would beep one time and turn the red light on to ID the problem system.

 

[clanton]

Re: VRO YES or NO

I also thing the OMS is same as VRO except for the materials the seals and valves are made from.


My class notes

VRO 150 to 50-1 mix no alarm, filter in oil tank made of foam, some oils would melt this filter and plug oil line. one o-ring inside of pump leaked. simple fix replace o-ring. Later came change of filter type.

VRO2 50-1 mix with oil alarm, first kit I installed had 4 wires and new filter in kit. nipple in engine block changed.

Later punp housing changed so you could replace the hose nipples, without buying new pump.

Not sure when OMS came out, left marine work for a while.

 

[ezeke]

Re: VRO YES or NO

I also thing the OMS is same as VRO except for the materials the seals and valves are made from.

My class notes

VRO 150 to 50-1 mix no alarm, filter in oil tank made of foam, some oils would melt this filter and plug oil line. one o-ring inside of pump leaked. simple fix replace o-ring. Later came change of filter type.

VRO2 50-1 mix with oil alarm, first kit I installed had 4 wires and new filter in kit. nipple in engine block changed.

Later punp housing changed so you could replace the hose nipples, without buying new pump.

Not sure when OMS came out, left marine work for a while.

OMS came out in 1993. VRO2 was a Variable Ratio Oiling system; they ended with 1992 models. They don't call them a VRO or VRO2 in the parts catalogs after 1992.

 

[DJ]

Re: VRO YES or NO

OMC oil injection IS NOT cylinder selective. They all get oil (mixed with fuel), or none.

By far, the biggest problems with OMC oil injection systems were:

1. Clueless as to how they worked.

2. Poor maintenance.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: VRO YES or NO

Amen!

 

[bktheking]

Re: VRO YES or NO

Just a story within the subject from today:

Just got back from my local Merc repair shop, I realize it's not OMC but on the subject of oiling systems. I spoke to the owner of the motor who was a friend of the dealer, asked him what happened to his motor and then saw the block and piston, piston was split in half horizontally with a broken rod, hole in the block. I asked him what happened, alarm went off on the system when the pump failed and he didn't know why, he shut it down 30 seconds after the alarm sounded when doing 6200 RPM and ended up with a $2000+ repair bill. I asked him after the rebuild if he'll stick with the system and he laughed at me, dealer maintanined system as well.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: VRO YES or NO

bktheking, the Merc oiling system is really crappy. I had a pair of Black Max 150's with their oiling system in use. The pump is mechanically driven by a plastic gear on the crankshaft, which drives a metal shaft to the pump. The gear is known to fail in big numbers, so much so, that a former Merc engineer made a business from replacing the mechanical kluge with a very nice electronic system which used tach pulses to vary pump speed via a variable speed motor drive. This deal retained the Merc oiling alarms, was not hugely expensive and worked like a champ. The Merc deal is very easy to diagnose: you pull the pump off the block and inspect the driven shaft and if it has shards of plastic on it, it's either failed and will very soon. For all I know, if Merc still makes any carbed two strokes, they may still be selling this POS.

 

[bktheking]

Re: VRO YES or NO

I figured the sysem would be different, I just felt so sorry for the guy, you could see the frustration and pain in his eyes as he passed the stack of hundreds over to the mechanic

 

[james95gt]

Re: VRO YES or NO

sorry its of the topic but how do you disconnect the vro system i have a 85 johnosn 150
thanks alot

 

[seahorse5]

Re: VRO YES or NO

Just a story within the subject from today:

Just got back from my local Merc repair shop, I spoke to the owner of the motor who was a friend of the dealer, asked him what happened to his motor and then saw the block and piston, piston was split in half horizontally with a broken rod, hole in the block. I asked him what happened, alarm went off on the system when the pump failed and he didn't know why, he shut it down 30 seconds after the alarm sounded when doing 6200 RPM and ended up with a $2000+ repair bill.

Merc used a plastic drive gear for their oil pump and it gave problems quite often. From that they had to put a "shaft turning sensor" on the engine to let the operator know that something failed. Yamaha used a similar gear system but it was made of metal and did not become a problem.

Still, the "VRO" system was the only one with a "no oil flow" alarm. Other systems could plug up the oil intake or discharge and damage either the whole motor or an individual cylinder without any alarm warning depending on where the oil blockage occured.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: VRO YES or NO

Conversion read here:
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=388154

 

[DJ]

Re: VRO YES or NO

The most mis-diagnosed marine propulsion component is history.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: VRO YES or NO

Amen!

I'm waiting for someone to ask about converting a Ficht or E-Tec to premix.

 

[seahorse5]

Re: VRO YES or NO

Amen!

I'm waiting for someone to ask about converting a Ficht or E-Tec to premix.

Yep, just tell that person to do it the same way they would convert a Merc Optimax, a Yamaha HPDI or their car to premix.

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: VRO YES or NO

Unless you are going to be diligent about maintaining the oil tank, filters & such, you're better off bypassing a VRO or replacing it with a pre-mix pump. Mechanical systems are only as good as the maintenance a person puts into it.

 

[coolguy147]

Re: VRO YES or NO

can't fix stupid


http://forums.iboats.com/forumdisplay.php?f=405

found something on vro at that link. seems very interesting