XP1985 150 Intermittent VRO horn

Hello all, My 1985 XP150 had a new VRO pump installed about 3yrs ago, the new VRO came with a wiring harness which the old original did not have. I installed it per instructions that came with the VRO pump and all was good until 3 weeks ago. After about 30 minutes of 3/4 throttle running I slowed to go through an Idle speed zone and shortly after opening the throttle after clearing the zone the VRO oil horn (beep every second) started sounding and I shut it down and checked the tank and oil bulb tank was full and bulb was firm. I limped to a nearby ramp with the trolling motor and hitched a ride to get the truck & trailer. I took it to my mechanic and dropped it off describing the problem in detail. Two weeks later I phoned him to see if he had looked at it yet and he told me that he had but he couldn't find anything wrong! So I picked it up this morning and took it to the lake put it in and ran the wassits out of it for about 45 minutes with no trouble! I ran it wide open, I ran it half throttle, I ran it at low speed, and it ran flawlessly! until I shut it off for about 30 minutes to do a little fishing. Then when I started up to run back to the ramp I got maybe 1/4 mile and beep beep beep! Once again tank had plenty of oil and oil primer bulb was firm. I could even see oil in the clear tube running to the pump. I'm seriously considering disconnecting the oil pump section and mixing my oil myself! has anyone ever heard of this problem intermittently? It was obviously pumping oil before the horn started going off or it would have locked up with all the running I did! Any suggestions what to check?

Re: XP150 Intermittent VRO horn

When alarm went off, did you try to squeeze the oil-bulb while engine was running?
If lack of oil, this should shut off the alarm.

Re: XP150 Intermittent VRO horn

No not while engine was running. however, after I shut it down and checked to confirm that the oil primer bulb was firm, I tried restarting. Apparently there is a built in delay because each time I tried restarting I wouldn't get the horn for about 30-45 seconds then it would start sounding. I wasn't worried about harming the engine because I had added oil to the fuel as insurance just in case the problem reoccured! I'm wondering now if the temperature under the hood may have something to do with it? On the initial run of each trip the engine was cold and forward motion would keep air circulating under the hood keeping the VRO pump somewhat cool however when you stop the engine or extended period of idle speed as in the first trip temp under the hood would increase significantly! Just a thought?

Re: XP150 Intermittent VRO horn

Try pumping the bulb while the engine is running and the horn is sounding to see if it goes away and stays away while it's running. There is no danger if you're running pre-mix. I had a similar problem once and that would solve it. But next time I ran it, it would happen again. Turned out that the routing of my oil line and / or poor connections and/or poor priming technique was causing either a little leak or an air bubble that would cause the pump to lose prime and sound the alarm. If I pumped the bulb when I heard the alarm while running it would quit and would stay primed and burn oil properly until it sat a while again and would somehow lose prime. I could prevent the problem by just routinely giving the bulb a pump or two whenever I pumped the fuel bulb during my pre-start routine. But that wasnt' right, so ....

You might try some all-around oil system maintenance which solved the problem for me:

1 Check (with a turkey baster) to see that there's no water in the bottom of the oil tank
2 Pull out oil pickup and check that the filter sock is clean - or replace it.
3 Carefully check all oil line hoses and connections to make sure tight turns are minimized and that all hoses are in good condition and all connections are tight and clamps are the specified type (ratchet type, not nylon ties or metal hose clamps).
4 Re prime the system very carefully and thoroughly according to owner's manual. Really over do the priming, you can always re-use the oil you catch as you're purging the line. (let me know if you don't know how to do it and I'll post instructions)

This takes about 20 minutes.

The recommendation is to always run pre-mixed fuel after you re-prime the system until you're sure it's using the proper amount of oil by running about 5-10 gallons of gas through it and measuring exactly how much gas and oil has been consumed.

If I were to bet, I would bet $10 that it just needs a very careful and thorough re-priming .... or there will be a tiny air leak somewhere that you might not be even able to see, but will be fixed if you just fuss over the connections one by one.

Re: XP150 Intermittent VRO horn

I'll try pumping the bulb while the horn is going off next time but doubt that it is going to help. as I said earlier each time the horn has gone off I've checked the primer bulb and it was always firm as well as visual confirmation of oil in the clear hose running to the VRO pump suction. It sat for days at my mechanics before I picked it up took it straight to the lake and ran it for 10 miles at 3/4 throttle or better with no problem untill after I shut it off to fish! same as the first trip only on first trip engine didn't get shut off just run at idle for about 1/4 mile. I'll bet the next time I put it in the water it will again run flawlessly until I shut it off and then I'll get the horn again. I will however check the strainer in the oil tank and check for water. I am well aware of what can happen if the oil line is allowed to suck air as about seven years ago my oil line from the tank weathered and cracked allowing air into the pump and I locked up my engine, I spent $1800.00 to get it rebuilt. I begged my mechanic then to just do away with the VRO and I'd mix my own but he insisted that the VRO was a great system and that I'd be more likely to suffer damage from mixing improperly than to leave the VRO. Then about three years ago the air motor portion of the VRO went out and once again I wanted to put a regular fuel pump on and mix fuel /oil and once again I was talked into putting a new VRO pump on this time with the new improved VRO with the wiring harness to the horn. Now three years later it seems once again the VRO or at least the associated plumbing is at the root of the problem. I'm almost ready to trade for a 4 stroke ARRGH!

Re: XP150 Intermittent VRO horn

John 0558 said:

I'll try pumping the bulb while the horn is going off next time but doubt that it is going to help. as I said earlier each time the horn has gone off I've checked the primer bulb and it was always firm as well as visual confirmation of oil in the clear hose running to the VRO pump suction. ...

Click to expand...

Well, my bulb was always very firm (actually, very hard) and did not indicate that it needed to be pumped - I had to squeeze very hard. This is not at all like the fuel bulb. I don't remember opening the cowl and looking at the clear tube, so I can't compare my situation to yours in that respect. My only advice is to ignore the fact that your primer bulb appears hard enough, just squeeze it and see if it helps. But, good luck. At least, compared to your earlier disaster, you know the safety alarms are working as designed! I'll be interested in hearing what you come up with in the end.

Re: XP150 Intermittent VRO horn

there r plastic ck valves,in those lil mickey mouse bulbs,..alot of 'no-oil' conditions,bulb is to blame,...as well as .lack of maint.

Re: XP150 Intermittent VRO horn

OK, I've checked for water in oil tank, checked oil strainer/suction filter and checked to make sure that the primer bulb was pumping oil up to the VRO. Everything looked good so once again took her to the lake and was able to run engine for 45 min non stop varying speed from 3,000 rpm/35mph to 4,700 rpm/52mph. during that entire time no horn, no problem. Once again shut her off and fished a little appx. 15-20 min fired her back up and within a minute the horn was beeping like crazy. left her running, grabbed the primer bulb and pumped it several times hard, horn continued to beep. I have developed a theory! I'm not sure what kind of electronics the VRO pump sensor has, but I know that electronics usually don't like heat! I believe that when I put it in cold and run it fast enough to circulate ambient air around the VRO oil sensor it works properly, but when I shut it down or Idle for prolonged periods, heat builds up under the hood and the electronic sensor waks out and sets off the horn. I've talked to two mechanics who believe my theory is plausible! At any rate this means my VRO pump is trash! Let's consider my experience with the VRO system! My pump has failed three times. the first time it was rebuilt at a cost of $100.00. The second time I had to replace it and upgrade to VRO2 at a cost of $450.00. Now it still works, it just tells me that it's not. Then there's the time that the hose cracked and allowed the original VRO to suck air at a cost of $1800.00. Hmmmmm! After weighing the pros and cons of the VRO system I have concluded that the cons outweigh the pros and so instead of spending another $400-$500 on a replacement I've decided to rid my engine of the evil VRO and premix!

B-break
O-out
A-another
T-thousand

Thanks Guys!

Re: XP150 Intermittent VRO horn

Follow Up, I went to my local NAPA and purchased an assortment of vacuum caps. I removed the clamp and oil hose from my VRO2 pump and replaced it with one of the caps and clamped it in place. I then cut the hose to the oil tank about 1 inch from the barb inserted a 1/4x3/4 hex head cap screw and clamped it in place. next I traced the wiring from the tank level sensor unplugged them and fished them out of the motor,then fished them along with the oil hose back to the compartment where the oil tank is mounted. Then removed the tank,hose,and wires from the boat. The last step to get rid of the oil injection is to unplug the wire connector that leads from the VRO and secure the ends. Now that the oil pump has been bypassed I estimated the amount of gas I had in the fuel tank and added the proper amount of oil for a 50:1 mix and rocked the boat side to side to aggitate (I wasn't too worried about under estimating since I had already added oil at 150:1 just in case my horn was telling me the truth). Then I took the fuel line off at the motor and pumped about a half gallon out into a gas can to insure the 50:1 mix was available to the carbs right away. Then it was off to the lake put her in and ran the same course at the same speeds and she ran like a champ! and now I NEVER HAVE TO HEAR BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP again, or worry whether or not my engine is recieving proper lubrication. All I have to worry about now is when the fuel pump will die! (and it will!)
I'm already planning to replace it with an electric pump with a safety interlock relay that will only allow the pump to run a few seconds unless the engine is running! I'll let you know how that turns out!

Thanks Again!