VRO to use or not to use

Hello everyone
Not to stir the pot up with our first question but we have to ask. We are refurbishing a 1987 Mckee southporter and it has a 1987 Johnson 140 that the VRO is not hooked up. I'm not a Johnson man (have had Mercs and yamaha's) but I've always heard that the VRO on the early models would go out/not work and the motor would not get the oil. That the talk down here anyhow, but I have a cousin that has a 1992 50 johnson with vro it has never given him trouble. And man he's always in the water. I have helped him with other problems on his motor but NEVER the VRO. From viewing other posting it don't seam to matter that it's not being used as long as I add the oil to the gas. Is there any truth that the early VRO's were bad and having problems or is that a Bigfoot thing?

Unless you are a marine mechanic who is capable of checking the health of the vro pump on a regular basis i would strongly recomend leaving the vro unhooked. i believe that the vro is probably the single worst part omc ever produced, and for the life of me i cannot figure out why they stuck with them for sooo many years.

No not a marine mechanic, not scared to learn, have had several merc. with oil injection with no problems, have checked the flows on a couple of those. And it was real nice when refueling on the water just to put the gas into and go. Just wanted to see if in the project I could add it.

Thanks

Realy! that sound good. I don't know when the VRO was disconected, even if it was ever hooked up. there is no holes or abandoned bulk head fitting in the motor well. There is not fuel filter on the VRO, but a filter water separtor on the transom. Where can I find info on that?

Thanks

remember mercury and yamaha use a gear and shaft driven off the drive shaft to run their respective oil pumps. omc's is driven by air. infact the pumping mechanisim is call an "air motor", so you can see where there is more room for error. often times there is no warning when they decide to stop working. I know for fact there is a great many johnson/evinrudes whch are now nothing more than scrap metal due to VRO failure specifically. as easy as it is to premix the oil and gas i would stick with that tried and true method. hope this helps, and finally to further prove my point try to google omc vro and the vast majority of what you will find will be negetive feedback reguarding the vro.

The VRO pump itself is a wonderful thing.--------------The problem is that some folks confuse " automatic " and assume it will always work properly.------------The system of tank / hoses / filter / buzzer needs to be looked at once in a while.------------EG if motor has sat for a long time the oil may have leaked from hoses and on startup there is no oil for the oil section of the pump.----------I have seen oil lines cracked and the oil pump sucking air , leading to a dynamic halt of the motor.-----Heard of boats that filled up with rain water and water got into the oil tank. On start-up the system does not know that it is injecting water.--------------The VRO pump is easy to take apart for inspection and repair.

OK everyone and you guys are great thanks. I understand everyone view point. Just went and pulled the cowling and who ever decided they didn't want it and just to use it as a fuel pump cut the wire leads right up to the unit, removed the oil sight tube and as I said it dosen't have the fuel filter on the pump. Also I just viewed the OMC service and parts manuals I bought and here what i think I need to get done this weekend.
1) As I have already replaced the complete fuel hose system in the boat (fill,vent,supply to pump) using the proper clamps I still need to do a fuel system testing. to make sure my repair is good and the motors system is good (look like i should at a min change the hoses and clamps on the motor)
2) Get the fuel filter assy and install it (also test repair).

Also I check on a pump on the site and have a question on it? under item #14 there is part # 0174566 which was up graded to #0438406-5004559 for $250.00 which said it was a fuel pump , and then part # 5004559 was up-graded to 5007426 for $352.65 was a VRO pump assy. however I go I want to order the right part.

kimcrwbr1 is theis the pump you were talikng about?


Zackfactor what I think I understand that air motor is being driven from the crank case pressure it looks like it comes from right under the lower carb in front ot the crank. Also I would think its a diaphram motor and have had problems with this kind of air motors on equipment that i work on. (we could talk for hours on that).

raceone being in the service field I understand "automatic" the only thing thats automatic is that we all will die! I'm one of those guys that when I buy something new or used i want to work as it was intended unless it was a bad design. I also peform all maintaince and 95% of all repairs on my stuff (kinda of a gear head) It fun to keep up your own stuff or rebuild used stuff and then use it. When someone buys something from me they get a folder of everthing that I've done or had done on the unit. Hell the books in my vehicals will have a additional sheet stapled in it.

So with all that can anyone explain the above part #'s and the differance in the pricing because I'll will be buying one of them.

Again Thanks.

There is a replacement pump for the VRO and it just pumps mixed fuel.--Still expensive.---------There are earlier V-4 pumps available that are cheaper requires work and hoses to install.--------Myself I would simply go to the parts bin and install a pump from say a 66 100 HP Johnson , would cost me a new diaphragm plus takes time to install.--------------------The pricing of parts has a lot to do with cost of labour.---------------For the average Joe there is not much point to have the dealer install a $50 pump if it takes lots of shop labour to change hoses, fittings and mounting brackets.-That is why the straight swap $250.00 is offered.

You have already the second generation VRO pump in your motor. It's somewhat resistent to ethanol containing fuels and also has an alarm circuit for missing oil flow. Without that I wouldn't recommend using the VRO as an oil mixing pump. But you need to be shure the alarm is really functional.
I think the main thing is that the VRO is not gravity fed, but has to draw the oil from a remote tank far apart. This makes it sensible to air leaks. BTW has someone ever thought about a smaller oil tank under the cowling instaed of the foam?
Well I have the VRO still hooked up on my 1989 60hp. It's comfortable, smells less when trolling and consumes a little less oil. I'm sure the alarm is working and I carry an extra liter of oil in the boat just in case.

Thanks guy's
racerone I understand thanks for the help I'll get it checked out this weekend, I figured this was a question like asking the hunting camp (hey guys what is the best gun to kill a deer with? it's the one you have with you if you have taken care of it.).

WernerF thanks and my cousin does carry extra oil on his boat. There is a tag on mine that says ethanol resitance, and I did check the alarm in the remote last weekend and it is working. Did that when I changed all the old wire out to marine grade wairing ans install a new tach. If cousin isn't in the water this weekend I'll have him over and we'll test his fuel/oil system out as well. Were planing a trip to the coast next weekend the trout and redfish are in the marsh!!!