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VRO Pump appears to not be working

M

madhammer

Member
"Hello,

I posted on this to

"Hello,

I posted on this topic in early May and took everyone's advice that I was being impatient. But now I'm fairly certain the VRO pump is not working.

I have a newly rebuilt 1997 Evinrude 115 hp Intruder. It is new to my rig. The mechanic/dealer installed it over the winter and I have been breaking it in. I have been pre mixing and the motor is running great. To date, I believe I have run 11-12 gallons of fuel/oil mix, but the oil level in the resovoir has not moved one bit.

While the dealer gave me a 1 year warranty, my guess is they will fight me on this because it is a very expensive repair. In fact, I mentioned the VRO pump on the day I picked it up and they said, "well, typically we just cut them out when they don't work." That was unsettling to me. Also, I have since learned that they could have installed a tac with warning lights - instead, there is just a single warning siren - same as for overheating.

Obviously, I would prefer a working VRO. Based on this board, though, I see lots of people take out the VRO and replace with a normal fuel pump.

Is this so common now that it it really no big deal? I guess I really don't want to mix forever, but I could live with it.

I'm no mechanic, so this question may sound dumb, but if the motor is clearly pumping fuel now, why replace it with anything?

Are there other things to try or to look at to get the existing VRO to work? They clearly thought it would work since they took the time to install a resevoir and new lines.

These guys helped me get out of bad situation with what I think will be a good motor. But, I think they will weasle on this and I am a little mad about how they kind of beat up my boat. I'm starting to feel like a rube.

Anyhow, sorry for the long post and thanks for any suggestions."
 
"From what you have said, it s

"From what you have said, it seems clear that the VRO is not pumping oil. It is possible to repair the pump, but I would advise you to just replace it with a new one. You could save the old one and have spare parts for the future.

You could replace it with a conventional fuel pump. They even make a pump that looks like the VRO pump, but has no oil pump. It is fairly expensive though. You could buy a pump from an earlier engine for a lot less, but I think it is best to stick with a VRO."
 
to me a one year warranty is a

to me a one year warranty is a warranty that if something is not working then it's up to them to fix or replace I would go and see them about it
Unless the warranty excludes the vro
 
"you,cannot--repair the oil si

"you,cannot--repair the oil side,..only fuel and vacuum sd....if its not wking right,and u have a 1 yr ,warranty....use it...my warranties,cover fr top to bottom,on a sold engine...period."
 
"Thanks guys for the input. I

"Thanks guys for the input. I will try pushing the warranty, but the fine print says that the warranty covers all repairs made to the powerhead. Can I consider the VRO part of the powerhead????

I will argue that I bought the entire motor from them with the expectation that everything worked. The warranty does not specifically exclude the VRO.

But for sake of conversation, if I was OK with mixing oil the rest of my life, do I need to do anything? Could I just leave everything the way it is???

Paul"
 
"In running approximately 12 g

"In running approximately 12 gallons of fuel mix, that oil level should have dropped somewhat.

Myself..... I wouldn't rebuild a VRO equipped engine unless the owner agreed to let me replace the VRO. If you intend to use the VRO that is on the engine now, I'd suggest you do the following.

(VRO Pump Conversion To Straight Fuel Pump)
(J. Reeves)

You can convert the VRO pump into a straight fuel pump, eliminating the oil tank and VRO pump warning system, but retain the overheat warning setup (and fuel restriction warning if so equipped) by doing the following:

1 - Cut and plug the oil line at the engine so that the oil side of the VRO pump will not draw air into its system. Trace the wires from the back of the VRO to its rubber plug (electrical plug) and disconnect it.

2 - Trace the two wires from the oil tank to the engine, disconnect those two wires, then remove them and the oil tank.

3 - Mix the 50/1 oil in the proper amount with whatever quantity fuel you have. Disconnect the fuel line at the engine. Pump the fuel primer bulb until fuel exits that hose with the tint of whatever oil you used. Reconnect the fuel hose.

That's it. If you want to test the heat warning system to ease your mind, have the key in the on position, then ground out the tan heat sensor wire that you'll find protruding from the cylinder head. The warning horn should sound off.

Thousands of parts in my remaining stock. Not able to list them all. Let me know what you need and I'll look it up for you. Visit my eBay store at:

http://stores.ebay.com/Evinrude-Johnson-Outboard-Parts-etc?refid=store"
 
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