I have a 1995 Grady White 27 Sailfish with 1995 200HP Johnson Ocean Runners. It seems to be that my port motor is burning much more oil than the other. Other than this engine be a little finicky starting I don't notice any other performance problems. I don't believe there is a leak in the system because I find no oil in the bilge. Yesterday I took the oil so low that the low oil alarm sounded. I stopped operating the engine and added one gallon of oil which brought my gauge up below 1/4. I thought this was odd. Could it be I have plenty of oil but a problem with the oil level sensor? Could there be a place oil is collecting and I can't see it? Are there any performance issues that would cause a motor to burn more oil than another? The motors probably have about 600 hours on them.
Update: This motor is burning oil almost twice as quick as the other. I went to pull the boat yesterday for some other maintenance. I started the motors while I grabbed the trailer, put it in the ramp, etc. The motor started fine and smoked a bit more than the other. It idled at about 1000rpm for about 5 min prior to pulling out to the ramp. Even after warming up the motor smoked (normal color) something fierce. The motor would idle low and cut off time and time again unless I gave it high RPMS then engaging gears before allowing the RPMs to lower too much. After haul out I checked the plugs and the seem pretty wet. Now that I think of it this motor has always been a little finicky starting and I may have noticed it burned more oil but, now it is obvious that it is.
After speaking to some friends they suggested the VRO could be the problem I inspected the lines leading to the VRO and they looked good, maybe even fairly new. I saw no cracks. All connections seemed tight. I pulled the VRO off figuring I would rebuild it. I just took apart the VRO to inspect the diaphragms and they all look excellent and I see no wear spots, tears, or holes. I am not 100% but I think the white plastic piece that holds the one diaphragm may have been loose as the assembly turned really, really easy. I also noticed the screws securing the cases of the VRO seemed a bit loose. I have since reassembled the VRO and think I may try it again as is.
I also found a melted connector (see picture). As far as I can tell this is the vacuum switch? Can anyone confirm that is what this is? Could this be the cause of my problem? Replace the connector or whole assembly?
I really don't prefer to remove the VRO's since I think the negative press isn't really founded.
Vacuum switch wont cause this problem and the press is pretty founded, the OMC rep's call the VRO... Very Risky Oiling.
Install the latest OMS/VRO as they are the latest design but still $400+.
