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Johnson 90 hp 1988

Black tubes? Two black water hoses are connected to the bottom portion of the cylinder heads, and yes, the other end of those hoses are connected to the thermostat housing. These are water tubes and have nothing to do with the exhaust.

VRO wiring? I have no idea what you're speaking of. The VRO has an rubber electrical plug that simply plugs into a like plug.

Removing the head cover (water jacket plate) gains nothing. Don't bother with that. The water deflectors can onl;y be accessed by removing the cylinder head(s) from the crankcase.
 
ok so I have attached some pictures to clarify what we are talking. Thanks for the patients with my learning curve.

The first picture is of my VRO connections My finger is pointing at where it is hooked to the negative terminal of the battery lead on the engine. The other goes to the tan wire also in this picture. is this correct? Please keep in mind when plugged in the VRO Alarms when the key is turned. If I remove the tan wire the alarm cancels but the temp alarms still work.

Second picture is of what I think the thermostat housing. the black tubes with hose clamps seen here are the water tubes? below this chamber is filling with water when I run the motor. no more than up to the bottom of the housing. is this a problem or indicate some thing is wrong?

Also just to the left of this second picture is a spark plug seen. This is the cylinder(???) head I was talking about removing. to access the deflectors.what is the water jacket plate?
IMAG0136 (2).jpgIMAG0140 (1).jpg
 
BallisticRenegade said:
The first picture is of my VRO connections My finger is pointing at where it is hooked to the negative terminal of the battery lead on the engine. The other goes to the tan wire also in this picture. is this correct? Please keep in mind when plugged in the VRO Alarms when the key is turned. If I remove the tan wire the alarm cancels but the temp alarms still work.

Second picture is of what I think the thermostat housing. the black tubes with hose clamps seen here are the water tubes? below this chamber is filling with water when I run the motor. no more than up to the bottom of the housing. is this a problem or indicate some thing is wrong?

Also just to the left of this second picture is a spark plug seen. This is the cylinder(???) head I was talking about removing. to access the deflectors.what is the water jacket plate?
View attachment 5366View attachment 5367
Click to expand...

The wires leading from the VRO do not connect like that. You're going to need a wiring diagram.

Yes, that's the thermostat housing.

Water should not be leaking in that area. Yes, something is wrong.

THe water jacket plate is the plate that is bolted on top of the cylinder head... about 3/16" thick or so.
 
Ok can anyone help me out by tracing there VRO wires and see where they lead to? beyond the plug if there is one? I am guessing one needs to go to a positive and the tan is the negative. This would coinside with the rest of the alarm system. I would like to confirm this however.

Joe to get access to the thermostat housing it would appear I have to drop the lower cowling correct? to me that seems to be the 4 bolts at the head of the cowling and 4 or so bolts inside just below of the pictures I took. Is this correct? I would like to get access to this put on the rabbit ears and see where it is leaking before I go much further.
 
So by my calculations this motor has ran for about an hour with no oil. That said should I bring it to the dealer to be inspected or do you think I am good to get the oil problem fixed and test it out again?
 
Remove the 4 bypass covers.--------Inspect pistons and rings through there.--------------Maybe cost you 4 simple 99 cent gaskets.
 
RacerOne your saying remove the cover at the bottom of this picture and see if there are any issues/ metal/ scoring? or what am I looking for?

Do you have any info on the VRO wiring?

Joe What is the water jacket plate called in this picture?

IMAG0141.jpg
 
4 cylinder motor so look for 4 identical covers on the side of the block held on with 6 screws.------------Remove them and inspect pistons and rings.----If there is damage it will be obvious. ------And to state it again your motor------------------ DID NOT COME WITH " SLOW "---------- from the factory.
 
Racerone, Understood about the SLOW. No one ever gave me a way to verify till Joe responded about the multi wire heat probes. I was getting conflicting info from the here and the Marina and wanted to verify is all.

I also understand where the four bypass covers are. Thank you.

Do you know where the oil tank wires are to hook up beyond the plug coming from the motor? I do not have a plug and do not know where to hook it up to verify operation.
 
You are saying that this motor may have run without oil.----------You should concentrate on inspectiion of the motor for damage.----------Simple wiring checks can be done later !!--The VRO does not need any wires to " operate "----wiring is only for alarms.-----------One way to check VRO is to mix fuel at 50:1 and to mark your oil tank level.----After running that tank of fuel through the motor you see how much oil needs to be added to the oil tank to get back to the reference mark.-------Calculate how much oil was injected and determine if VRO is working properly.
 
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I'm not going to read all thru the posts again to jog my memory as to whether the engine is using a VRO setup or premix. I just want to state a few things and ask questions to determine which is the case.

1 - Is there a oil tank located in that boat?

2 - At the hood pan, where the fuel line passes thru it..... Is there another hose also passing thru that pan? The oil line would be directly below the fuel line....... OR is there just a short piece of hose installed on that bottom fitting which is plugged with a bolt or some such object?

A present oil tank with oil connected to the engine indicates that the engine is using a VRO setup... but if using a VRO setup, why would the VRO not be wired properly?

A plugged oil line at the engine indicates that the VRO pump is simply being used as a straight fuel pump, and the engine would therefore require premixed fuel/oil.
 
Joe,

1. Yes there is an oil tank

2. Yes there is a second line, not it is not plugged with a bolt, it goes to the oil tank.

The engine is VRO setup, however it is in alarm. I wanted to verify that it is hooked up properly which you had indicated it is not. I would like to resolve that issue. The two wires from the VRO go to a tan wire(alarm) and a ground. Thank you for all your help Joe. This is great learning.

Racerone,
To clarify you can run both the pump and the 50:1?
Any clue where the alarm wires are to go? I know one goes to a Tan wire.
The reason I am not after the inspection at this time is because I have the person I purchased it from looking at that on Tuesday, I am simply trying to ascertain why the motor RPM'ed Down on its first run on the new boat.
Thank you for your help as well Racerone some day I will get this thing purring like a kitten with your help.

I am now getting conflicting information on the Oil Tank alarm wires. Someone on IBoat said one to tan and one to ground. which contradicts what Joe said but confirms how my set up was. Grrrr.
 
Unfortunately I do not have a 1988 V4 wiring diagram on hand. If I did, I'd attach it to a email and send it to you. Hopefully someone will do just that to end the confusion pertaining to the VRO and warning horn wiring setup. I'll look again when I have time to see if I have another year V4 wiring diagram that would be compatible and if so, I'll get back to you.
 
Thanks Joe. You have been more than helpful. I have hooked it back up for the time being. I know how to make it go away if that is what is needed so I am good.

I will keep pulling and playing to see what I find.

Do you know what is involved in pulling the thermostat assembly? or how to pull the lower cowling to get access to it? I want to make sure I know what I am getting into before I start.
 
SWEET! Ok that got me to resolve the Tilt and Trim gauge issue. Bad Gauge, New gauge works!

His diagram only shows one wire going to the VRO Oil Tank Just the brown. Still need to know where the other wire goes.

I took picture of what I think is the over heat indicator is that what this is? Is it popped?
Over Heat Button.jpg
 
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