VRO Beep

[mn808gade]

just replaced(old one leaked-from oil tank over pressured and dia. leaked)w/ new vro ,1996 90hp john,now beeps just when planing off. once bow comes down ,horn goes off. tank full-no horn otherwise. any ideas???

[perfmarine1]

Yea,take it back,get your money back,buy electric pump& water seperator, take what is left and buy a couple cases of beer. LOL Or buy old style pump,mix oil in tank,take what is left buy new prop.! No problems after that.

[johnboy 88 vegas]

Perfmarine sounds about right. VRO pumps are a joke for the amount of money they cost even the one that dont mix the oil is still expensive as all hell. Just remember electric fuel pump= never have to touch a primer bubble again and cheaper than a vro will ever be.

[Lockjaw]

Do you have a system check gauge? It should tell you what the issue is by lighting up. Did you bleed the oil line when you installed it? You need to pump the bulb on the tank until you have clean oil flow at the VRO pump.

[racer]

Lockjaw is correct. I see on average 15 boats a week that are running VRO pumps without issue, they seem to get blamed for a lot of issues that are NOT the vro, sometimes yes but not as often as most think. When you store the boat make sure to loosen the oil tank cap.

[perfmarine1]

Lockjaw is correct. I see on average 15 boats a week that are running VRO pumps without issue, they seem to get blamed for a lot of issues that are NOT the vro, sometimes yes but not as often as most think. When you store the boat make sure to loosen the oil tank cap.


Al, how ironic, after stating how few VRO systems you see with issues,then you state a issue that every VRO system has(when you store the boat make sure you loosen the oil tank cap) I wonder how many forget to retighten the cap and end up with oil in the boat?

[Lockjaw]

I think he is talking about storing, like over the winter, during the off season. I have never done that with any of my boats and never had an issue, my boat goes out about 1 time a month.

Every engine manufacturer has issues with new outboards. The break, they fix them, and move one. The VRO had an issue when it first came out, it is a very reliable system. I tell you what, pouring oil in a tank sure as heck beats premixing. Been there, done that.

[racer]

Greg I mentioned the pump gets blamed when often its not the pump. The system is not perfect but what is. IMO the vent in the oil tank does not release air pressure and when you have heat changes it lets air in when cold but as heat builds the air does not escape and thus oil is pushed by the pump into the carbs. Yes I am sure some would forget to tighten it back up but its only going to spill over if its real full since it was not removed just backed off. One other thing that tends to get over looked is the filter in the talk. Also when bleeding its a good idea to have the primer bulb vertical to help eliminate trapped air.

[johnboy 88 vegas]

The only good thing about the VRO system being a pos is that when the oil side bleeds over into the carbs it prevents them from gumming up. Guy brings his boat over to shop bout a month ago and wants to get it running after it has been sitting for 10 or 11 years. Figured the VRO had let the oil bleed over in the carbs so I pulled all the drains and go figure nothin but oil come out. Stuck the hose on it and fired it up and it run like it was just crunk up yesterday. Pulled all the carbs apart anyway just to check em and they were darn near spotless. So if you plan on storing your boat for extended periods of time the VRO system is the way to go if not throw it in the trash when it breaks and go with a electric pump...just too expensive to fix in my book.

[perfmarine1]

I think he is talking about storing, like over the winter, during the off season. I have never done that with any of my boats and never had an issue, my boat goes out about 1 time a month.

Every engine manufacturer has issues with new outboards. The break, they fix them, and move one. The VRO had an issue when it first came out, it is a very reliable system. I tell you what, pouring oil in a tank sure as heck beats premixing. Been there, done that.


Yea, I know what Al is talking about,I been repairing and moding outboards since 1975,nearley as long as Al. I still value all his posts.Thanks Al.

As far as the VRO system,it is not a very reliable system. If it was,they would not send the yellow hose plug to block the oil line with every outboard they sold. IMO OMC would still be in business,do you know how many powerheads they replaced,in and out of warranty? Some probley not the falt of the system.Fitch motor didn't help either.

Some problems I have seen,too much oil,not enough oil,blued cranks,water in tank,pump leaks gas,straight oil in carb,fried motor from no oil in tank w/no beeper tone, beeper goes off for no reason, loose pulse line from cheap plastic broken clamp,oil in the bildge,pick up screen cloged from sludge. I would much rather pour oil and gas in the same hole than have to dump gas in one and oil in another,yea you should put oil in tank every time you get gas to pervent condensation in oil tank. And here are 2 other issue I have with the system 1 you can't run the carbs out of gas 2 after ideling you have 100-1 mix in the carb then you mash the throttle,and with a performance boat were are talking 5-6 thousand rpm instently on 100-1 till the oil pump catches up with 50-1, and that is why they recomend 50-1 in the tank plus VRO for any outboard used for hi performance use, so you are still mixing in the gas tank and pouring oil in oil tank? And that my friend is a oxymoron! Now with that said I agree stupid people should not be mixing oil and gas since you need to know math LOL. Have a great day.

[Lockjaw]

They make a very inexpensive bottle for premixing now, it is about fool proof, assuming you can read. I agree with you 100 percent on a high performance outboard, most every manufacturer recommends more oil in that scenario.

A high performance outboard also needs a better oil too.

[TEXAS20225]

Perfmarine1
Boy am i on your team!!! I'm a retired lifer in the steel fab/ erection/ASME code vessel fabrication Business and a few years ago( 15 or so) i got into this boat repair, rebuild slot as a relief valve from the pressure of being the Production manager for a multimillion dollar company and facing its never enough schedule everyday and listening to 350 grown men whining about everything under the sun.and also because i could not afford to pay someone to work on my boat and use it too i had to teach myself or quit!! Being a Boat owner has some draw backs there is some IQ required i have been rebuilding motors and lowers for a few years now and some of the people who own boats are really amazing . i just rebuilt a motor for a guy who had auto oiler on his merc v6 and he was wanting to put it back because he did not want the hassle of adding the right amount of oil to 173/4 gallons of gas . i promptly told him i dont put them back i will not rebuild a motor with oiling system on it he says why i say because it has too many opportunity's to go haywire, besides if you do this then there is no hassle run your oil at 40:1 its more comfortable for me, get a Qt container fill it with oil from a gallon jug( its cheaper)and add 10 gallons of gas to it write it on the bottle fill to here (32ozs) with oil and add 10 gallons of gas simple then take that same qt bottle and it says (16OZ) at half way right !write on the bottle fill to here and add 5 gallons of gas now you have 15 gallons in your boat at 40;1 mix and if you cant go boating because you dont have another 23/4 gallons of gas in your boat maybe its time to change hobby's. im not a fan of the bottle thats available with all the different oil/gas ratios on it i had a man 3 years ago that i sold a rebuilt Xr4 to and he some how added 5 times as much oil as he needed and trashed his motor breaking it in, in a horse trough every cylinder looked like corrugated sheet iron ridged all the way around we pulled the fuel out of his boat and you could not tell it from oil out of the jug .He promptly whipped out his little jug with all the ratios on it he got from Academy and said i but i used this its gotta be right !!!!you can never tell how a person interprets information:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

[perfmarine1]

yea and the mercs are not much better, about 2 years ago I had a customer come to me and said do you want to buy my 86 19' procraft w/150 merc. I thought here we go how much. He said $500 I said how it run he said good.I said sold,cuz I have worked on the boat before.So even if boat is junk,it has cmc power lift,foot throttle,riptide 65lb trolling motor w/autopilot 1 year old worth $1000 I could not go wrong. After he left I checked compresson, 1 dead cyl I planed to rebuild it so was not upset. Tore it down and yep you guessed melted oil injection gear on the crank,now why in the hell would they use a plastic gear inside a motor? I have always wondered that. Motor overheats 1 time and good by oil injection. Needless to say it will never see oil injection as long as I own it. I restored the boat and use it for fishing.Turned out great been offered $6000 for it still have it. I would post a pic but cant seem to get it done,site prob I think

[Lockjaw]

I think it's sad a man comes on here, posts a legimate question about his motor, and it turns into a hijacked bash VRO thread. I am sure he appreciates ya'lls input.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rol leyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[TEXAS20225]

whats sad is trying to save someone some money and headache on down the road but they refuse to Liston till they wind up with a fried motor

[perfmarine1]

just replaced(old one leaked-from oil tank over pressured and dia. leaked)w/ new vro ,1996 90hp john,now beeps just when planing off. once bow comes down ,horn goes off. tank full-no horn otherwise. any ideas???

Sorry about the sarcasim, I could not help myself, Here is what to do. unhook wiring to vro pump and try,if no beep replace Vro pump- then hook back up and unhook tank sensor wire if no beep replace tank or repair. With both wiring unhooked still beeps check fo fuel restriction cuz your vacume fuel switch is beeping. any questions give me a call I will pm you my phone # Also put some oil in your fuel tank incase VRO is not working for the test 50-1

[seahorse]

just replaced(old one leaked-from oil tank over pressured and dia. leaked)w/ new vro ,1996 90hp john,now beeps just when planing off. once bow comes down ,horn goes off. tank full-no horn otherwise. any ideas???

You said that the horn went off. You have a '96 motor and if you are correct, then you have the System Check tach or separate guage that has the 4 warning lights. Which one comes on, the NO OIL or the LOW OIL? The horn will always sound a steady tone for about 10 seconds if there is any problem and the appropriate light will illuminate to tell where the problem lies. Just to be sure on the year, what is the engine's complete model number?

[pcrussell50]

Do you have a system check gauge? It should tell you what the issue is by lighting up.

is there a way to rig up a warning light for my red-plug, '93 115, without having to buy the "system check" tach? it would be nice to have more than just the horn.

-peter

[Lockjaw]

I believe there is a separate gauge, that is the size of a fuel gauge, however, I am not sure if it works with a prior then 96 motor. I want to say no, you have to interpret the warning beeps.

[seahorse]

is there a way to rig up a warning light for my red-plug, '93 115, without having to buy the "system check" tach? it would be nice to have more than just the horn.

-peter

You can adapt System Check to motors as long as they have the 4 wire "VRO" pump installed. You have to buy the adapter kit for motors '95 and earlier that use the red connector plug, plus you need the 2" System Check gauge with the 4 lites or a SystemCheck tach. It ain't cheap. It also includes a new oil pickup assembly as there are no electronics inside the pickup as with the '95 and older motors have.