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Oil injection pumps of Johnsons - question


siwash

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Hey gang, another question for ya! Can some who is familiar with the 1990ish vintage Johnson confirm that the oil injection pumps were problematic and commonly needed replacement? I am thinking of putting in an offer on a boat that had an issue with the oil injection pump in the past - owner said it was common and normal and he now just adds 50:1 oil mix in his tank

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I have heard this several times "here' but I have a 50hp Johnson that has a VRO system and would not be without it. I LOVE this VARIABLE RATIO OIL system and have had not a problem with it since new (1985).

 

The motors that I have had heard that had problems with are the 3 cylinder motors......mine is only 2 cylinders being only a 50 hp motor....

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Hey gang, another question for ya! Can some who is familiar with the 1990ish vintage Johnson confirm that the oil injection pumps were problematic and commonly needed replacement? I am thinking of putting in an offer on a boat that had an issue with the oil injection pump in the past - owner said it was common and normal and he now just adds 50:1 oil mix in his tank

 

pure and simply there JUNK if it was rebuilt and put to run on 50/1 buy it it will last

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If the oil pump fails then the engine will sieze up. People decide to remove their pumps on older models simply to have peace-of-mind that there will be no pump issues. Those GT 150 and 175 engines, along with the Faststrikes were very reliable. My fishing buddy has a GT 175 that is 19 years old and runs like a clock.

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I've got a 1996 Evinrude 50Hp i love it the previous owner disabled the VRO system witch just means they disconnected the oil line running to the pump and sealed the intake on the engine side. I'm thinking of reconnecting the VRO cause it really is a good system as much ppl beg to differ. When i do reconnect the system i will be still running pre-mix til i know the VRO system is running and i'm seeing oil consumption on the reservoir. Plus i also think some of the OMC outboards had a service gauge and others had a Beep system for low oil

Edited by Henry Nguyen
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I decided against purchasing the boat package that included the 75HP VRO (3 cyl)... But I am zeroing in on the package that comes with an Evinrude 120 V4. I am going to assume this engine also had this issue with oil injection, or am I wrong?

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As I have said several times on this board I am a BIG fan of the VRO system...........20+ without ANY problems what so ever :)

 

Now let me get this straight.......you are interested in a late 80's Evinrude outboard that has been running for over 20 years with it's VRO system and now you're concerned about it's reliability ? ! ? ! ?

 

These motors do have fail safes built into them.....one buzzer for low oil (in the remote reservoir) one buzzer for NO oil and another buzzer for overheating......

 

Good Luck with you purchase of whatever you decide on and I hope you catch lots of fish. Just leave some for me...:<)

 

Bob

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I used to have an '85 Evinrude 40hp that the VRO failed once. I replaced it not knowing any better, cost me about $200 or $300 I think to do it myself. A couple years later it failed again and I bolted on a standard pump and mixed my gas.

 

That being said, I now have 2000 70hp Johnson with I imagine more or less the exact VRO system and it has always performed great.

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Just a Q, it appears you are "zeroing" in on bad motors, why not look at different brands.

 

Bad motors? who said they were bad? they're motors with very reliable track records... and I think the posters here can attest to that!

Edited by swordfish
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I actually LOVE the VRO oiling system ,over the past 10 yrs ive bought a few hundred OMCs off marinas that where blown due to the VRO ive made a small fortune,keep running that set up ,when she stops ill come get it for scrap aluminum prices ,a standerd fuel pump is a cheap investment on these otherwise great engines

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well my 1992 150 faststrike works perfect, there are failsafe built in, but if your that concerned carry a litre of oil with you.

almost all two strokes have a form of injection and will fail with age preventive maintaince is the key, i have the shop manual for my fastrike it takes about 30 minutes to run through the vro testing procedure that will usually give you a good indication of something about to fail

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Guest steel'n'esox
Had the VRO taken out of my 1998 Johnson, cost $35, mix the gas, runs great...

 

 

Did not have the VRO on my new 1993 60hp johnson 3cyl ran 2 years and blew due to the VRO OMC said Kiss my a-- cost 1500.00 to rebuild probably more today. No more VRO motor runs better today than it did new. 50:1 premix using Amsoil synthetic. Marina I took it to called the service rep for OMC and he said he had 1500 blowups that year and if they were over a year your on your own even though OMC knows their VRO system was faulty

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Holy smokes, you guys are scarring the crap out of me... they sound like pieces of crap... maybe i should stear clear... i always thought jonson/evinrudes were bullet-proof...

 

guess the Japanese are the only one who can make a truly bullet proof machine... how did they loose WWII?

 

Maybe i should look at a Honda... but the boat comes with this thing...

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Bad motors? who said they were bad? they're motors with very reliable track records... and I think the posters here can attest to that!

After the info that Steel'n'esox gave, 1500 blow ups for one year, I really wouldn't call that reliable. Not saying all Evinrudes are bad, but maybe some package deals come with headaches, that's why I said maybe take a look at others. I personally wouldn't trust Mercs either but that's just my lousy experience with them. I had an 84 Honda, never a problem with it, sold it in '96 and now have a 25 Honda, no problems. My youngest just picked up an early 90's Honda this year, runs like a top. I've seen too much cussin and swearing at the dock and on the water with others, but that's just one persons thoughts. Seems like the Nissans and Suzuki O/B's are okay too. Wish you luck with whatever brand you get.

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Just disconnect the oil pump. Dont use it.

I have my 93 johnson disconnected and mix my own 50:1

It still works very fine, it starts right up with 1 turn after the long winter months.

 

I did not disconnect the other 91 johnson, and guess what? It felt on me while I am on Simcoe.

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I decided NOT to buy the package... and not because of the motor, although that didn't help.... I didn't like the boat and it was rougher than the picture revealed! really bad paint job and poor interior...

 

oh well, back to the search

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