Oil Injected Two Strokes

[kuptii]

I've read so much about people disconecting the oiling systems and going to premix that it's getting to be mind boggling ... I had a Johnson with VRO and no probs.
When I sold it, the first thing the new owner did was disable it and go to premix, BECAUSE SOMEBODY TOLD HIM IT WAS THE THING TO DO ...
Now I've got a 175 Sport Jet and had no problems until I read that the Merc pump would go out after X amount of hours ... SO ... B/4 I reached that point I put in
an electric pump ... No prob ... I guess you could call it "over the top" preventive maintenance but is this the real issue ... MAINTENANCE !!!!
Bikes and Snowmobiles had oil pumps ... What's the prob ???
Has anybody heard of an ADD ON (electric) pump for other 2 strokes ???? THANKS .............

 

[redbug]

I have oil injection and if/when my pump goes I will replace the pump
the motor is designed to work that way why would I change it?

 

[huntinfool]

Problem is, if the pump fails, you won't know it until it quits pumping oil and overheats/seizes the motor up. That's not the time to try and replace a bad pump. With it disconnected and premix used, you should never have a problem.

 

[Captain Ahab]

huntinfool » Sun Apr 20, 2014 4:08 pm[/url]"]Problem is, if the pump fails, you won't know it until it quits pumping oil and overheats/seizes the motor up. That's not the time to try and replace a bad pump. With it disconnected and premix used, you should never have a problem.

That is true - BUT, so long as you indicator alarms are working your engine should warn you and shut down. Same as your water pump - if it fails the engine should warn you and shut down.

 

[ccm]

If the pump quits motor goes boom. This generally isn't a problem until a motor gets some age on it. You can buy new electric pumps for most outboards. On another note some people don't use quality two stroke oil in their motors causing oil injectors to gum up. I can see premixing being just fine on smaller motors on smaller boats but who wants to mix upwards of 20+ gallons of gas for a larger boat and motor?

 

[TwoEyedJack]

When I was investigating buying a motor, I came across a company called outboardexchange.com. They specialize in rebuilding outboard motors and reselling. When they rebuild two-stroke motors that came with oil injection, they block off the oil injection system and run pre-mix fuel.

From their web site, here is what they say about rebuilt Evinrudes: "We found that the few failures with this class of outboards are due to fuel contamination or oil injection failure. As with all Evinrude outboards we build we have removed the oil injection. Fuel contamination can be prevented by installing a Racor fuel filter and checking it regularly. We have sold many of them over the past 14 years with great success."

They make the same comments about Mercury. Yamaha is a different story. They talk about an alarm that goes off if the oil injection fails and recommend a yearly test.

 

[turbotodd]

Been around Yamaha oil injection (autolube) specifically, so I know nothing of VRO and Merc's stuff.

I bet I've seen more powerhead failures due to forgetting to put oil in the gas than I have autolube failure. Far more.

 

[Rat]

Yep, pre-mix isn't idiot proof either.
VRO types have the advantage of being able to idle for long periods without fouling the plugs. The Evinrude system at least has a low oil warning if the oil side of the pump is damaged or if the tank is empty.

The VRO/Fuel pump is very expensive to replace and it is usually much cheaper to add an electric fuel pump and then pre-mix the fuel.

Having said that, my VRO is disconnected because it was that way when I bought the boat; I'm okay with mixing the oil in. And yes, it is a pain sometimes with a 26 gallon tank. I use only synthetic two cycle oil as my boat mechanic said that using this will lessen the likelyhood of gumming the plugs at low idle and during down time.

Here is a great article about VRO:
https://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/VRO.html

 

[JL8Jeff]

When the VRO pump went bad on my 99 Johnson 40 hp motor, I replaced it with a premix fuel pump since it was a lot less expensive and I've premixed for 20+ years without problems. I'd prefer less smoke when firing up the motor to pull away from the shoreline so the VRO is nice for that purpose. I also ran through a case of the synthetic Amsoil 2 stroke which you can mix at a leaner mix and had less smoke with no problems so that is a good option for premix as well. I pretty much go upstream about 1-2 miles and float down, repeat a few times if needed so I don't travel all that far.

 

[Loggerhead Mike]

Cheap insurance in my mind. I'm not betting 3 grand on a 20 year old oil pump, there is no warning when my warning alarm goes out either. I replace plugs every year, have yet to foul one on the water. The blue smoke screen at startup is great for the bugs

My next rig will keep the oiler, because it will be much newer.

 

[Rat]

Loggerhead Mike » Today, 09:31[/url]"The blue smoke screen at startup is great for the bugs

Keeps the gawkers away to! =D>

Hey man, that's a nice boat...
Sorry dude, engines gonna blow, gotta get outta here!

 

[smackdaddy53]

Merc oil pumps are directly driven by the fuel pump so if there is gas there is oil UNLESS the oil pump gear strips out. I had the same dilemma but believe I will stay with the VRO.

 

[basslipripper]

One more thing to think about.

Today out on the lake. My Low Oil level alarm went off telling me I needed to add more oil. But oil tank is full. Bad sensor. I just unplugged the faulty sensor. After doing some quick research that seems to be a pretty common issue.

 

[Bigwrench]

I had the sensor go on my Merc last year , was $53 iirc and just a matter of replacing the cap on the tank under the cowl.