1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

[bskye85]

Hello all. Let me start off and say that my 1st boat (73' Glastron Aqualift) bought this spring has now been completly restored (Deck, transom, all wiring, paint/gelcoat, all crome fixtures and rails, windshield...ect) and was just sold for $3500, which is $2000 profit (Thanks Iboats)

Now i have recieved my new project, a 1985 nordic crestliner muskie 550 bowrider with a 85' evinrude 70hp VRO..This motor is totally ailen to me. Took me 15 mins of searching Iboats for the answer to what the heck VRO even meant lol. Now with a firm understanding of the VRO pump system, i took a peak at my 70. What i saw was kinda unnerving. This year of VRO (85') was the year BEFORE omc started to make the "No oil Alarm" system on the pumps themselfs. The connection "nipples" for the hosing to the vro is still there next to the gasline "nipple", BUT theres no lines hooked up Due to the fact that this VRO is OMC's 1st attempt at an automatic oil injection system, it looks very diffrent form all the pic's ive seen of all vro models 86' and up. I do not know if i am looking at an actual "VRO" pump or if someone yanked it out, and replaced it with a regular marine fuel pump to bypass the vro's mixing and just went the route of pre mixing 50:1... My question is, How do i know if it is indeed an 85' VRO im looking at that has had its connecting hoses taken out for some odd reason, OR a marine fuel pump??? I had no problems with the old boats motor (63' evinrude 40hp bigtwin) soo i have had no prior experiance with any outboard other than mixing oil and gas, changing plugs, and replacing lower unit oil. I am now good at aspects of boat resto, but i am a noob mechanic to say the least.... Sorry for such a long 1st post, but i felt i had to cover my non-experiance with theese motors.

IVE TRIED SEVERAL TIMES TO UPLOAD PICS...im a computer noob as well maybe this paste will work??

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

You can rest assured that if there is no tubing on the oil inlet nipple and there is no oil tank in the boat, the VRO has been disabled and you need to premix your fuel/oil. The pic below is a VRO pump. Hope this helps..

 

[bskye85]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

Ty for the quick reply rickdb1boat!

I was hoping this vro was just bypassed with the fuel pump, but wanted to be sure what i was dooing before running the muffs on it in the driveway with no oil in it. The tank that came with this boat was FULL of premixed gas, so i was unsure of the whole situation. The pics i posted arent the best, but you can clearly see a fuel pump in the smaller of the pics. This OB has yet to even be started due to my lack of vro information. I did however replace lower unit oil, plugs..ect. Now its time to hook up the muffs i guess and give her a go?

 

[bskye85]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

Also, I forgot to ask. IF this VRO has been bypassed and is running off premix fine, What is the oil mix ratio i should be using? 50:1?, 60:1?...thanks

 

[bskye85]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

Ahhh well, I am impatient arent I?? lol

I "trusted" (with a grin and bear it approach) the premix that was in the tank..(Only 12 days old...) and tried to start this pig for the 1st time....To my dismay, i think the starter is shot....

The Locking nut,wave washer,and shaft all spin freely on the starter, yet its not lifting the tooth gear to the flywheel to turn it over......any thoughts?

Just tried to grease the shaft so the tooth gear can move smoothly up to the flywheel, yet is still just sits at the bottom of the shaft while it spins when i turn the key......ive read about a kill switch and a neutral switch on this year of elec. start. Maybe its operator error? Wouldent supprise me

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

Your photo is of a premix pump.
Your mix should be 50 to 1
Your starter may not be getting enough power through to engage the bendix.
Check all connections from the battery forward. Clean and tight is the optimum. Check for damage to the cables as well. Replace any that have nicks or cuts. If all fails to this point take the starter off and bench test it direct to a known good battery.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

90% of starter problems are bad connections. remove and clean both ends of the battery cables, so that they are shiney, also the cable from the solenoid to starter. check for nicks in the cables. and make sure the connectors are on the wire good. the cable tend to corrode from the inside out, if nicked, corroded wires, and connections, heat up and cause resistance to the follow of electricity, thus the starter doesn't get enough. you can also take jumper cable pos battery post to large post on starter. with a good connection, the engine should spin. then if the starter is good clean everything and retest. then trouble shoot solenoid. starters can be rebuit at a starter/alternator shop, much cheaper than a new one.

also have the battery load tested at the auto parts store, free, i've had new batteries go bad

 

[bskye85]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

WOW, thank you guys for the quick replies,

I bought a fresh new batt. from sears, checked all my connections, and found a loose batt. connector, but this is not the issue. So i then yanked off the starter and bench-tested it...didnt work either. So, my last ditch effort was to "borrow" a used starter for this model from my local marine junkyard..and the 70hp now fires up, and runs like you stole it. On the downside, they want $100 for this used starter And i never mentioned that this 85' rude 70 has no pull-start...

I have taken apart my starter, and found everything looks nice and clean. All the brushes are 100%fine, like they were replaced reciently..

Any other ideas on what other pieces of the starter would cause this "Lazy bendix" problem? Also, Can this model of rude be rope-started? and if so how?I see no option as to where you would pull start this...
Thanks as always!!

 

[LongLine]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

Yes it can be pull started...if you've got the umph. Rope is manual wound around the flywheel. Just above the teeth there is a groove for the rope with some notches in it. Make sure you turn that red knob on the solenoid 180 deg to choke it. (then turn it back after you're going)

Tom B.
(LongLine)

 

[bskye85]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

Thank you for that pull start info!!

Great news!!! I sadly returned the local scavenge yard's starter, only to get home, pop my old one in, and cranked the ---- out of it. After taking the thing apart, i found a 1/16'th piece of the shaft spring caught up in the bendix gear preventing it from sliding up the shaft. I promptly removed this sliver and cranked her over again (While patting her on the back for good measure) She fired up and ran smooth as i could ever hope for!! She liked to idle even. Fully shifted her with no problems, backfires, smoke, sputtering..ect.

Now im off to test drive her at some small trout stocked pond called "Egypt Pond" in Mt. Vernon Maine tomorow...Yay

Ill let ya know how she fares on a full day of trout slaying

 

[bskye85]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

Well, Heres the deal now.... A full day of trout slaying, Turned into a day of trout slaying....in chest waders with the flypoles

We launched the boat, parked the truck, ran back to the boat and started her right up. As the current drifts us away from the dock, while in idle, i lay off the choke to advance the throttle, and she slowly dies out....not at all like she was running on the muffs in my driveway. So, again and again, she fires right up, idles nicely, but when the choke lever is closed to advance the throttle she just dies right off

Any ideas on this?

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

Start with the basic health checks.
Compression
Spark
Fuel delivery
Plug condition
Post your findings for all to review.
Could well need the carbs cleaning and re-building but that at this point is just a guess.

 

[LongLine]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

"I lay off the choke...& she slowly dies..." Tells me fuel delivery. hoses? pump? carbs? blockage?

Tom B.
(LongLine)

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

No harm in cleaning the fuel system and re-building the carbs however a basic health check would be more informative.

 

[LongLine]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

BSky - Basic check up certainly wouldn't hurt. One question: Did you adjust idle on muffs or in the water? May just be set a tad too low.

Tom B.
(LongLine)

 

[bskye85]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

Well, Im hitting another problem. But first...How do you go about setting the idle? if it is indeed set too low. I have tried to turn the red lever on the choke solinoid, starting, then turning back...all to the same conclusion..after the choke is off it dies out. Had the local marina run a quick compression test, and they said theres a "3.2psi diff. in the mid cylinder, other two run same". So im not thinking the carbs are the route of my issues, but at this point, im willing to try anything before i get to mad and call it quits on this engine

The new issue is its simply not starting...once again...I replaced the air silencer gaskets(due to the fact that they werent even on the damn thing!!)
Now IF it starts, she kicks off running like a mofo. almost like its getting full choke..(or stuck in gear) But i dont hink the latter is the issue, due to the fact that i can still give her thottle....Im soo bummed about this outboard. I guess ill take out the frustration on grinding some nasty glass...and ripping out soggy transom wood...or as my son calls it "mud"

 

[tedious]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

Sounds like you need to do a carb rebuild - if it will only idle when the primer is injecting fuel, then the idle fuel passages must be clogged. You'll then want to do a link and sync. Both that and the carb rebuild can be easily done by someone who can take a starter apart. The kit for each carb costs about $15, and I would recommend getting a factory manual.

The good news is that it sounds like your engine will be awesome once you get this done.

Tim

 

[bskye85]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

Thanks Tim! Where do you order your carb kits?? Iboats/evinrude..ect? And i bought a manual, yet went the cheap way, and im still kicking myself Its not a specific manual for my model..its a johnyrude 40hp-225hp shop manual...sooo the info is in there...Somewhere At this point in time im going nuts trying to figure out what to do with this thing. The local marina quoted me "$100 for the first hour(diagnostics and general checkup) then $95 per hour after that plus parts"....I say noooo thanks to that. Ill gladly die of a heartattack trying to fix this pig by myself than pay hundreds of dollars for work done on a free rig Guess I just need to bite the big one and buy a nice manual specific to my model...

 

[Daviet]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

You can order kits right here, go to top of the page and click on evinrude parts. Google ken Cook and get the foctory manual for your engine.

 

[tedious]

Re: 1985 Evinrude 70 hp V.R.O

I got both my rebuild kits and manual from www.marineengine.com. I do recommend supporting iboats with your purchase, though.

I agree - stay away from the aftermarket manuals - I bought one too before I knew better.

Tim