Wow, you have just hit on one of, if not THE main misconception about VRO/OMS that was spewed about by incompetant mechanics and spread through rumor by people who don't understand how it works and probably don't understand how much of anything works.
- I obviously hit a nerve. It's a matter of opinion here Cricket, I'd love to see the statistics of how many motors failed because of a failed VRO system vs how many motors failed because of premixing fuel. Let's face it, 8/10th's of the population don't even know how to change a tire, but we expect our gas and go type boaters to shut down the motor cause the VRO is failing??? Half of them log on this site and start asking questions about alarms and the system and if their motor is screwed because of a failure. The other half like me who don't have faith in the system don't have to ask such questions cause we mix and go and don't have failures cause of lack of oil or failed pumps or bad alarms or gummed up systems or cracked oil lines. Not to forget the grocery list of maintenance the systems adds to any motor.
How would it ever be possible for a VRO/OMS to burn up 2 pistons instead of 4??? -
This was in response to mixing a little in the gas with the system working to what "kenmyfam" said.
That is EXACTLY what most crappy mechanics blamed on the VRO and the people they were explaining it to didn't know any better and spread it around, and now all these years later people are still spreading it around.
-Spreading what around, that the system can and will fail someday and have the potential to take out your $12000 motor? What about the "good" mechanics who discovered failures due to a bad VRO system. We aren't talking about an outboard you bought for $5 on sale at Sears, we are talking about outboards people remortgage their houses to puchase. Damn right people should be made aware of it, its a choice to run it and a debate and people need to see both sides. Just like the Ficht, some people have ran them all their boating lives, some have had them in the shop 20 times. Funny how people buy a Ficht after going used boat shopping and then end up on Iboats posting "I bought a Ficht,uh, will it be ok on my boat????".
The reason it's not on your chainsaw, weed wacker or lawn mower is because it's pointless to put an additional tank on those pieces of equipment to hold oil, especially when a 4 year old could figure out how to mix 2.5 gallons of gas correctly.
- Go look at some of the posts on people who FORGET to mix oil in the gas and take out their motors, I'd hardly classify that as a "4 year olds" mistake. I agree with your reasoning, I haven't had a 2 stroke motor fail due to lack of lubrication, that was kind of my point.
You can't say it's the dumbest thing ever invented, when it has worked flawlessly for millions of people for over 20 years, most of which are running way more oil through the pumps than you will ever run in your 50 with premix. Mixing may not be a hassle for you with your 50, when you have to measure out enough for 6 gallons, but for others who have over 200 gallons of gas on their boat and go through that every few weeks, how convenient do you think mixing in gallons and gallons of oil would be....every other week??
-I'm saying VRO is and was the dumbest thing ever invented (I didn't once mention OMS as being the dumbest) , and if it was so good, why was VRO changed out to VRO2 after just 2 years. No alarm on VRO and changes to the design. Designs that are "tried tested and true" by nature stick around for years, not 2 years.
What is dumb about having a perfectly safe and reliable oiling system so you don't have to figure out how much oil to add to 163 gallons of gas, while at a gas dock with a line of boats waiting behind you? Not having an oiling system on something like that is dumb.
-I'm thinking your leaning on the OMS side, I'm sure the people that run 163 gallons of gas in a fill up aren't placing their money on the "vro system", thinking they either have DI or OMS. I wouldn't want to have to mix that much oil and gas but then again I don't have enough time or money in my life to run 163 gallons of gas in an outing and if I did it would be a nice twin big block setup on my Baja.
I'm not gonna get started on your complete misconception of DI on this post, as it's about VRO/OMS. But in a nut shell, DI is probably the best innovation ever made to outboards.
- BRP's version, agreed
