Mix or trust??

Hello, I recently purchased a 1989 Bass Tracker with a 80 HP Mercury outboard. I have started the go-through process to get it ready for spring. I have been told by a few people to disconnect the oil pump & MIX my own fuel, as it can fail & ruin the motor. This seems like the place to get feed-back. Thanks & God Bless, Robert

Re: Mix or trust??

Sorta like the chicken and egg debate......which came first?

The VRO could fail and so could you.......to add oil when you gas up!

Mark

Re: Mix or trust??

Welcome to the forum!! I think disconnecting the VRO in the older days was because of reliability issues with the older VRO pumps. I think for the most part people tend to leave the VRO working instead or premixing. I have done just that with my 1996 130 Evinrude.

Re: Mix or trust??

I believe that VRO is driven by a plastic gear on the crank. As long as the engine is not severely over-revved (like over 7K constantly) and not severely overheated, they are probably more reliable than the average human, and certainly more reliable than the average teenager.
I run an XR4, and I'm stickin' to the oiler. Just for insurance, I follow the advice an old timer gave me. I put about an ounce of oil per gallon in the main tank. If the oiler fails, that will give me enough oil to get off the throttle, and even run at easy plane back to the landing should the oil alarm ever go off. It's not enough richer to affect performance or even idle smoke.

hope it helps
John

Re: Mix or trust??

John, Your 1 oz oil/ gal of gas gives a 128::1 ratio. If your oiler fails, this is too lean for running much faster than idle speed. I recommend you make it 2oz oil/gal gasoline. This 64::1 mix may (just may) allow planing speed, of course for another oz/gal, you could mix 50::1 and be sure.

In short, I recommend you rethink your failover plan, or stick to low idle if the oiler fails.

BTW -I carry a gal of oil in my boat(60 gal tank). if the oiler fails, the whole gal of oil can be dumped into the tank, depending on how full it is. If the tank is full, I plan to fast idle home. if I have burned 10 gal of gas or more(quite likely), the gal of oil can give me a 50::1 ratio which allows me to run at any speed.

Re: Mix or trust??

You know, when I bought my boat I went through the same exact thing. You hear these horrible stories of guys who had their oiler go out, but it's all a "friend-of-a-friend". I was actually so close to doing mine that I had all my tools out and the crowl off before I decided not to. Before I went through with it I called a well trusted friend and a few boat shops. To do it "right", you've go to plug the line and CYCLE existing oil in the pump (I'd recommend a professional to do that).

Anyway, you "HEAR" about these bad stories, but how many hundreds of thousands of oilers are out there working great? More then a few ones that have gone bad. I've got buddies who have motors as old as 1991 and their oilers haven't missed a lick.

You gotta take a step back and say, "If the oiler was that unreliable would the manufacturer continue to put them on?" Would they sacrafice their reputation over a small oiler that (per say goes bad)??? I don't think so. That oiler is ment to pump oil just like that prop was ment to spin. Let it do its job. It will... And at the end of the day if you're that worried about it, change the old one out for a newer one.

I've got one more point to make here. Those oilers vary its output of oil based on the RPM's of the engine. It will vary it's gas to oil ratio depending on if you're at idle or putting her in the wind. With oil going up with gas, I wouldn't want my boat to be burning 50:1 at idle.

Re: Mix or trust??

Carolina, a 50::1 gas-oil mix is intended for high speed running. At idle the mixture could be much leaner (maybe 100::1) without engine damage. Although Mercury claims its oiling system is variable ratio, I know the OMC Oil Metering System (OMS), is a single ratio (~60::1 at all RPM). The bottom line is that we lived with 50::1 mixtures at idle with all the pre-mix outboards, prior to the installation of the oil injections systems and with all the newer Johnnyrude outboards with oil injection.

I am not sure of your beef with a 50::1 mix at idle.

Re: Mix or trust??

I trust my 2004 Merc 50hp......I hate dealing with oil in the tank.......for years I had to measure and mix.....not anymore!

Re: Mix or trust??

No beef. No beef what so ever. I just trust my oiler that's all I'm saying. I think it is reliable and does a great job.

Re: Mix or trust??

Thank You all for the feed-back. I think I will use it, as it is quite convienient. Now that I have made the choice.....there is a leak some where from the resevoir or line, a small amount of oil collects under the tank. I can not see where it is coming from. Any advice on where to start with this LSI (leak scene investigation)????89 Merc 80 HP. Thanks agian & God Bless, Robert

Re: Mix or trust??

Hey Carolina, I assume your Avatar is a Boston Whaler.....per your logon "handle". We fished the Louisiana marshes out of Carolina Skiffs, which look a lot like your Avatar. Very nice, stable boats, shallow running, and easily planed out....perfect for brackish water marshes.
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Don't know what material the VRO gear is made from, but as stated, thousands out there running and no problems. Would think that Merc design engineers were aware of the importance of it when they decided on plastic on metal, vs metal on metal, and in choosing the type of plastic.

On plastic gears: For many a year, Ford and GM ran nylon gears on their camshaft in their V8 engines and Ford (I know of) ran a form of plastic (phenolic) on their I6's. This now is in an auto/truck engine and if the thing wasn't hotrodded would give you well in excess of 100,000 miles of service.

Course trying to twist a camshaft and rolling oil through a tube under much more bland conditions is day and night to me, plus it would take a couple of days to see 100,000 miles out of your outboard.

And I too don't have to fool around with all that remembering and measuring and pouring and all.....yucko.

My 2c,

Mark

Re: Mix or trust??

Probably just spillage that has collected under tank.

Use some spray degreaser. Spray it on, brush it around with a paintbrush or similar, let it sit an hour, spray some more wait a few minutes and wash down with spray nozzel on hose, while being carefull not to introduce water through any tank vents.

Keep boat bow elevated and plug out. Capture and dispose of the rinse appropriately if concerned.

Once dried, it should be pretty easy to see where the oils start gathering again.

Re: Mix or trust??

Inspect1 said:

Thank You all for the feed-back. I think I will use it, as it is quite convienient. Now that I have made the choice.....there is a leak some where from the resevoir or line, a small amount of oil collects under the tank. I can not see where it is coming from. Any advice on where to start with this LSI (leak scene investigation)????89 Merc 80 HP. Thanks agian & God Bless, Robert

Click to expand...

Chris,
128 is pretty lean, but with full synthetic oil, the engine could run for hours at half throttle and probably not be hurt. I carry a quart of oil with me, which would bring 20 gallons of my fuel to 50:1. If I choose to keep playing, I'll just dump it in.

Inspect,
The oil line coming from the nurse tank to the engine tank goes to a T looking thing. That is a neg pressure relief valve, so that if the oil line is blocked, the oil pump can suck the rest of the oil out of the engine tank, (sounding the alarm as it does.) There should be a short length of hose just hanging down from that valve. It's probably oily. They somethimes leak a little with age. Cleaning or replacing it would help.

Also, when you tilt the engine fully up, the carbs will spill a little fuel. The gas evaporates, leaving a bit of an oily mess. Goes with the territory.

hope it helps
John