3-cylinder VRO and engine life expectancy

Hello Everyone,

I have seen a number of mid '80s 3-cylinder motors for sale where the VRO has been disconnected.
What I heard that the VRO is too expensive to repair, so they just disconnected and returned to premixed oiling.

I am just wondering what is the usual life of a VRO system? Is there anything like that? How does that compare to the usual life of the power head itself (assuming no abuse or gross mistakes). Or in other words, how much life is left in the motor where the VRO has already gone?

Was there ever a spec for those engines that how long it would run? e.g. for 1000 hours? (have seen that for other motors)

Is there a sense to these questions or the life of these components and engines are all over the place?

Thanks, Peter

Re: 3-cylinder VRO and engine life expectancy

I always "ribbed" the Johnrude tech reps about engineering putting the yellow oil plug on hose from the factory if it was so trustworthy. Actually most problems are on the fuel & air side of pump due to materials and fuel. I still have several customers still running the original VRO (type 1) pump with no problems and these are 20+years old.

Re: 3-cylinder VRO and engine life expectancy

Some folks can destroy an engine (or any of its components) in a very short time due to lack of maintenance, ignorance, or heaven knows what. Others run them forever because they understand the engine and what is needed in care and maintenance. But to answer your question -- NO! There is no specification for the reasons I just mentioned. Just like gas mileage on the car you just bought. If the manufacturer estimates MPG at 30 mph, many follks can't get anywhere near that for many reasons. Others have no problem achieving that number. It's the "nut" behind the wheel that makes the difference.

Re: 3-cylinder VRO and engine life expectancy

I understand that engine life expectancy depends on maintenance and care, however, I have heard numbers that an inboard 4-stroke engine needs a rebuild after 1000 - 2000 hours, a diesel could last up to 5000 hours, and I seen a number for a two-stroke 25 HP outboard as no less than 650 hours.
So I was wondering if similar numbers exists for the 3-cylinder engines and for VROs.

Thanks, Peter

Re: 3-cylinder VRO and engine life expectancy

No less than 650 hours means it will run at least 650 hours. But it may die at 651. See how meaningless these numbers are? An inboard will not need overhaul at 1000 hours if properly taken care off. Nor at 2000 hours. Consider also that hour meters (the add-on variety) are nothing more than a clock that runs when the key is on. It may also have been added when the boats age was anything but new. So unless you get an hour reading from an engine that is ECU controlled you simply cannot trust that reading. An engine that has 3000 hours would have logged 540,000,000 revolutions at 3000 rpm averaged. You can do the math to determine what translates to in water miles traveled. Use 3000 rpm to achieve a speed of 30 MPH and use those numbers as an average. If that amount of time bothers you, then you likely would not buy the boat unless it was priced accordingly. There is no magic number and there can't be because of the variables. On the other hand, there are boats out there with 3000 hours on them that would be far more desirable than others with 1000 or 2000 hours. Gas powered weed whip engnes have a service life of 50 hours and the way people treat them, most don't see 25 hours. My gas powered stuff is a minimum of ten years old and have far more than 50 hours on them. Sorry -- but you are looking for specific numbers where they don't exist. Engine manufacturers have design targets when engines are designed but you will not see that information published. But why not call Mercury, Evinrude, Yamaha, and Volvo to see what they say.