Continuous audible alarm from late eighties Johnson 110 VRO

Hi people!

Just back from a rather dull day on the water. My Johnson 110 VRO had it's alarm going off continuously after i ran the engine for about 10 mins.

Just to recap what i have found from other threads is the alarms as as follows, pls correct me:

Steady Tone = overheat
beeps every 20 secs = low oil in tank
beeps every half sec = no oil in VRO mixer.

I looked at the pisshole and it was streaming happily so I assume overheating may not be the issue, also lifted off the cover, and the engine wasn't "smoking" so i guess it could not have been really hot (I usually have WD40 sprayed all over before i head out as the sea water has not been kind on the steel)

Since last year I have been using permixed oil and fuel as i suspect the VRO mixer is not working too well as the oil level in the tank has not changed in a while though the buzzer does not beep. I have kept using premixed just to be safe. The bulb on the oil line is hard when pressed. is ther anyway to be sure that the VRO is operating?

The engine seems to rev well (hits 7000rpm easily) and idle reasonably ( though fast about 1,700rpm) when not under load...but runs real rough when in gear under load, stalls frequently and does not keep a steady rpm, and wont go past 3000rpm at full throttle.

Also the tacho is a bit funny as it sticks at about 1000 rpm and does not go below that for some strange reason.

Any ideas where to start.

Starting to feel out of my depth....

Re: Continuous audible alarm from late eighties Johnson 110 VRO

You first need to VERIFY that she is not overheating.

Can you easily touch the head for a 1, 2, 3 count? Better yet check it with an infrared thermometer. Just because water is exiting via the tell tale does not mean that it is not overheating, just that the water pump is functioning. There are other elements to your cooling circuit, the thermostat and diverter to name 2 that could be malfunctioning.

Are you mixing full strength?

If it is not overheating disconnect the horn, is it still sounding?

Regarding your running issue, have you first checked compression and checked to ensure you are in fact running on both cylinders, that the spark will jump the gap on an inline tester a good 7/16" with a bright blue ZAP!!?

Re: Continuous audible alarm from late eighties Johnson 110 VRO

Disconnect the tan wires from the cyl heads and see what happens. If the horn shuts up it's either an overheat or bad temp sender.

Re: Continuous audible alarm from late eighties Johnson 110 VRO

Hi Guys, thanks for the feedback, I will have a look at these issues that you have pointed out.

Re: Continuous audible alarm from late eighties Johnson 110 VRO

HT,

Yes I am mixing full strength 1:50, is that correct?

Yes, I am running on all 4 cylinders, as i have done a plug lead pull test. each time i pull a plug lead, the revs drop and it runs rough.

HighTrim said:

You first need to VERIFY that she is not overheating.

Can you easily touch the head for a 1, 2, 3 count? Better yet check it with an infrared thermometer. Just because water is exiting via the tell tale does not mean that it is not overheating, just that the water pump is functioning. There are other elements to your cooling circuit, the thermostat and diverter to name 2 that could be malfunctioning.

Are you mixing full strength?

If it is not overheating disconnect the horn, is it still sounding?

Regarding your running issue, have you first checked compression and checked to ensure you are in fact running on both cylinders, that the spark will jump the gap on an inline tester a good 7/16" with a bright blue ZAP!!?

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