Disable ?no oil alarm?. Mixing gas now ? older motor

MaPaHa

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 6, 2012
Messages
239
I have a mid 90?s javelin fish and ski boat that had a 150 Johnson with oil injection. I put the motor on another boat and installed an older 140 Evinrude in its place. The wiring harness to the engine was an exact match and the only wiring I had to modify was for the trim. Got it working fine.

I took it out for the first time today and the alarm on the boat went off with rapid beeps, which the tag said is ?no oil?. I have removed the oil reservoir from the boat and as I remember, there wasn?t any other wiring that went to the oil system. There was a connection between the original motor and the oil system but both of them are gone.

At this point I?ve got a regular older 2 stroke where I mix the oil and gas, and a boat wired for an oil injection system. How can I disconnect the oil alarm without disturbing the temperature sensor system?
 

Joe Reeves

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Feb 24, 2002
Messages
13,262
Re: Disable ?no oil alarm?. Mixing gas now ? older motor

Engine "was" Oil Injection or a VRO model?

(VRO Horn Warnings)
(J. Reeves)

NOTE: I retired around 1991/92. Possibly some of the later V4 engines and others may also incorporate a fuel vacuum switch that would enable a fuel restriction warning to sound as mentioned below, an unknown factor to myself.

1 - A steady constant beep = Overheating - The V/6 engines, possibly some others, have a fuel restriction warning which is also a steady constant beep.

2 - A beep every 20 or 40 seconds = oil level has dropped to 1/4 tank. (Late model engine = Every 40 seconds)

3 - A beep every other second = VRO failure, air leak in oil line, oil restriction, (anything that would result in a lack of oil being supplied to the engine).

NOTE - If the warning horn is the black plastic (overpriced) three wire type horn, the warning horn should beep once when the ignition key is turned to the ON position. If it does not, it is either faulty or someone has disconnected it (a stupid move!). At any rate, if it does not beep which indicates that the horn is non functional, find out why and do not run the engine until the problem is corrected.
-----------------------------

(VRO Pump Conversion To Straight Fuel Pump)
(J. Reeves)

You can convert the VRO pump into a straight fuel pump, eliminating the oil tank and VRO pump warning system, but retain the overheat warning setup (and fuel restriction warning if so equipped) by doing the following:

1 - Cut and plug the oil line at the engine so that the oil side of the VRO pump will not draw air into its system. Trace the wires from the back of the VRO to its rubber plug (electrical plug) and disconnect it.

2 - Trace the two wires from the oil tank to the engine, disconnect those two wires, then remove them and the oil tank.

3 - Mix the 50/1 oil in the proper amount with whatever quantity fuel you have. Disconnect the fuel line at the engine. Pump the fuel primer bulb until fuel exits that hose with the tint of whatever oil you used. Reconnect the fuel hose.

That's it. If you want to test the heat warning system to ease your mind, have the key in the on position, then ground out the tan heat sensor wire that you'll find protruding from the cylinder head. The warning horn should sound off.
 

MaPaHa

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 6, 2012
Messages
239
Re: Disable ?no oil alarm?. Mixing gas now ? older motor

Joe,

Thanks for the input. The 150 Johnson that came off of this boat did have the VRO system and when I put it on my pontoon boat a few months ago I disconnected the VRO system as you said and started mixing the gas/oil. It’s working great.

The problem is when I went the other way and installed the 1977 model 140 Evinrude V4 Cross-Flow / Bubble-Back on this mid 90’s Javelin boat, the alarm started sounding off with a rapid beep. There is nothing left of the VRO system because of the 77 model motor and I removed the oil tank and wiring. Do you know if there is more than one wire that’s used as an alarm wire in the main wiring harness? The motor plugs swapped exactly between the 77 model and the 94 model. I’m puzzled about where the alarm signal is being generated and what turns the signal it into different beeps. Is it one wire or more than one?

I put a digital thermometer lead between the rubber hose and the metal hose stub on the engine and re-clamped it to make thermal contact with the engine water temperature in the leaving water of each head on the way to the thermostats. They run between 125-150 degrees on each side depending on speed and load so I don’t think it’s a temperature issue.

I temporarily disconnected one wire on the alarm and it quit but I’m not sure if the temp alarm still works but I’ll check it as you say. My alarm is the three wire type, so does it use one wire for the oil alarm and one wire for the temp sensor? If so, could I just disconnect the oil side alarm wire at the buzzer?
 

Joe Reeves

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Feb 24, 2002
Messages
13,262
Re: Disable ?no oil alarm?. Mixing gas now ? older motor

The main electrical plug at the engine (Male/Female)... both should be RED. Are they? Any other color, you risk a mismatch.

There is nothing on a 1977 V4 engine that would normally generate a "rapid" horn beep... try removing that horns built in ground wire and taping it aside.
 
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