no oil alarm on 1999 115 johnson

crabbydad

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Apr 20, 2009
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75
A few weeks ago the plastic fuel/oil nipple at the motor cracked. This part is no longer available, so I used double barbed end fittings to rejoin the oil and fuel feed. I squeezed the primer bulb for the oil several times and it felt hard, so I figured it was ok. I ran the engine on the hose at idle with no issues. I am in the process of selling the boat, so we took it out for am sea trial. 8 seconds or so after we reached 4000 rpm or so the no oil alarm went off. we immediately went back to idle and I squeezed the oil bulb a few times and the alarm went off. this happened 3 times. After that I was able to run full throttle for a mile or so with no alarm, so I figured at first it wasn't primed, but was now ok. A week later at the house I ran it on the hose and quickly accelerated the engine a couple times up to 2500 rpms and the no oil alarm came on. I removed the oil hose from the vro pump and there was maybe 3/8" of air at top of the hose and no oil ran out of the pump. I squeezed the bulb and pumped some oil into a container. There was no air and I made sure oil was up to top of hose and reconnected. Started on hose and repeated what I had done before and no alarm. Checked hose from engine down to tank and doesn't appear to be leaking. I was thinking the oil line may have had a leak and the pump lost prime. The fact that the problem didn't appear until I disconnected the line and got air into the line, leads me to believe that the pump is fine, but not sure. I'm gonna let it sit a few days and try again and hopefully put it in the water to make sure its ok. Someone is supposed to come look at it next weekend.
Anyone out there with any good advice? If the problem repeats, and I can't it resolved I may have to buy a new pump, but at over $400 dollars I want to make sure it is bad. I know they sell rebuild kits, but I think I read that they are only for repairing the fuel side of the pump.
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
 

Joe Reeves

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Feb 24, 2002
Messages
13,262
Whenever a break in the oil line has taken place, whether intentionally or not, the following must be performed.
********************
(Priming The VRO Pump)
(J. Reeves)

When hooking up or installing a VRO whether it is a new or original VRO pump, it must be primed in order to dispel any air that might be in the oil line.

Have the Oil line attached to the engine fitting BUT detached from the VRO. Add a piece of fuel hose if necessary to the oil line so that it can be aimed into some sort of container.

Pump the oil primer bulb, catching the oil flowing out of the line into the container until you are absolutely sure that you have rid the oil line of every bit of air that might have been trapped there.

Now, connect the oil line to the VRO and secure it. When the oil line is secured, apply pressure to the oil primer bulb ONE TIME only. That's it.
********************
 

flyingscott

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Apr 8, 2014
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7,985
The only thing different I will say is you HAVE to start the motor on a 50-1 pre mix tank. Do everything Joe said as far as bleeding the system. This is where it gets different because you have an OMS pump Joes information is correct for a VRO2 pump. Start the motor and wait until the no oil alarm sounds. When the alarm sounds put the hose back on and wait for the alarm to go off by itself. Now fasten the hose to the pump. Do NOT pump the ball while doing this.
 

crabbydad

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Apr 20, 2009
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75
Thanks guys, yesterday i removed the hose from the vro , there was maybe a 1/2" of air at the top of the hose, i pumped the bulb and caught the oil in a container. I didn't see any air and i made sure the oil was at the top of the hose and reattached. Started it and ran it for 10 minutes or so and no alarm. I was going to run it again today. Should i redo the procedure? the way i did it was as flyingscott advised except i put the hose right back on and ran off the internal tank
 

crabbydad

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Apr 20, 2009
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75
I will redo as flyingscott instructed. That way i can verify that the pump is self priming and if not then i need a new pump
Thanks
 

jakedaawg

Rear Admiral
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Messages
4,275
Those nipples are available, cant remember part number but someone posted it a couple months back on similiar thread. I think it was faztbullet that posted number...
 

crabbydad

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Apr 20, 2009
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75
it was raining off and on when I got home today so decided not to reprime. Instead started it up on the hose and let it run for 10 minutes or so and revved in neutral several times. no alarm. May just put it in the water and see how it does. since I never had the alarm until I introduced air into the line, I think the pump is good and the no oil alarm is working. My next question is the fact that I squeezed the bulb from the oil tank numerous times on several occasions, could this have damaged the diaphragm on the oil side of the pump?
 

racerone

Supreme Mariner
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Dec 28, 2013
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36,047
The " oil side " of the pump is a wee piston with an o-ring in a metal tube.-----That simple it is and the reason there are no repair kits needed for it.
 

crabbydad

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Apr 20, 2009
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75
do think it is ok to take it out and try it or should I redo the prime as flyingscott outlined
 

kbait

Commander
Joined
Nov 13, 2007
Messages
2,446
You may want to use another fuel tank/hose that’s already mixed 50/1 for testing the VRO. It may smoke a little, but you’d be protected in case of an expensive under-oiling event..
 

crabbydad

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Apr 20, 2009
Messages
75
so I decided to go and do it right today. I unhooked the fuel line to run it out of gas before hooking up the premix and removing the oil line. before it ran out, the no oil light came on again. When I turn the key off and start back up the light is off. I hooked up the premix and let it run a couple minutes before removing the oil line. when the no oil light came on, I turn the motor off and started it back up again. the no oil light was off- i guess it resets and takes a minute or 2 to come back on. when it came back on, I turned the motor off and started it back up and the light was again off. After a minute or 2 it came on again. I had already squeezed a 10-12 ounces of oil thru the oil line, so I gave it a couple more squeezes and reattached the oil line to the pump while it was running. It took longer than I thought it would have for the no oil light to go off, probably 3 or 4 minutes. I let it run till my approximately 3/4 gallon of premix was just about gone, 15-20 minutes, with no alarm. I don't feel real confident that I don't still have a problem, given the fact that the alarm came on again today after running ok yesterday.
When I removed the oil hose from the pump, should oil have ran out- none did.

I will let it sit and start it up again tomorrow or Thursday and see what happens. I checked the oil hose looking for signs of a leak
 

crabbydad

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Apr 20, 2009
Messages
75
I let it sit for 2 days. started it up on premix and ran it for 10 minutes-no alarm, so I reattached the tank line and ran for 10 more minutes to clear the smoke. Hopefully everything is ok now. want to get it out on the water and run it.
 
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