To use VRO or Manually mix

[Ghost]

I just got a used boat with a 50hp 2002 Johnson that was never setup for VRO, but the motor has the capability.<br />Should I purchase the tank and set up the VRO or stay with manual mix?<br />It seems that there are alot of very old engines out there that have run a very long time on a straight 50:1 mix.<br />One mechanic claims the the engine will last much longer running on a proper mix the on VRO. He goes on to point out that you will never see 20 year old VRO engines, but there are lots still running on manually mixed gas.

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: To use VRO or Manually mix

Personally, I would mix it myself. Others will say different, but that's my opinion.

 

[Maximum Gravity]

Re: To use VRO or Manually mix

I agree with Rick - we have more people that plug off the VRO's and mix manually. For the ones that replace the VRO's, they usually end up doing the same within a season or two.

 

[cloumar]

Re: To use VRO or Manually mix

Hey Ghost,<br /><br />Here is a little story to convince you:<br /><br />My brother in law bought a 1996 Evinrude 25 HP brand new in 1996 - so between 1996 and 1998 he had 3 blown motors because of oil injection pump failures, lucky it was still under warranty.<br />In 1999 I made the buy pass on his system - since than he is using premix 50:1 and never had a single problem with his motor, it smokes a bit more when trolling but that's all beside this it's running like a clock <br /><br />Mario

 

[Brew]

Re: To use VRO or Manually mix

While I don't totally disagree with any of the above, I would say that there are still plenty of older engines running VRO without a problem. My 17 year old VRO system still works great.<br /><br />Having said that, I've heard enough horror stories on this board to convice me that if I didn't have first hand knowledge of a particular VRO system working effectively over an extended period, I probably wouldn't risk running one.<br /><br />Cheers,

 

[Capt Ken]

Re: To use VRO or Manually mix

If the engine doesn't currently have a pump, there's no need to install one. Most folks usually remove their pumps because Big Bubba down the street had a four time removed cousin that had and engine failure and someone told him it was the VRO pump. The primary cause of powerhead failure is due to dirty carbs. If one of the carbs gets dirty or obstructed, it causes the cylinder to burn lean. Lean burn is what melts the pistons. If an engine looses oil, it affects all the pistons, not just one. I usually challenge those that had an engine failure to what they believed was a VRO failure, to explain why it only affected one piston not all. I've never seen the oil pump side of a VRO pump fail. Usually the diaphram that drives the pump fails and you lose fuel pressure to the engine. If you were to disassembe a pump, you would see that one shaft drives both the fuel pump and the oil pump. One doesn't move without the other. Except for the early model VRO's, they have a pressure alarm system that will sound if the oil pump side looses pressure. The 50:1 mix will work just fine. The only problem is 50:1 mix is ideal for high speed running. At idle, 100:1 is all that is needed and 50:1 will cause fouling of the plugs at extended idling. But to meet the needs at any rpm, the 50:1 is accepted as the norm.

 

[Mumblerone]

Re: To use VRO or Manually mix

What size gas tank do you have? If it's small, no problem. Now, my tank holds 195 gallons. Let's say I come in at the end of the day and want to top off. How much oil do I add to the gas tank? Oops, better FILL tank first...tank is now full. OK, let see, it took 162.5 gallons...now, I've got to measure out 3.25 gallons of oil (50:1)...lets see, hmmmm... one 2 1/2 gallon jug and three quarts. Perfect...well wait a minute, I didn't leave enough room in the tank. There, I finally got the oil in...now is it mixed right. Yada, yada, yada... Now, someone will say put in ten gallon, add oil and so on till it's full. Give me a break. The VRO systems has eliminated all this hassel...why go backwards. I had two VRO's on this boat for the last six years. The last boat had one on for 15 years. NO Problems. Sorry for belaboring the point but this was only ONE fillup. If you got a small tank (6 gallon) it's OK...but who wants to put up the hassel with larger tanks? Avoid the premix pumps also. The technology is here...lets use it. Always your choice.

 

[DIRTPOORE96]

Re: To use VRO or Manually mix

Hi Ghost, I agree with Mumblerone on this topic. If you have a small tank its much easier to mix fuel & oil yourself. I have 250 gallons of gas in my boat. 1-175 gal. tank & 1-75 gal. tank. I would have to bring a calculator & slide rule to figure the amount of oil to mix in. I personally love the VRO systems on my 175HP rudy's. I would be wasting 20 gallons of oil a year if I premixed it with the gas. Lets see 20 gal. X $15.00 =**** ** Oh well, get that calculator out again.