Oil Alarm

[BrazilianSailor]

I have a 35 HP Evinrude (don´t know what year). When I turn the engine on, an oil alarm goes off and stops after about 15 seconds.

The Oil pump seems to be working OK. Questions:

1) Is there some protection that prevent the engine to run at full power when the alarm goes off?

2) Where is the sensor of the oil pump located?

3) What is VRO?

4) Should I deactivate the automatic oil system?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Oil Alarm

There are three alarms associated with the VRO (variable ratio oiler). VRO by the way is an incorrect term for this system as it is not variable. It is a constant 50:1 ratio. A steady tone is an overheat warning. If the engine is equipped with the SLOW feature, an overheat condition triggers the SLOW function which limits engine RPM to about 2500. A single beep every 20 seconds or so is a low oil warning. A beep-beep-beep is a warning that the oil system is malfunctioning. Which alarm are you hearing? You should also get a short beep when you turn the key to RUN. That tells you the warning system is working. The overheat warning is a temp sensor on the engine at the top of the head (tan wire). Disconnect that wire TEMPORARILY and see if the warning quits. If it does, you have a malfunctioning temperature sender. DO NOT run the engine with the wire disconnected as you will not know if there is an overheat condition and the engine can sieze. If that's not the problem the issue is oil system related. Clean the oil tank and filter, make sure there are no cracks or leaks in the oil line or at the fittings. Check for kinks in the oil line. A fuel restriction may also trigger the oil alarm so make sure the fuel filter, lines, and pickup in the fuel tank are clean.

 

[BrazilianSailor]

Re: Oil Alarm

There are three alarms associated with the VRO (variable ratio oiler). VRO by the way is an incorrect term for this system as it is not variable. It is a constant 50:1 ratio. A steady tone is an overheat warning. If the engine is equipped with the SLOW feature, an overheat condition triggers the SLOW function which limits engine RPM to about 2500. A single beep every 20 seconds or so is a low oil warning. A beep-beep-beep is a warning that the oil system is malfunctioning. Which alarm are you hearing? You should also get a short beep when you turn the key to RUN. That tells you the warning system is working. The overheat warning is a temp sensor on the engine at the top of the head (tan wire). Disconnect that wire TEMPORARILY and see if the warning quits. If it does, you have a malfunctioning temperature sender. DO NOT run the engine with the wire disconnected as you will not know if there is an overheat condition and the engine can sieze. If that's not the problem the issue is oil system related. Clean the oil tank and filter, make sure there are no cracks or leaks in the oil line or at the fittings. Check for kinks in the oil line. A fuel restriction may also trigger the oil alarm so make sure the fuel filter, lines, and pickup in the fuel tank are clean.

 

[BrazilianSailor]

Re: Oil Alarm

Thak you very much REAR ADMIRAL for your prompt answer. What happens is the following:

As soon as I turn the key on, I hear one short beep when all the lights in the panel turn on and then start to turn off (I guess, the system is self checking). After that check, o long beep is heard and the first light in the panel which reads OIL stays on forever.

When I run the boat, it runs normally fast for about 5 seconds and then, runs slow all by itself. I then run it slow for some time and when I accelerate, it will run fast again for another 5 seconds and desaccelerate after that