VRO alarm question

[Pologreen]

Hi guys,

I'm trying to trouble shoot the no oil alarm on newly installed VRO. The engine is a 1997 Evinrude installed on a 1995 boat. I believe the engine is appropriately equipped with wiring harness adapter p/n 176349 (I'm not the original owner). It does NOT have the system check system/gauges, it only has a warning buzzer.

My question is, if I disconnect the oil line from the VRO and run the engine, should the no oil alarm buzzer get triggered? I assumed it would but when I tried that this past weekend, no alarm sounded (yes I am running pre mix until I can confirm new VRO is working). Is there any other test I can perform to verify the no oil alarm works, assuming that test was invalid for some reason. Note, the buzzer does chime on self test, so it works.

Thanks!

 

[jakedaawg]

While running premix you can disconnect the oil in line from the bottom of the VRO. After 3 to 5 minutes, sometimes longer some times shorter, depending on RPM the alarm should go off. It takes a while for all the oil to get out of the pump. I had one take 10 minutes or so once.

When you hook the line back up it is easiest to have two people. One person sqeezes the ball on the oil line to remove any air from line. When the oil gets to the end of the line hook it back up and install the clamp. No further squeezing of ball should be necessary. The alarm will continue to sound until the oil is sucked into the pump.

Make a line with a marker on the oil tank and run engine on premix until you verify that the motor is useing oil and is self-priming. At that point, once the oil is an inch or so below your mark, you can go back to straight gas. Double oil will not hurt anything.

Do you hear a beep when you first turn the key? This is the self check and lets you know the buzzer is working. If you don't hear it some thing else is amiss.

 

[Pologreen]

Thanks for the reply jakedaawg, maybe I didn't run it long enough. I did take it out on the water at varying speeds, but I would guess I didn't run it for 10 mins, so that is good information, maybe my test was too short I was curious how much oil the pump would hold. The buzzer is working on self test. I will try a longer test next time out.

Do you know if there is another way to fake a low oil warning to see if the sender (or whatever it might be called) is sending the signal to the buzzer?

Thanks again.

 

[jakedaawg]

That is the only test recommended. That I know of.

 

[batman99]

There are 2 x wire sets that need to be disconnected to disable the OMC engine / VRO system. One set of wires goes to the external oil tank. It runs the the low tank alarm. The other set of wires goes to the VRO bump. They are the "is oil pumping?" alarm. If one disconnects the VRO pump wiring, they are removing this alarm signal.

When I disabled the VRO system on my 1995 115 johnson, I simply:
- Disconnected wiring going to external oil tank
- Physically removed the external oil tank.
- Plugged its single oil line at the engine. Plug and clamp method.
- Disconnect wiring going to the VRO pump (on the engine).
- Did pre-mix at 50:1

Is alarm still working (that is also the over heat alarm)? To answer this question, I simply took tan wiring going to each head and with ignition key on (motor NOT running), I grounded this TAN wire. When wire is grounded, the alarm goes off. Thus, proving the head over heat alarm (very critical feature) still works.

Good U-Tube video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMr6m-aiuCc

Hope this helps.

 

[Pologreen]

Thanks batman99, I will look into testing for overheat alarm this weekend, that should give me some indication that alarms are triggered and getting to the buzzer. Appreciate the video share as well.