# Johnson VRO Pump Problems Please Help!!!



## Rob The Rude (Nov 12, 2005)

I am working on a friends 96 150 Johnson that has been sitting up since last summer, when I went to drain the carbs they were full of premix oil, all six of them and the fuel filter also. Cleaned all spark plugs, and carbs then pumped the primer bulb till it was hard and the carbs were full. The engine finally started and burned off the extra oil, it ran good until the carbs started to run out of fuel. I pumped the carbs full again and it did the same thing. Also noticed that there was no fuel running through the line while it was running. Seems to me that the fuel pump side of the VRO pump is not working. Does anybody know what would have caused all the oil in the carbs, would someone cranking the engine without the fuel pump working cause the carbs to fill with oil or is there another problem? Or could the oil problem cause the fuel pump to malfunction? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I think The VRO Pump is bad but would like more input from someone that has more experiance than myself. Thanx


----------



## thundertrout (Jun 22, 2006)

its possiable that the gas evaporated and the oil didnt.im no mechanic
but theirs a couple guys on here that would have a better explanation
than what i said.jay


----------



## Sonnysmarine (Mar 18, 2007)

The fuel pump side of the diaphram in probally bad, the pump should stoke around once every 4-5 sec. at idle, The oil side has another diaphram maybe pumping, maybe double time with oil and no fuel, run it and see if the pump is stoking,(clicking) real fast, you can put your fingers on it and feel it . The fuel pump side of the diaphram is probally broke, Never run a motor for over a minute or so at idle or higher speeds by just squeezing the primer bulb, forcing fuel to make engine run, but may not be getting oil unless running off a premix tank. Have seen people make it back in by squeezing primer bulb most of the way back home till motor siezed from no oil. If you dump oil in the gas at proper ratio no problem running that way, On a OMC engine, other vary depending on oiling system Every one in my opion should always carry enough oil to premix gas to get back home in case of a oiling problem,or a warning light, if running a two stroke or extra oil on board running a 4 stroke. Even two stroke Efi , HPDI, optimax, with injectors, cheaper to clean injections & fuel system than buy a fried power head. Most Factory powerheads now in the range of $ 4500.00 to $8000.00, plus labor and other parts to make the job complete. Most can be rebuild at a cheaper cost.

The bad part the omc fuel/oil pump is now close to $275.00 + tax. There are test that can be run to check before buying a new pump to make sure, and ALWAYS run no oil test on a new pump on premix fuel to be sure, And need to run a consumption test also on a new pump, Have seen them bad out of the box, only a couple but in one takes one to fry a power head, to no rebuildable shape.
Sorry so long winded and spelling or gramer, its been and going to be along week getting ready for easter weekend.


----------



## RedXCross (Aug 7, 2005)

Sonnysmarine,

Gave you some good advice, I can tell you I had an 18' BayHawk w/ 90 VRO.(same year model) Rude, and I do not not want to tell you what Happened. The VRO pump failed and blew the powerhead one of 2 on that model.. Becareful and check what Sonny offered..I wish you luck..


----------



## kraymond (Aug 12, 2005)

The diaprams on the replacement VRO pumps are suppose to made of a better material that is alchohol resistant and less prone to failure.


----------



## Rob The Rude (Nov 12, 2005)

Thanx Sonnysmarine, just wanted to hear from someone that works on these, I have been doing automotive for 17 years and these are a little different lol. But they are not as complicated, and I enjoy working on boats unlike cars. Again thanx for the confirmation.


----------



## Hop (May 21, 2004)

Don't mean to Hi-jack your thread but, will a stopped up fuel filter cause 
a no oil light to come on? This weekend i was running my rig and it died.. I fired it back up and it would only rev to about 2k before dieing again. I fired it back up and then the no oil light came on so i killed it. Felt the primer bulb and it was soft. So I fired it back up and pumped the bulb and it ran fine. So I took out the filter and ran the hose straight over to the engine and it ran fine all the way back to the dock. Is it possible to have the VRO work one minute and not the next? I'm kinda gun shy now after the no oil light came on. This is on a 2000 Johnson JU130- SLP (130hp oil injection) J130PLSS
Thanks, Hop


----------



## Dutch Treat (May 21, 2004)

Hop said:


> Is it possible to have the VRO work one minute and not the next? I'm kinda gun shy now after the no oil light came on.


Yessir, it is possible...happened to me offshore. The VRO quit like someone flipped a switch. I forced it to run for a few minutes by pumping the bulb but fortunately quit before I ruined the powerhead.(dumb luck) Thank goodness for twins, we got home OK, just took a while.

The good news is that the VRO is not difficult to change. The bad news is that you need to part with nearly 300 to get the dang thing.

Bob


----------



## Hop (May 21, 2004)

DOH! I forgot to add "and start working again." to that statment.
I'm pretty sure it was just a clogged fuel filter.. Like I said I ran without the filter all the way back to the dock with no alarms and it ran fine. I may just buy a new VRO pump to carry around incase. 
--Hop


----------



## Sonnysmarine (Mar 18, 2007)

Not normal for one to do that, it is driven by pulse of the pistons in the engine.
More likely if the anti siphon valve at the top of the pick up in the tank, Looks like a long aluminum hose barb, ties in at a 90 deg. to the fuel pick up, and the hose goes on the other end, might have closed on you. THey are real bad about it. THey have a spring and ball in them. Sometimes will not let the motor run over 4000 rpms or so, or can just not let the flow at all. If the primer bulb is getting sucked flat when it happnes then fuel is not getting to it, check problems up stram of it. THe primer bulb will not stay hard, after you prime it, when fuel starts to flow it will be soft, as fuel flows thru it ,NOT Sucked in flat. And possible the screen in the bottm of the tank sucked up some junk in it, or had a very amount of water in the tank get sucked up, if was hitting waves or turning at the time it happened. Very few tanks do not have some kind of small amounts of trash or water in them. I have even found pieces of wood slivers in a anti-shipon valve in them. Found the seals of oil bottles in the pickup that got into the tank on premix motors, allways tear off the top seals completely. Have found peices of trash, aluminum shaving, or plastic in brand new tanks from the factory.
After getting a no oil light always squeeze the oil primer bulb on a omc engine, If it gets a air bubble in it will give a light, but should not under normal conditions, the oil tank has a screen in it, on omc remove the 4 torks screws and remove the pickup and take off and clean, with carb cleaner, if it has gelled oil on it dump the tank and clean, on a Merc, it is on the oil tank pickup with the two hoses, on Yamaha a replaceable one on the bottom of the tank. Should checks these yearly for maintence, as replacing fuel filters, or cleaning the ones that are cleanable.



Hop said:


> Don't mean to Hi-jack your thread but, will a stopped up fuel filter cause
> a no oil light to come on? This weekend i was running my rig and it died.. I fired it back up and it would only rev to about 2k before dieing again. I fired it back up and then the no oil light came on so i killed it. Felt the primer bulb and it was soft. So I fired it back up and pumped the bulb and it ran fine. So I took out the filter and ran the hose straight over to the engine and it ran fine all the way back to the dock. Is it possible to have the VRO work one minute and not the next? I'm kinda gun shy now after the no oil light came on. This is on a 2000 Johnson JU130- SLP (130hp oil injection) J130PLSS
> Thanks, Hop


----------



## Hop (May 21, 2004)

Thanks For heads-up! I'm going to pull the pickup from the oil tank this weekend and have a look-see. I've never been able to pump the oil primer bulb on this rig since i've owned it. It's allways stayed hard and I've never let the oil level go below 1/2.
--Hop


----------



## floundergigging (Jul 13, 2005)

I had the vro pulled off of my motor and had a regular fuel pump installed. I now premix my gas. The cost of vro removal and normal fuel pump installed is cheaper than vro replacement. Now if the engine is running I know that it is getting oil. It just seems to me that too many powerheads being replaced on motors that are not that old. I also see lots of old motors still running today that were pre vro. Just my 2 cents. I had Kevin's boat and Motor on telephone close to Hobby do the work. He is located next to Mike Hood. Good Mechanic and a very honest nice fellow. 
Good luck with whatever you do. Tight Lines


----------



## 86228 (Apr 28, 2006)

I would run premix untill you get it figured out. If you mixed E-10 fuel and the old formula you could have filtration problems. Remove the fuel line from the vro pump and pump a quart or so into a jar and look at it. iof you see a bunch of specks carry lots of fuel filters untill it clears up. Or pump the tank and have it properly disposed of.


----------



## Pocketfisherman (May 30, 2005)

Here's a great resource to the VRO system: http://www.continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/VRO.html

Running Premix is mandatory until you get it figured out. Don't overlook the fuel line and primer bulb between the tank and motor. The primer bulbs go bad, the valves inside fail, and can block fuel flow. The OEM bulbs last about twice as long as Tempo brand when you replace them. Also make sure to use fuel line that is rated for Ethanol, old fuel lines were not. They'll become soft, gummy, and fail with ehtanol laced fuels.


----------



## Hop (May 21, 2004)

Sweet!! That really cleared up how things work! I think all my problems came from a lack of fuel. Thanks for that link. I've replaced my fuel filter and I'm gonna give it another run this weekend. Should I run my spare 12 gallon tank premixed with the VRO still hooked up??? I'm not sure if it will run right with that much oil in it. I know they add more oil for the break in period but, is it double the norm? Like I said, After I by-passed my fuel/water seperator it ran fine all the way back to the dock. 3-4 miles even had it WOT.
--Hop


----------



## Pocketfisherman (May 30, 2005)

Hop said:


> Sweet!! That really cleared up how things work! I think all my problems came from a lack of fuel. Thanks for that link. I've replaced my fuel filter and I'm gonna give it another run this weekend. Should I run my spare 12 gallon tank premixed with the VRO still hooked up??? I'm not sure if it will run right with that much oil in it. I know they add more oil for the break in period but, is it double the norm? Like I said, After I by-passed my fuel/water seperator it ran fine all the way back to the dock. 3-4 miles even had it WOT.
> --Hop


 Double oil is the norm for Break In. The motor may idle rough, and stumble transitioning to plane, but it won't hurt it. At worst, you'll have to clean the spark plugs after you get it all cleared up.


----------

