outboard

Any mercury/mariner outboard and johnson outboard mechanic on here. Only want responses from them. I’m in the market for a new boat looking for a 50-75 hp mercury/mariner or johnson outboard. Years ranging from 1980 to early 90’s.i know it’s a wide range of years but have been seeing that the oil injection systems are bad. Any truth to that?. If so what years are one to look for. Thanks guys.

Bullcan wrote:

Any mercury/mariner outboard and johnson outboard mechanic on here. Only want responses from them.

That might be a bit hard to confirm on an open forum. If you only wish to get an opinion from a known mechanic, it might be best to talk with one face to face. That way you will know exactly who you are talking to.

Iowaboy1 helped me out with some outboard issues, he’s been doing it a long time. Doesn’t Trumar work on that stuff too quite a bit, or is that just auto?

You can run the Johnson/Evenrude motors without the oil injection, you just have to premix the gas. The oil injection systems on those motors were a problem. I am not a mechanic, but I bet that any one of them could confirm it for you.

If the VRO system was made in the 90’s, leave it alone. By then, the early ‘bugs’ had resolved themselves.

I did quite a bit of research last year, as I was looking for a boat. That was the consensus among people who knew the VRO system well….

I had a 1992 Johnson 90 hp VRO that I traded off 3 years ago that had the original pump on it. Never had a problem with it.

nubbinbuck wrote:

If the VRO system was made in the 90’s, leave it alone. By then, the early ‘bugs’ had resolved themselves.

I did quite a bit of research last year, as I was looking for a boat. That was the consensus among people who knew the VRO system well….

Yup my 70 evinrude ran great with the vro system (or OMS system at that time). Seems most people think the 96+ engines have the better system but I have seen some people say 92+.

Here is some good info.

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/VRO.html

first off,there is absolutely nothing wrong with the oil injection on any of the motors you listed IF it has had reasonable care,ie,a high quality oil and no trash allowed to get into the reservoir by sloppy fill procedures or getting water in it,check the bottom of the oil reservoir,if you see crap in it,walk away,the damage has already started.

yes,there were some problems early on as mercury used a plastic gear on the oil pump that was driven off of the crankshaft and the gear would break,but since then they are metal.
a problem with all of them concerning the oil pump is that it will eventually seep oil past its driven shaft and leak into the exhaust housing and you would have to remove the powerhead to replace it,not a big deal,just time consuming.

the early vro set up was kind of hokey,but evolved into a great injection set up and is very reliable.

as far as the horsepower range you are looking at,the mercury and mercury built mariners were three cylinder engines,they had a poor press fit tolerance in their cylinders,so when the water pump got weak,the top cylinder would overheat at idle allowing the cylinder to be blown back by combustion pressures to the point the rings would grab it and pull it into the crankshaft destroying the engine.

the fix was to put in an oversize sleeve and “pin” it so it would not happen again,some were also loc-tited with green loc-tite.
this problem has since been addressed and no longer is an issue if the water pump is working properly,but,regardless of what the manufactures say,I always recommend impeller replacement every fourth year depending on usage,three years is better if it sits a lot as the impeller will take a “set” and not pump as it should.

if you are looking at mariners,the ones built by mercury are okay as you can still get parts for most of them,if it was built by yamaha or others,I have had problems finding even the water pump impeller if you dont have the model and serial number for it,just because it says mariner on it does not mean parts are interchangeable.

I personally prefer the four cylinder mercs as they are smooth and fairly quiet compared to their three cylinder counter parts.
the two and three cylinder johnsons are louder and shake quit a bit,but make dang good power as well as being reliable.

as far as years go,the later the better as most of the “bugs” have been worked out.

if I can help more,pm me,and good luck on your venture!!!

Geezzzz, ^^^ You make me proud to be an IOWEGIN!
and that bk dude talks us southerners down so much!

Here’s some great reading about VRO system from OMC. Bottom line is that most of the “issues” are bunk. I’ll bet more outboards were ruined because generic mechanics ripped out the VRO system based on “information” from their brother-in-law than actually failed because of mechanical problems.

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/VRO.html

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Here’s some great reading about VRO system from OMC. Bottom line is that most of the “issues” are bunk. I’ll bet more outboards were ruined because generic mechanics ripped out the VRO system based on “information” from their brother-in-law than actually failed because of mechanical problems.

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/VRO.html

Grouse

Grouse,you are spot on,it amazes me to this day how many times I see something in perfect working order be screwed up by as you say “generic mechanics”.

it can actually cost someone several times more to fix it right after it has been “made better” if it can be saved.

the biggest problem with anything mechanical whether its a car,outboard,airplane,motorcycle,etc. is lack of proper and timely maintenance along with cleanliness and the best gas and oil you can afford.
these things are investments in my book,and should be treated as such.

I am not trying to say that most of it cant be done by knowledgeable owners,but there comes a time and place to let the experts check it over for anything the typical owner may not be aware of that could cost big bucks down the road if it is missed.

I would have more time to fish and hunt if it werent for the ongoing refresher courses I take every year for this stuff,but I do it so every one else can.

VRO2 and newer are good.Just make sure the fuel/oil lines are not brittle/cracked and have the proper clamps(OMC ratchet style).Original VRO pumps had problems with the coating on the parts.Problem was fixed with the VRO2 unit.Should have a tag on the pump,and blue connectors.

Mercury “Auto Blend”is garbage.So is OMC “Accu-mix”.Those are the remote oil mixing setups,you are better off pre-mixing oil/fuel.Any Mercury engine mounted units are decent,as long as the components are in good shape.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Here’s some great reading about VRO system from OMC. Bottom line is that most of the “issues” are bunk. I’ll bet more outboards were ruined because generic mechanics ripped out the VRO system based on “information” from their brother-in-law than actually failed because of mechanical problems.

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/VRO.html

Grouse

Grouse we think alike hehe. I think I remember talking to you before I bought my first boat and was asking questions about my 96 evinrude 70. I love that motor. It’s going to my uncles house tomorrow so I pulled it out of the garage to run it on muffs to burn some of the fog out of it. Started up first turn of the key.