Have 1988 Johnson GT175 installed on boat with internal tank. I have
observed that when boat has been idle for a month or so it will not
start. Turns over with no desire to start. I do not pre-mix oil. I use
the VRO system as designed. I removed fuel line from motor and placed
hose in gas can. Removed about a gallon of dark oil-rich fuel before
it began to look like normal gas. Some of this was in the water
separator upstream of the primer bulb. I removed drain screws from the
carbs and drained pure 2 stroke oil from the carbs. Purged of oil it
will now start. At first I thought the primer bulb had to be bad for
oil to back up past it to the water separator. Now I am suspecting a
VRO membrane or leak of some sort. Do these symptoms sound like a VRO
failure?

Thanks!

Barry

On Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:21:18 GMT, (Barry
Minchey) wrote:

Do these symptoms sound like a VRO
failure?

I'm no VRO expert but it certainly sounds like a strong possibility.
A lot of guys with older VRO engines that aren't worth repairing just
bypass the VRO pump and mix oil with the gas in the correct
proportion.

Barry Minchey wrote:
Have 1988 Johnson GT175 installed on boat with internal tank. I have
observed that when boat has been idle for a month or so it will not
start. Turns over with no desire to start. I do not pre-mix oil. I use
the VRO system as designed. I removed fuel line from motor and placed
hose in gas can. Removed about a gallon of dark oil-rich fuel before
it began to look like normal gas. Some of this was in the water
separator upstream of the primer bulb. I removed drain screws from the
carbs and drained pure 2 stroke oil from the carbs. Purged of oil it
will now start. At first I thought the primer bulb had to be bad for
oil to back up past it to the water separator. Now I am suspecting a
VRO membrane or leak of some sort. Do these symptoms sound like a VRO
failure?

Thanks!

Barry

Back when this was a boating group, there were several discussions about
the VRO system and it's problems. The bottom line was most chose to
disconnect the oil tank and mix their fuel to avoid an engine failure.

You are right . This doesn't look like a boating group any more.



On Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:32:31 -0400, D wrote:

Barry Minchey wrote:
Have 1988 Johnson GT175 installed on boat with internal tank. I have
observed that when boat has been idle for a month or so it will not
start. Turns over with no desire to start. I do not pre-mix oil. I use
the VRO system as designed. I removed fuel line from motor and placed
hose in gas can. Removed about a gallon of dark oil-rich fuel before
it began to look like normal gas. Some of this was in the water
separator upstream of the primer bulb. I removed drain screws from the
carbs and drained pure 2 stroke oil from the carbs. Purged of oil it
will now start. At first I thought the primer bulb had to be bad for
oil to back up past it to the water separator. Now I am suspecting a
VRO membrane or leak of some sort. Do these symptoms sound like a VRO
failure?

Thanks!

Barry

Back when this was a boating group, there were several discussions about
the VRO system and it's problems. The bottom line was most chose to
disconnect the oil tank and mix their fuel to avoid an engine failure.