This is my first Johnson outboard (had merc's before). It is a '90 model 70
HP installed on a '88 tracker. The motor is oil injected and seems to smoke
excessively at idle. At cruise and WOT the smoke is not noticeable. It
seems to me that at idle the are exhaust ports just below the motor that are
out of the water and letting the smoke free into the air instead of in the
water. Is this common and normal? Are those really exhaust ports?

The exhaust ports are there to allow for a smooth idle. Allows for exhaust
to escape without all the backpressure of the water at idle.

As for the smoke, should not be excessive. You don't have oil in the gas
also I hope. Verify your plugs are clean and new and burning properly.
Other than that, there is no adjustment on the oil injection.

Tony

"MrDiesel" wrote in message
. com...
This is my first Johnson outboard (had merc's before). It is a '90 model
70
HP installed on a '88 tracker. The motor is oil injected and seems to
smoke
excessively at idle. At cruise and WOT the smoke is not noticeable. It
seems to me that at idle the are exhaust ports just below the motor that
are
out of the water and letting the smoke free into the air instead of in the
water. Is this common and normal? Are those really exhaust ports?

As Tony suggests but also;

(i) Check the overall oil consumption, pencil or texta mark the tank then
use a specific number of gals of fuel, refill the oil to the mark & see how
much it's actually using, 50 to 1 is about right any less & consider having the
VRO disconnected, then mix tcw3 oil in the fuel tank at 50 to 1.

(ii) Excess oil usage can happen if you have even a slight air leak in the
fuel supply line/connectors (it pump strokes more often, but pumps a full
stroke of oil every time). Also the OMC fuel line connectors are notorious for
giving bad sealing, so you might check or get checked.

K


Tony Thomas wrote:

The exhaust ports are there to allow for a smooth idle. Allows for exhaust
to escape without all the backpressure of the water at idle.

As for the smoke, should not be excessive. You don't have oil in the gas
also I hope. Verify your plugs are clean and new and burning properly.
Other than that, there is no adjustment on the oil injection.

Tony

"MrDiesel" wrote in message
. com...
This is my first Johnson outboard (had merc's before). It is a '90 model
70
HP installed on a '88 tracker. The motor is oil injected and seems to
smoke
excessively at idle. At cruise and WOT the smoke is not noticeable. It
seems to me that at idle the are exhaust ports just below the motor that
are
out of the water and letting the smoke free into the air instead of in the
water. Is this common and normal? Are those really exhaust ports?

Joe wrote:

(i) Check the overall oil consumption, pencil or texta mark the tank
then
use a specific number of gals of fuel, refill the oil to the mark & see
how
much it's actually using, 50 to 1 is about right any less & consider
having the
VRO disconnected, then mix tcw3 oil in the fuel tank at 50 to 1.

This will not work. If you find that you are using 50 to 1 through your VRO
system, you have a problem.
The VRO is designed to inject oil at varying rates, from 150 to 1 to 50 to
1. So, unless you are running full throttle all the time you will not see 50
to 1 being consumed through VRO.

It "used" to be that way but they found too many dead motors even by OMC
standards:-) They changed it to a constant 50 to 60 to 1 ages ago & changed the
name of course being OMC & all. It's still the same defective system it always
was.

Again if your OMC doesn't consume oil at at least the rate of 50 to 1 then
have the VRO disconnected & mix tcw3 in the tank at that rate.

The engine can run OK on less than 50 to 1 but it doesn't leave enough
residual oil in the engine to protect it from rust between uses. Used to be
even OMC recommended more oil for engines that were not run "regularly"
(whatever that means).



Best bet is disable the VRO and pre mix.

Absolutely great advice which should apply to all but a really newish 2
stroke OMC. (not including the Ficht )


I have found that Quicksilver oil burns very cleanly in the older Johnson's.

K

Joe wrote:

It "used" to be that way but they found too many dead motors even by
OMC
standards:-) They changed it to a constant 50 to 60 to 1 ages ago &
changed the
name of course being OMC & all. It's still the same defective system it
always
was.


Sorry K, but a 1990 VRO works between 150 to 1, and 50 to 1 as I stated.

Gee Joe no need to get tense over it. If that motor has the original pump
I guess it is a variable, but that only confirms it absolutely needs replacing
(should have been relpaced by OMC in a proper recall years ago). For years now
OMC would ONLY sell a replacement pump that is not "variable" because the old
variable delivery pumps did not deliver enough oil.

So again if "your" OMC engine of any vintage, doesn't consume oil at a
rate of about 50 or at worst 60 to 1 then by all means waste heaps of money &
get a "new" pump, then you'll find it does deliver oil at that rate, however a
better solution as agreed by all is to just disconnect the VRO & put oil in
the fuel tank(s).



Again if your OMC doesn't consume oil at at least the rate of 50 to 1 then
have the VRO disconnected & mix tcw3 in the tank at that rate.

Wrong.

As you wish Joe. Your opinion is as valid as mine & you have the same
rights as I do to put it, the difference is I at least give the reasons why I
hold mine.

K

"Joe" wrote in message
...
It "used" to be that way but they found too many dead motors even by
OMC
standards:-) They changed it to a constant 50 to 60 to 1 ages ago &
changed the
name of course being OMC & all. It's still the same defective system it
always
was.


Sorry K, but a 1990 VRO works between 150 to 1, and 50 to 1 as I stated.


Again if your OMC doesn't consume oil at at least the rate of 50 to 1
then
have the VRO disconnected & mix tcw3 in the tank at that rate.



The 1990 VRO ran a wide variable ratio, just as Joe stated. There was no
recall on the pump or any of the pumps. The original version, 19 years ago,
did not have a NO OIL alarm system and the factory offered a deal to upgrade
an original pump to an alarm equippped pump, called VRO 2..

In '92, the pump parts were changed to run a richer idle to give more rust
protection to the motor's internals, high speed mixture stayed the same
50:1. It was called the OMS pump for oil metering system and could be
identified by the blue-grey outlet fitting, The OMS still varied the mixture
from 75:1 at idle to 50:1 at high speeds. In average use an owner would see
about a 60:1 ratio, depending on the amount of time at different speeds. It
is used today on 2004 motors and is designed to be rebuildable, instead of
replaced as a complete assembly.

Almost 20 years later it is still in production and working OK, The only
maintenance needed is the same as your boat's fuel system, make sure hoses
and clamps are OK and that water does not get into the tank.

The hysteria over VRO is from the uneducated "mechanics" that do not know or
understand the system, or from folks who "think" they know something because
they heard it from their neighbor's best friend's cousin's brother-in-law.

Bill Grannis
service manager

It's no hysteria that a failed VRO will kill ya dead and that pre-mix will
always be correct. It's also a fact that it takes *7 seconds* to dump that
oil in before applying the gas.

I threw away the VRO in my Merc and premix anywhere between 50/1 to 40/1
depending on the math. (In other words I shoot for 50/1 and err on the side
of caution in a hurry - I'm *always* in a hurry)

My motor smokes a bit at idle........ but when I jam the throttle down and
the world explodes for the poor bastage on the back of the rope, I don't
have a worry in the world to 6k and beyond.........

-W

"Billgran" wrote in message news:HDSPa.79960

The hysteria over VRO is from the uneducated "mechanics" that do not know
or
understand the system, or from folks who "think" they know something
because
they heard it from their neighbor's best friend's cousin's brother-in-law.

Bill Grannis
service manager

Dead on target Bill. And absolutely correct.

"Billgran" wrote in message
om...

"Joe" wrote in message
...
It "used" to be that way but they found too many dead motors even
by
OMC
standards:-) They changed it to a constant 50 to 60 to 1 ages ago &
changed the
name of course being OMC & all. It's still the same defective system
it
always
was.


Sorry K, but a 1990 VRO works between 150 to 1, and 50 to 1 as I stated.


Again if your OMC doesn't consume oil at at least the rate of 50 to 1
then
have the VRO disconnected & mix tcw3 in the tank at that rate.



The 1990 VRO ran a wide variable ratio, just as Joe stated. There was no
recall on the pump or any of the pumps. The original version, 19 years
ago,
did not have a NO OIL alarm system and the factory offered a deal to
upgrade
an original pump to an alarm equippped pump, called VRO 2..

In '92, the pump parts were changed to run a richer idle to give more rust
protection to the motor's internals, high speed mixture stayed the same
50:1. It was called the OMS pump for oil metering system and could be
identified by the blue-grey outlet fitting, The OMS still varied the
mixture
from 75:1 at idle to 50:1 at high speeds. In average use an owner would
see
about a 60:1 ratio, depending on the amount of time at different speeds.
It
is used today on 2004 motors and is designed to be rebuildable, instead of
replaced as a complete assembly.

Almost 20 years later it is still in production and working OK, The only
maintenance needed is the same as your boat's fuel system, make sure hoses
and clamps are OK and that water does not get into the tank.

The hysteria over VRO is from the uneducated "mechanics" that do not know
or
understand the system, or from folks who "think" they know something
because
they heard it from their neighbor's best friend's cousin's brother-in-law.

Bill Grannis
service manager

Billgran wrote:

"Joe" wrote in message
...
It "used" to be that way but they found too many dead motors even by
OMC
standards:-) They changed it to a constant 50 to 60 to 1 ages ago &
changed the
name of course being OMC & all. It's still the same defective system it
always
was.


Sorry K, but a 1990 VRO works between 150 to 1, and 50 to 1 as I stated.


Again if your OMC doesn't consume oil at at least the rate of 50 to 1
then
have the VRO disconnected & mix tcw3 in the tank at that rate.


The 1990 VRO ran a wide variable ratio, just as Joe stated. There was no
recall on the pump or any of the pumps. The original version, 19 years ago,
did not have a NO OIL alarm system and the factory offered a deal to upgrade
an original pump to an alarm equippped pump, called VRO 2..

In '92, the pump parts were changed to run a richer idle to give more rust
protection to the motor's internals, high speed mixture stayed the same
50:1. It was called the OMS pump for oil metering system and could be
identified by the blue-grey outlet fitting, The OMS still varied the mixture
from 75:1 at idle to 50:1 at high speeds. In average use an owner would see
about a 60:1 ratio, depending on the amount of time at different speeds.

Thanks Bill so it's not been possible to buy a variable pump even as a
replacement part?? because the original were defective in their design??
& even OMC say all 2 strokes need 50 or 60 to 1 to ensure a reasonable service
life??? Yes??

It
is used today on 2004 motors and is designed to be rebuildable, instead of
replaced as a complete assembly.

Almost 20 years later it is still in production and working OK,

I guess your view is, it works "OK"?? may I say it's not "OK" but a very
bad design which over time lets less & less oil into the mix, such that the
alarm system can't detect it. You & I have had this argument over many years &
we shouldn't repeat, save I need to keep warning people about VRO & I guess you
need to keep reassuring them, that's fine we disagree.


The only
maintenance needed is the same as your boat's fuel system, make sure hoses
and clamps are OK and that water does not get into the tank.

The hysteria over VRO is from the uneducated "mechanics" that do not know or
understand the system, or from folks who "think" they know something because
they heard it from their neighbor's best friend's cousin's brother-in-law.

The difference is if you check the archives you'll find many times we've
described in detail exactly why & how VRO fails & why & how the alarm doesn't
work, on no occasion have the OMC dealer spruiker brigade ever dealt with it &
they won't because they can't.

You need to add this as you always do as if you have any credibility
left!!! & again I suppose I should reluctantly say that the OMC trained
mechanics are not even basic mechanics they usually have no qualifications nor
understandings other than those fed to them by OMC at market spruik training
courses. They have no understanding of how engines in general work much less
the very basic OMC 2 strokes & this is how they managed to keep the VRO
deception going so long & then sell a few known defective Fichts to
unsuspecting consumers, they're aggressive marketers nothing more.

The main thing to keep in mind about these people is that they helped rip
thousands of consumers off & managed to play a pivotal part in the biggest
bankruptcy ever seen in recreational boating, during the biggest recreational
spending boom in history, not a chpt 11 restructure but a flat out windup!!

Even today they still claim that VRO or it's renamed descendants are fine &
yes beyond belief even still keep a straight face as they spruik the renamed
Ficht for Bombardier!!! Try to remember Bill we were right about Ficht & you
were wrong, it cost many boaters their recreational happiness, retirees US$1.3
billion that's Billion Bill & got 7000 people chucked out of work, good work
you blokes keep it up.

Again if "your" OMC 2 stroke doesn't actually consume oil at a rate or 50
to 60 to 1 then disconnect the VRO & put tcw3 in the fuel tank, because one day
VRO will without any warning whatsoever wreck your engine.

K



Bill Grannis
service manager

As you wish Joe. Your opinion is as valid as mine & you have the same
rights as I do to put it, the difference is I at least give the reasons
why I
hold mine.

There's no *opinion* on a technical fact.
A properly working 1990 VRO pump will never show 50-1 usage.