Thread: VRO unhook '94 johnson 50hp

I've always been interested in unhooking the VRO in my motor....but....

Not knowing what a VRO looks like I figured the easiest way to find it would be to trace the wires backwards from the oil reservoir until I came to some apparatus that would possibly be a VRO unit....

So...off I go tracing wires...from the oil reservoir...thru the lower housing...under the carbs...into a large wire harness wrapped in black electrical tape...a LOT of black electrical tape....

When I finally get the black tape off I find that the wires split and go in two different directions....one is spliced into another wire and goes under the motor where I can't see where it goes...the other goes into another wiring harness...of which.....chit....I'm tired of unwrapping black electrical tape...

There's gotta be an easier way to unhook this VRO...everyone says it's not that difficult........

Your VRO is part of the fuel pump. If you decide to do away with the auto mixture VRO and mix the fuel in your tank, disconnect the oil line at the engine and plug it so that the oil side of the VRO won't draw air. This converts the VRO to a straight fuel pump. Trace the warning system from the back of the VRO (3 wires I think) and disconnect the VRO electrical harness at the small rubber plug connector. Remove the oil tank, disconnecting the tank wiring at the engine.

After mixing the proper amount of oil with the fuel in the tank, remove the fuel hose at the engine, then pump the fuel primer bulb until the fuel exiting the hose reflects the tint of the color oil you added. Omitting this act will result in the engine running on pure gas (no lubrication) for a period of time.

The VRO is the black round looking pump that sits inside the air box right next to the carbs on the starter side. You simply unplug its wires, get rid of the oil tank, and cap off the oil intake hose or just cap off the metal end that sits on your fuel fitting outside your motor where your oil tank hose runs into. The VRO still acts as the fuel pump this way there are no additional additional parts to add or subract. It really is easy to do

I got distracted as i was typing and IBN beat me to the punch. Good thing he mentioned to pump out your straight fuel as I did not! LoL. Its an easy process.

Originally Posted by IBNFSHN

Your VRO is part of the fuel pump. If you decide to do away with the auto mixture VRO and mix the fuel in your tank, disconnect the oil line at the engine and plug it so that the oil side of the VRO won't draw air. This converts the VRO to a straight fuel pump. Trace the warning system from the back of the VRO (3 wires I think) and disconnect the VRO electrical harness at the small rubber plug connector. Remove the oil tank, disconnecting the tank wiring at the engine.

After mixing the proper amount of oil with the fuel in the tank, remove the fuel hose at the engine, then pump the fuel primer bulb until the fuel exiting the hose reflects the tint of the color oil you added. Omitting this act will result in the engine running on pure gas (no lubrication) for a period of time.

I have now found the VRO unit by tracing the oil line from the reservoir back to where it connects to the VRO...

The wires that I can see coming out of the VRO is not a "3 wire" harness (as you indicated) but instead are a "4 wire" harness and they are blue, brown, grey, and black.....and they are coming out of the bottom of the VRO... not the back...

Does this sound right for my motor...??

I want to be absolutely sure I'm doing this right the first time......powerheads are expensive........

Originally Posted by rnvinc

I have now found the VRO unit by tracing the oil line from the reservoir back to where it connects to the VRO...

The wires that I can see coming out of the VRO is not a "3 wire" harness (as you indicated) but instead are a "4 wire" harness and they are blue, brown, grey, and black.....and they are coming out of the bottom of the VRO... not the back...

Does this sound right for my motor...??

I want to be absolutely sure I'm doing this right the first time......powerheads are expensive........

Those are the correct wires. The earlier models used a 3 wire pump then they went to a 4 wire. I think they just added a ground.

You are guaranteed to have problems if you dont disconnect.

I think I can get it now...thanks to all for your help.....

I knew I could depend on you guys....

I finally got around to decarb and unhooking of the VRO on my '94 Johnson 50hp.....

I did the decarb yesterday.... and then undertook the VRO removal today.....

The decarb went well yesterday...

The VRO removal went well today...but....

Now it seems that the motor is idling higher than normal.....

Could this happen after a decarb and VRO removal...??

If this is normal....how do I idle the motor down...??..

There seem to be several adjustments on the right side of the motor and I want to be sure to adjust the correct one...

VRO= Very Rarely Oils. You made a good decision to unhook.