Removing the auto oil injection

[Todd2]

So I was out yesterday a good distance from the ramp and my alarm went off on my 40 HP Tracker.  I trolled in, got home and found a cool video that showed me how to fix it. The problem was the magnet attached to the oil float inside the oil tank had separated. So I had to remove the tank, drain it, remove the float/ magnet, clean it up, reglue, reassemble, refill the oil. 

 

All is good, but now I'm wondering I should just bypass the auto oiler and pre-mix to avoid issues like this in the future. I see some videos on how to do it..just curious if I should or not? Seems to be solid arguments both ways..Any thoughts?

 

[Way2slow]

Personally, I like oil injection.  A large percentage of the failures blamed on oil injection are just a person seeing it on the motor and saying that's what caused the problem. 

Now there are motors that have defects that make them more subject to failure, like some Mercs bust a plastic gear, the older OMC.s, prior to the late 90's early 2000's with the four wire pump, but unless your motor is one that's on the list of being prone to failure, disconnecting it is totally what ever makes "you" feel better. 

Do a little research on your motor and decide for yourself. 

[Todd2]

So mine is a 2003 Tracker by Mercury...seems I'm right on the edge from some old threads I've read. Where can I find this list?

[Way2slow]

Well, there is no "list" per say.  It's formed by you doing the research and making your own notes.  Since you only have the one motor, you just do the web searching for that motor and see what kind of history it has. 

Then you have to weed out those 100 people that read about someone having a problem versus the one that actually did have a problem.  One person can have an actual failure and post it on a site.  A large number of the people on the site reads about that one problem, and the next time there is a question about that motor, they all post about the problem, making it sound like half the people on the site had problems with that motor, when it was only one person that actually had the problem.   A motor might have a 5% failure rate for a certain problem, but when the internet gets through with it, it sounds like it's a 95% failure rate.

 

[billmac]

You'll have to find instructions specific to your own setup.  Mine had an autoblend unit that was simple to take out. Others are more complicated.

[WRB]

Do you know the oil to gasoline ratio to mix, 50 to 1 or 100 to 1?

Racers liked to use mixed fuel to optimize 140 octane aircraft gasoline to oil mix, I can't see any reason for post 2000 OB's with auto oil injection to use pre mix gasoline for recreational fishing engines.

How long have you owned your 40 hp Merc engine? 2003 is 16 years of use without frying a piston, why change?

Tom

[Todd2]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Do you know the oil to gasoline ratio to mix, 50 to 1 or 100 to 1?

Racers liked to use mixed fuel to optimize 140 octane aircraft gasoline to oil mix, I can't see any reason for post 2000 OB's with auto oil injection to use pre mix gasoline for recreational fishing engines.

How long have you owned your 40 hp Merc engine? 2003 is 16 years of use without frying a piston, why change?

Tom

I don't know the ratio, I'd have to find that IF I decide to go this route. I've only owned it for 5 years..no problems with the engine. I guess my thought is..since it is 16 years old, if something were to fail (oil pump), would an alarm sound in time for me to not do damage? The low oil alarm apparently works fine, since it went off with the defective float. 

 

I don't burn a lot of gas. I probably only refill my tank 5 times a year so the premixing wouldn't be much of a hassle. 

 

Back about 10 or 15 years ago, I did fry a piston in an older outboard.. It wasn't the oil pump but a cracked hose that I didn't catch in time. So I guess that's still in my mind.

[WRB]

The memories of pre mix outboards are comming back to me, unhooking the gas line to run the carbs dry, draining the fuel tanks to clean out the varnish, clogged fuel filters, fouled spark plugs, rebuilding carburators....so much fun not to mention oil spills.

It's your choice.

Tom

 

[Hammer 4]

Plus..pre mixing is a pain..I'd keep the oil injection..

[dickenscpa]

I have a 92 60HP Johnson on a '92 16 1/2 Bumble Bee so mine was in the prone failure zone apparently. When I bought that boat the first 6 weeks of ownership saw that alarm go off EVERY single time on the water. I disconnected mine and started premixing oil/gas 26-27 years ago and never a worry.

 

I almost didn't buy the boat because it came with a Johnson instead of Mercury. My Mercury before that was very cold collared but this Johnson to this day starts first start everytime. It sits in the garage Dec-Apr (I'm a CPA can't fish during tax season) and Apr 16th or 17th it starts right up even with the old gas in it. I do put some stabilizer in it every Dec.

 

As a matter of fact I filled up my 10 gal tank in May 2017. I had a heart attack in late may 2017 and my wife wasn't keen on me being out on the boat by myself for a bit. So the boat sat until about two weeks ago. Also why there was virtually no posting from me during that time. I checked the carbs and they were clean as a whistle and changed LU oil and have taken 6 fishing excursions in the last 2 weeks and got 1/2 tank of that gas left. It was non ethanol as well.

 

Now here's a caveat - this boat barely sips gas. I have an 8.1 mile drive to my favorite dock on Old Hickory/Cumberland River and don't do a lot of driving to get to my spots. I'll ride my Harley 80mph in interstate rush hour but speed on the water scares me. I give my boat just enough throttle to get on plane, tilt and back off throttle a bit and I'm at about 25mph and that's fine with me.

 

I got brave once and decided to see how fast it would go and it wasn't floored and I was doing 37mph and about soiled myself and chickened out. I have a rational or irrational fear of air getting under the front and flipping me. So I'm a creeper. LOL!

[boostr]

On 8/17/2019 at 9:48 PM, Way2slow said:

Well, there is no "list" per say.  It's formed by you doing the research and making your own notes.  Since you only have the one motor, you just do the web searching for that motor and see what kind of history it has. 

Then you have to weed out those 100 people that read about someone having a problem versus the one that actually did have a problem.  One person can have an actual failure and post it on a site.  A large number of the people on the site reads about that one problem, and the next time there is a question about that motor, they all post about the problem, making it sound like half the people on the site had problems with that motor, when it was only one person that actually had the problem.   A motor might have a 5% failure rate for a certain problem, but when the internet gets through with it, it sounds like it's a 95% failure rate.

 

Say what now...