Outboard oil usage - Moderated Discussion Areas

  ContinuousWave
  Whaler
  Moderated Discussion Areas
  ContinuousWave: Whaler Repairs/Mods
  Outboard oil usage

search | FAQ | profile | register | author help

Author Topic:   Outboard oil usage

Teak Oil posted 08-12-2012 09:53 PM ET (US)
I am in my first summer with an oil injected outboard (1992 225 Evinrude on a 22 Outrage) and I am curious if my oil usage is similar to other users here.
I have used my 225 for almost 50 hours (48 I believe) and have used about four gallons of oil. This seems a little high to me but I have no basis to compare it to. Most of these hours are at cruising speeds, because at no wake speeds I usually run my 8hp kicker.
At startup this motor will smoke out the entire dock area, the smoke is so bad it is almost embarrassing. Once running there is a slight blue color at idle out the exhaust and fairly strong oil smell in the exhaust.
My plugs are fine and have never fouled. Does my oil usage seem about average to you fellas?

jimh posted 08-12-2012 10:00 PM ET (US)
I don't want to spoil the party but you do not have an oil-injecting outboard engine. You have an oil-mixing outboard engine. The oil is metered and mixed with the gasoline. It is not injected into the engine anywhere else that I can recall--I owned a similar engine for several years.
Depending on which oil mixing pump you have, the oil use will vary in proportion to the fuel use in a ratio of about 1:50.
jimh posted 08-12-2012 10:02 PM ET (US)
An excellent source of information on the OMC oil mixing system is right here in the REFERENCE section; see
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/VRO.html
The original pump on a c.1992 might be oiling as low as 1:70 if you run the engine at lower speeds most of the time. The replacement pumps will tend to be more like 1:50.
jimh posted 08-12-2012 10:04 PM ET (US)
On my E225TXENR 1992 225-HP Evinrude there was just a bit of smoke on start-up. When running there was typically no smoke visible. The amount of smoke will vary greatly with the quality of the oil. If you use a high-qualty low-soot oil like Evinrude XD50 you will have much less smoke.
contender posted 08-13-2012 12:21 AM ET (US)
Teak: Its not so much how much oil you used, but how much gas did you use with the oil?
Tom W Clark posted 08-13-2012 12:45 AM ET (US)

quote:
I have used my 225 for almost 50 hours (48 I believe) and have used about four gallons of oil.
I don't believe that for a minute. A 1992 Evinrude 225 will probably be burning at least 10 GPH at cruising speed so you've gone through maybe 480 gallons of gas, or more? And only 4 gallons of oil?
That is a minimum 120:1 ratio and that's only half the oil consumption I would expect.
JMARTIN posted 08-13-2012 01:04 AM ET (US)
It's a 1992 designed to run on TWC3 oil. Use a brand name TWC3 oil and spend extra money on fuel additive if you have to use ethanol. It does not have as much poop to it.
I am not ashamed at my conservation efforts of using a 20 year old motor.
Tom is correct about your oil consumption.
John
gusgus posted 08-13-2012 02:45 AM ET (US)
Teak, I was in the same quandary last week.
I had used about a gallon of oil and thought it was excessive. I did the math and saw it was at 45/1 mixture, not to bad considering.
But mine smokes like a chimney at start-up and at idle lays out a slight smoke screen. It is a two smoker, after all.
weekendwarrior posted 08-13-2012 03:16 PM ET (US)
225HP motor, not 225 gal of gas.
pcrussell50 posted 08-13-2012 03:43 PM ET (US)

quote:
At startup this motor will smoke out the entire dock area, the smoke is so bad it is almost embarrassing. Once running there is a slight blue color at idle out the exhaust and fairly strong oil smell in the exhaust.
A little hyperbole in the bolded part, perchance?
My old carbureted 2-strokes (MUCH older than yours), start with a big puff of blue smoke, too--probably as much as yours does. In objective reality, it comes nowhere near "smoking out" the dock. And in my subjective reality, doesn't embarrass me a single tittle.
Amazing how two organisms of the same species can have such different perceptions of the the same phenomenon.
-Peter
kwik_wurk posted 08-13-2012 04:05 PM ET (US)
I've already used 4.5 gallons of oil in my 2S 90hp this summer. (No hour meter, I don't want to know. Best day was ~100nm.)
You're doing awesome with 4 gallons if you're running a 225hp.
But really, Tom has the numbers on you; you should be using more.
(And yes, my 2S motors occasionally make their own fog banks on start-up.)
Teak Oil posted 08-13-2012 05:42 PM ET (US)
Next year I will keep more accurate numbers, I may have used five gallons of oil I am not sure. I have used a combination of quart and gallon bottles and I am working from memory.
Peter I have been boating for 25 years, I know how much an outboard smokes at startup and this one smokes a LOT when she is cold. It's even worse than a Mercury lol.
I am using TCW3 oil, I have not seen any oil for outboards that was not TCW3 rated for many years. After I have used this oil up I will switch brands to see if it helps with the smoke issue any.
Tom you are probably close with your fuel estimate, though I think it is a little high but you are assuming all of my time was at cruise. While that is true for the majority of the run time, on short no wake areas I use the V6 because it maneuvers much better than my kicker.
I would have to guess my usage is in the 350 - 400 gallon range for the V6 and the rest of my fuel through the kicker, which has about 70 hours on it thus far this year. Using 400 gallons of fuel and five gallons of oil gets me roughly 80-1, which is fairly close to what I would expect since the VRO system varies from 50-1 to about 120-1.
Jim since you had the same engine I thought you might have kept some records of your usage that you could share.
Buckda posted 08-13-2012 08:07 PM ET (US)
Teak -
Have you ever done Sal A's "decarbonizing" treatment to that motor?
My Johnson 130's smoke like a chimney at startup as well. When I re-install them on the boat, one of the first things I'll do is do a shock treatment and get the carbon build-up out. I don't know what kind of oil the P.O. used on my boat...but as JimH stated, a higher grade of oil has helped with the smoke on my classic two stroke motors..the 1972 Merc50 hardly smokes at all now, and that little Johnson Seahorse doesn't smoke a lick after startup.
Dave
jimh posted 08-13-2012 11:45 PM ET (US)
My 1992 Evinrude E225TXENR used oil in a ratio of about 1:50 to gasoline, and sometimes a bit less if we ran a lot at low speeds. I thought I said that already.
According to the REFERENCE section article on the VRO
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/VRO.html
if the VRO mixing pump is failing there is a tendency to use more oil.
By the way, I sold my 1992 Evinrude E225TXENR about four years ago. I recommended to the buyer that he consider replacing the VRO pump. At the time I sold it the VRO pump was working fine, but I cautioned the buyer that I thought it would be prudent to replace it just due to the age. The engine was at that time 16 years old. I believe the present owner ran the engine for three more years, taking it to about 19-years-old, and at that time he began to have a problem with the VRO pump. I believe he replaced it. I think a service life of 19-years is reasonable for a VRO pump, and particularly considering the gasoline fuel quality we have today, which I would say is poor quality in many cases. The pump may have been done in by a dose of too much ethanol. The cost of the VRO replacement pump is a bit steep, about $500 now at retail. But that is much less than the cost of a new engine.
I never considered pre-mixing the fuel and disabling the VRO. At the rate a 225-HP uses fuel and with a 77-gallon tank, you would end up having to mix a large quantity of oil into the tank, and I don't find that to be attractive.
Teak Oil posted 08-14-2012 09:44 PM ET (US)
I believe this pump has been replaced once by the previous owner. Buckda that is a good idea, I will probably do a shock treatment this fall.
Thanks
gusgus posted 08-15-2012 01:30 PM ET (US)
decarbonizing sounds like a good idea.
Which product is the best and safest? Should a boat owner stay with the motor manufacturers recommendation? Or?
NewportMe posted 08-15-2012 02:53 PM ET (US)
GUSGUS,
I will not comment on what brand of oil is the safest, but I will say that when I switched from XD30 to XD50 in my 1989 225 Evinrude the difference in start up smoke was noticeably less.
Bruce
wannabe posted 08-15-2012 09:34 PM ET (US)
I have a 1988 130hp Yamaha two stroke with precision blend oil mixing that I bought this summer. As a recent purchaser of my boat I have been running it alot and have put about four gallons of oil in the reservior. I was useing Yamalube at 30 dollars a gallon and recently switched to West Marine Premium at 15 dollars a gallon if you buy it on sale at 50 percent off. I have noticed a definate increase of smoke at start up. The Yamalube is a semi synthetic and I am unsure of the West Marine product. I was being told that I was just paying for the name(Yamaha) and I was overpaying. I am not so sure and am considering going back to Yamalube. Is there any high quality, proven semi synthetics in the 20 dollar range that cuts down the smoke?
Drew
Buckda posted 08-15-2012 09:52 PM ET (US)
We use SeaFoam in the fuel of all of our carb'd 2-stroke outboard motors with good results....and you can simply run a "shock dose" through the fuel....of course, each engine brand has their brand of fuel treatment. I like the 2+4 conditioner once you've deep cleaned your engine...the fuel conditioner product helps keep the carbon build up out - but you still need to decarb the motor once a season.

Buckda posted 08-15-2012 09:54 PM ET (US)
Here's the method I follow:
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/007656.html
Ridge Runner posted 08-16-2012 09:41 AM ET (US)
I have used Pennzoil Marine 100% Synthetic Outboard 2-Cycle with very good results in the low smoking department. The cost is about $80 for the 3 - 1 gallon box, or about $26.00 a gallon.
Pennziol does make a Syn Blend XLF 2-Cycle Oil. The cost is about $51 for the 3 - 1 gallon box, or about $17.00 a gallon. I have not tried this oil.

davej14 posted 08-16-2012 11:02 AM ET (US)
I have run Penzoil Full Synthetic and Penzoil Semi-Synthetic and noticed no change in the amount of smoke between them. Now I have gone back to Merc Premium Plus 2-cycle oil to save money with no real difference in smoke output. I have a 2000 Merc 75 2-stroke ELPTO (carb'd).
wannabe posted 08-16-2012 08:56 PM ET (US)
Thanks, I will look into the pennzoil.

Hop to:

Contact Us | RETURN to ContinuousWave Top Page

Powered by: Ultimate Bulletin Board, Freeware Version 2000
Purchase our Licensed Version- which adds many more features!
© Infopop Corporation (formerly Madrona Park, Inc.), 1998 - 2000.

Author	Topic: Outboard oil usage
Teak Oil	posted 08-12-2012 09:53 PM ET (US) I am in my first summer with an oil injected outboard (1992 225 Evinrude on a 22 Outrage) and I am curious if my oil usage is similar to other users here. I have used my 225 for almost 50 hours (48 I believe) and have used about four gallons of oil. This seems a little high to me but I have no basis to compare it to. Most of these hours are at cruising speeds, because at no wake speeds I usually run my 8hp kicker. At startup this motor will smoke out the entire dock area, the smoke is so bad it is almost embarrassing. Once running there is a slight blue color at idle out the exhaust and fairly strong oil smell in the exhaust. My plugs are fine and have never fouled. Does my oil usage seem about average to you fellas?
jimh	posted 08-12-2012 10:00 PM ET (US) I don't want to spoil the party but you do not have an oil-injecting outboard engine. You have an oil-mixing outboard engine. The oil is metered and mixed with the gasoline. It is not injected into the engine anywhere else that I can recall--I owned a similar engine for several years. Depending on which oil mixing pump you have, the oil use will vary in proportion to the fuel use in a ratio of about 1:50.
jimh	posted 08-12-2012 10:02 PM ET (US) An excellent source of information on the OMC oil mixing system is right here in the REFERENCE section; see http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/VRO.html The original pump on a c.1992 might be oiling as low as 1:70 if you run the engine at lower speeds most of the time. The replacement pumps will tend to be more like 1:50.
jimh	posted 08-12-2012 10:04 PM ET (US) On my E225TXENR 1992 225-HP Evinrude there was just a bit of smoke on start-up. When running there was typically no smoke visible. The amount of smoke will vary greatly with the quality of the oil. If you use a high-qualty low-soot oil like Evinrude XD50 you will have much less smoke.
contender	posted 08-13-2012 12:21 AM ET (US) Teak: Its not so much how much oil you used, but how much gas did you use with the oil?
Tom W Clark	posted 08-13-2012 12:45 AM ET (US) quote: I have used my 225 for almost 50 hours (48 I believe) and have used about four gallons of oil. I don't believe that for a minute. A 1992 Evinrude 225 will probably be burning at least 10 GPH at cruising speed so you've gone through maybe 480 gallons of gas, or more? And only 4 gallons of oil? That is a minimum 120:1 ratio and that's only half the oil consumption I would expect.
JMARTIN	posted 08-13-2012 01:04 AM ET (US) It's a 1992 designed to run on TWC3 oil. Use a brand name TWC3 oil and spend extra money on fuel additive if you have to use ethanol. It does not have as much poop to it. I am not ashamed at my conservation efforts of using a 20 year old motor. Tom is correct about your oil consumption. John
gusgus	posted 08-13-2012 02:45 AM ET (US) Teak, I was in the same quandary last week. I had used about a gallon of oil and thought it was excessive. I did the math and saw it was at 45/1 mixture, not to bad considering. But mine smokes like a chimney at start-up and at idle lays out a slight smoke screen. It is a two smoker, after all.
weekendwarrior	posted 08-13-2012 03:16 PM ET (US) 225HP motor, not 225 gal of gas.
pcrussell50	posted 08-13-2012 03:43 PM ET (US) quote: At startup this motor will smoke out the entire dock area, the smoke is so bad it is almost embarrassing. Once running there is a slight blue color at idle out the exhaust and fairly strong oil smell in the exhaust. A little hyperbole in the bolded part, perchance? My old carbureted 2-strokes (MUCH older than yours), start with a big puff of blue smoke, too--probably as much as yours does. In objective reality, it comes nowhere near "smoking out" the dock. And in my subjective reality, doesn't embarrass me a single tittle. Amazing how two organisms of the same species can have such different perceptions of the the same phenomenon. -Peter
kwik_wurk	posted 08-13-2012 04:05 PM ET (US) I've already used 4.5 gallons of oil in my 2S 90hp this summer. (No hour meter, I don't want to know. Best day was ~100nm.) You're doing awesome with 4 gallons if you're running a 225hp. But really, Tom has the numbers on you; you should be using more. (And yes, my 2S motors occasionally make their own fog banks on start-up.)
Teak Oil	posted 08-13-2012 05:42 PM ET (US) Next year I will keep more accurate numbers, I may have used five gallons of oil I am not sure. I have used a combination of quart and gallon bottles and I am working from memory. Peter I have been boating for 25 years, I know how much an outboard smokes at startup and this one smokes a LOT when she is cold. It's even worse than a Mercury lol. I am using TCW3 oil, I have not seen any oil for outboards that was not TCW3 rated for many years. After I have used this oil up I will switch brands to see if it helps with the smoke issue any. Tom you are probably close with your fuel estimate, though I think it is a little high but you are assuming all of my time was at cruise. While that is true for the majority of the run time, on short no wake areas I use the V6 because it maneuvers much better than my kicker. I would have to guess my usage is in the 350 - 400 gallon range for the V6 and the rest of my fuel through the kicker, which has about 70 hours on it thus far this year. Using 400 gallons of fuel and five gallons of oil gets me roughly 80-1, which is fairly close to what I would expect since the VRO system varies from 50-1 to about 120-1. Jim since you had the same engine I thought you might have kept some records of your usage that you could share.
Buckda	posted 08-13-2012 08:07 PM ET (US) Teak - Have you ever done Sal A's "decarbonizing" treatment to that motor? My Johnson 130's smoke like a chimney at startup as well. When I re-install them on the boat, one of the first things I'll do is do a shock treatment and get the carbon build-up out. I don't know what kind of oil the P.O. used on my boat...but as JimH stated, a higher grade of oil has helped with the smoke on my classic two stroke motors..the 1972 Merc50 hardly smokes at all now, and that little Johnson Seahorse doesn't smoke a lick after startup. Dave
jimh	posted 08-13-2012 11:45 PM ET (US) My 1992 Evinrude E225TXENR used oil in a ratio of about 1:50 to gasoline, and sometimes a bit less if we ran a lot at low speeds. I thought I said that already. According to the REFERENCE section article on the VRO http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/VRO.html if the VRO mixing pump is failing there is a tendency to use more oil. By the way, I sold my 1992 Evinrude E225TXENR about four years ago. I recommended to the buyer that he consider replacing the VRO pump. At the time I sold it the VRO pump was working fine, but I cautioned the buyer that I thought it would be prudent to replace it just due to the age. The engine was at that time 16 years old. I believe the present owner ran the engine for three more years, taking it to about 19-years-old, and at that time he began to have a problem with the VRO pump. I believe he replaced it. I think a service life of 19-years is reasonable for a VRO pump, and particularly considering the gasoline fuel quality we have today, which I would say is poor quality in many cases. The pump may have been done in by a dose of too much ethanol. The cost of the VRO replacement pump is a bit steep, about $500 now at retail. But that is much less than the cost of a new engine. I never considered pre-mixing the fuel and disabling the VRO. At the rate a 225-HP uses fuel and with a 77-gallon tank, you would end up having to mix a large quantity of oil into the tank, and I don't find that to be attractive.
Teak Oil	posted 08-14-2012 09:44 PM ET (US) I believe this pump has been replaced once by the previous owner. Buckda that is a good idea, I will probably do a shock treatment this fall. Thanks
gusgus	posted 08-15-2012 01:30 PM ET (US) decarbonizing sounds like a good idea. Which product is the best and safest? Should a boat owner stay with the motor manufacturers recommendation? Or?
NewportMe	posted 08-15-2012 02:53 PM ET (US) GUSGUS, I will not comment on what brand of oil is the safest, but I will say that when I switched from XD30 to XD50 in my 1989 225 Evinrude the difference in start up smoke was noticeably less. Bruce
wannabe	posted 08-15-2012 09:34 PM ET (US) I have a 1988 130hp Yamaha two stroke with precision blend oil mixing that I bought this summer. As a recent purchaser of my boat I have been running it alot and have put about four gallons of oil in the reservior. I was useing Yamalube at 30 dollars a gallon and recently switched to West Marine Premium at 15 dollars a gallon if you buy it on sale at 50 percent off. I have noticed a definate increase of smoke at start up. The Yamalube is a semi synthetic and I am unsure of the West Marine product. I was being told that I was just paying for the name(Yamaha) and I was overpaying. I am not so sure and am considering going back to Yamalube. Is there any high quality, proven semi synthetics in the 20 dollar range that cuts down the smoke? Drew
Buckda	posted 08-15-2012 09:52 PM ET (US) We use SeaFoam in the fuel of all of our carb'd 2-stroke outboard motors with good results....and you can simply run a "shock dose" through the fuel....of course, each engine brand has their brand of fuel treatment. I like the 2+4 conditioner once you've deep cleaned your engine...the fuel conditioner product helps keep the carbon build up out - but you still need to decarb the motor once a season.
Buckda	posted 08-15-2012 09:54 PM ET (US) Here's the method I follow: http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/007656.html
Ridge Runner	posted 08-16-2012 09:41 AM ET (US) I have used Pennzoil Marine 100% Synthetic Outboard 2-Cycle with very good results in the low smoking department. The cost is about $80 for the 3 - 1 gallon box, or about $26.00 a gallon. Pennziol does make a Syn Blend XLF 2-Cycle Oil. The cost is about $51 for the 3 - 1 gallon box, or about $17.00 a gallon. I have not tried this oil.
davej14	posted 08-16-2012 11:02 AM ET (US) I have run Penzoil Full Synthetic and Penzoil Semi-Synthetic and noticed no change in the amount of smoke between them. Now I have gone back to Merc Premium Plus 2-cycle oil to save money with no real difference in smoke output. I have a 2000 Merc 75 2-stroke ELPTO (carb'd).
wannabe	posted 08-16-2012 08:56 PM ET (US) Thanks, I will look into the pennzoil.