2000 Johnson 175 oil pump

[JoePA]

I pick up a project boat that has a 2000 Johnson 175 on it, J175PLSSC, and its has some running issues. The previous owner was in the carbs and fuel pump assy so I'm not sure what all was done or not done correctly. My question is, the engine is smoking excessively and I'd like to know if I can just cap off the oil feed on the pump for now and run premix until I get the running issues squared away?

[ChampioNman]

Sure can, just disconnect the 4 wire harness for the fuel side for no oil and the two wire harness for low oil that should also knock out the LED's on the system check tach/gauge.

[Bighare2]

And don’t forget to check this out. it is an excellent artical on why the engine is smoking.
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/VRO.html

[JoePA]

UPDATE: The previous owner installed a new VRO pump and "Rebuilt" the carbs. I did not disconnect the pump as now i can not get the engine to run correctly. I tore them apart and found that he cracked 3 of the 6 carbs from over tightening the bolts and for some reason the engine is not pulling fuel from the bowls. I don't think he used OEM gaskets or bowls but I ordered all new OEM gaskets and going to go through it again. Could the new pump be over oiling?

[JoePA]

And don’t forget to check this out. it is an excellent artical on why the engine is smoking.
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/VRO.html

I'm not anti VRO just this thing is pushing so much snoke that I shut the road down with smoke and people were about to call 911 cuz they thought the house was on fire!

[Bighare2]

It is all about understanding the system operation.
one thing you can do is listen to the cycle rate of the vro air motor. A properly functioning system will emit an audible click about once every 30 seconds or longer at idle. At higher speeds rpm the cycle rate increases maybe once a second at wot. If the air motor cycles faster, say at 1/2 sec intervals too much oil gets mixed with fuel with lots of smoke. There is an air leak in the fuel suction side of the vro or an air leak on the oil suction side.
Use a long screwdriver - tip in the pump and handle to your ear to hear the cycle rate. Or a stehescope.

[Les Young]

I had a 2003 j175glsta that i rebuilt the fuel pump/vro on & it was an easy job to do if you happen to decide to go that route when you rebuild your carbs.