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1990 Evinrude

Ralph Wiggum

By Ralph Wiggum
in Boats & Motors.

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Ralph Wiggum Grand Master

Ralph Wiggum

Posted
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I'm looking at a boat tonight with a 1990 Evinrude 60HP on it. I know VROs have caused their share of problems. Anything in particular to check out? Is a VRO a definite strike against this boat? I'm also looking at a couple of boat with Merc/Mariners on them. Is that a much better option?

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marine_man Grand Master

marine_man

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In the early 90's I would say that I'd be a little more leary about the VRO, that coupled with a 3 cylinder OMC 60-70 hp motor I would really shy away - OMC had issues with overheating the 60 and 70 hp motors in this era. A service bulletin was issued to move the water hose to a different location on the block, but not all motors got this, or got it in time to prevent damage.

I would at a minimum have it compression tested or leak tested.

I would feel beter about the Merc's, Mariners and Yamaha's in this time period... all 3 of those brands are pretty bulletproof in this hp class.

marine_man

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DTro Grand Master

DTro

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Yeah, if you are passing on a super deal because of what might possibly happen, you might want to rethink.

I wish I knew then what I knew now when I bought my 70 hp OMC.

I ended up having to rebuild that one. mad

If you move that cooling hose per the mfg recommendations and disconnect the VRO/premix, you should get a lot of life out of that motor. Of course that is based upon good compression now.

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DTro Grand Master

DTro

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Over Labor Day, my wife said, "Why don't you buy a boat?"

I'm serious when I say this, take advantage and embrace this moment. They might be few and far between 10 years later.

Just kidding Honey whistlegrin

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Valv Grand Master

Valv

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Originally Posted By: Ralph Wiggum
Over Labor Day, my wife said, "Why don't you buy a boat?"

I'm serious when I say this, take advantage and embrace this moment. They might be few and far between 10 years later.

Just kidding Honey whistlegrin

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Eric Wettschreck Grand Master

Eric Wettschreck

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Isn't is awesome when a woman says the 3 words every man loves to hear.........."Buy a boat."

I'll share my very personal experience with the 3 cyl OMC outboard you are looking at. A service bulliten did come out on these, as MM said. Apparently they were overheating. The cause of this was the design of the water jacket. The upper cylinder, and in come cases (mine) the middle cylinder also were overheating due to air in teh water jacket. OMC came up with a change that moves the pee hole outlet from the lower part of the water jacket housing, to the top of the block. This change vents out the air. Simple fix to a big problem.

VRO pumps have been blamed for a lot of problems. I'm not expert enough to be able to verify this.

My 3 cylinder OMC overheated the upper and middle cylinder. I overhauled teh powerhead and it was NOT cheap, and I did the work myself. Turns out, the previous owner removed the thermostat in an attempt to reduce overheating, and the motor did NOT have the pee hole outlet change.

After I overhauled the powerhead, following Marine_Mans advice, I took it into a local dealer for the cooling outlet change. Costed me like 30 bucks. I also disconnected the oil inlet for the VRO and I now pre-mix my gas. With the overhaul I installed a new thermostat.

Having said all this, I now have a 87, 70 HP Johnson that starts well, runs GREAT, and goes like a bat out of you know where. I've been told these are good motors, and I've been told these motors suck. My motor, now, runs real strong and I like it.

At a very minimum I would do a compression check on this puppy. If the middle and especially the upper cylinder are low, I would not even think about it, especially if the coolant outlet mod has not been installed. If all 3 cylinders are even, and above 100 psi, and the coolant outlet mod is installed, I myself would think about it, but if purchased I'd disconnect the VRO and pre-mix my gas just for peace of mind.

This is just me, however.

As stated earlier, if you have the blessing of the Mrs, GO GET SOMETHING!!!!! It may be years before deals like these come again, if ever.

Good luck!!!!

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