Can I trust the 'autolube' of a two stroke engine?

[nakupanda]

Hi there,

I've just got a yamaha 50-hp two stroke autolube from my friend, I like the 'autolube' but still worrying about it because if it fails the engine badly fails.

I've seen some posts about disconnecting the autolube stuff and use premix fuel and oil instead, but I didn't see any reason there, so I worried it's about if we can trust 'autolube'.

Using premix fuel is ok to me, just wondering if I can use autolube safely.

Thanks.

 

[gonzo]

If it is an electronic controlled engine, disconnecting systems will make it run badly or not at all. There are more engine failures from owners mixing fuel and oil at wrong ratios than in modern engines' mix systems.

 

[nakupanda]

If it is an electronic controlled engine, disconnecting systems will make it run badly or not at all. There are more engine failures from owners mixing fuel and oil at wrong ratios than in modern engines' mix systems.

Thank you.

 

[Mr Efficiency]

It is hardly likely an automix system would have reached the market without exhaustive testing. It is like worrying the propellor might fall off, relax and enjoy your boat !

 

[nakupanda]

It is hardly likely an automix system would have reached the market without exhaustive testing. It is like worrying the propellor might fall off, relax and enjoy your boat !

Thanks, this makes sense.

 

[CDK]

25 years ago there was this Johnson VRO series outboards with a vacuum operated oil injection pump. It had a warning buzzer for low oil level in the tank that often sounded when the tank was full, so after a while owners paid no attention to it. When the plastic pump failed there was no warning until the engine seized.
Most of the VRO engines that still survive have the unit plugged or removed.

The Yamaha seems to be much more reliable.

 

[nakupanda]

25 years ago there was this Johnson VRO series outboards with a vacuum operated oil injection pump. It had a warning buzzer for low oil level in the tank that often sounded when the tank was full, so after a while owners paid no attention to it. When the plastic pump failed there was no warning until the engine seized.
Most of the VRO engines that still survive have the unit plugged or removed.

The Yamaha seems to be much more reliable.

Hope you aren't the VRO engine owener in the sad story.

Thanks for your reply!

 

[tom kane]

All you have to do is to check to see if oil is being used. If it is not using some oil you will be in trouble. Yes it does happen that the autolube does not function.

 

[nakupanda]

All you have to do is to check to see if oil is being used. If it is not using some oil you will be in trouble. Yes it does happen that the autolube does not function.

I guess when I notice the oil is not being used I'm already in trouble.

 

[jonr]

I would think that there would be some overheating before a lack of oil caused a failure.

 

[CDK]

I would think that there would be some overheating before a lack of oil caused a failure.

There is, but very local: piston rings scraping over the cylinder wall without lubricant are a powerful heat source. The cylinder survives with a few scratches but the piston alters its shape permanently.

Modern outboards monitor everything with a microprocessor and warn the user with some sort of Morse code from the buzzer. My neighbor ignored it and ruined both fuel injection pumps of his Mercury Optimax when water had entered the fuel tank.

 

[mich mechanic]

Injector oil has a diluent in it to keep it thin enough to be usable at lower temps. Snowmobile injector oil has has a little more. Motor injector oil is fine to mix with gas for outboard use. The main rule of thumb is to mix the oil to the motor specs. NOT the specs on the bottle. Yamaha has 100/1 oil made just for yamahas with that ratio. DO NOT mix it 100/1 and use it in anything else. You'll blow up your vintage motors up. ( with 20/1 or 32/1). i would not even use it in my modern 50/1 motorcycle. Omc vro (variable ratio oiling) runs about 125/1 at an idle and 50/1 at wot.
the bad thing about their vro is the gas and oil mix together BEFORE the carb. If you are just idling around for a while and you punch it to wot, the float bowl is still 125/1. It takes a second or 5 to run that out and have a float bowl full of 50/1. solution is to slowly open the throttle to wot. Conversely when running wot and dropping to idle, the first float bowl will be 50/1 and smoke a little till that mixture is out of float bowl. thats why your boat smokes more when pulling into the dock. Make sure to let it idle till smoke is gone and back to 125/1 in the float bowl. Mercury does the same thing.
The best oilers inject oil directly into the intake tract ala motorcycles. Hope this helps, Randy

 

[mich mechanic]

I didn't make it clear enough in my previous post. You can use 100/1 oil as long as you mix it 20,24,36/1 per the motors specs. no harm. Also use a manufacturers oil as compared to Pennzol valvoline speedway 2-cycle, etc. Yes you can use Mercury oil in an Evinrude and vicea versa. Manufactures test oils to make sure they don't get warranty work back. and if they put their name on it, it should be good. Same with injector oil in injector applications. Major boat manufactures injector oil is good oil, no matter what motor you put it in. And it can be used to mix your gas and oil as well. With that said, I used to use Golden Spectro (also a very good name you can use) in my 1963 10 hp Evinrude, mixed at 50/1 for over 18yrs now without any problems. i don't even need clean or new plugs every year. I ran the same set for 5 yrs, 300-500 hrs a year. they were so good I still have them as my backup set. Best of all almost no smoke. I hope this helps, Randy

 

[Westfield 11]

Randy, thanks for the useful info. I found the stuff about different mixes of fuel in the float bowls to be very interesting and to explain something I had observed but was unable to figure out.

 

[tom kane]

If you google " autolube check for outboard motors" you will get some ideas on my previous post about checking if the outboard was using oil.

If you do not trust the autolube you could disable it your self and use premix or get an agent to do it for you. The fuel system would need to be re-calibrated because the fuel would be more viscous.