1985 Johnson 150 GT VRO

[e5jernigan]

Just bought a 1985 150 Johnson GT VRO off of ebay for my 1973 TRV. Aside from you merc enthusiast, can anyone tell me about it i.e. what makes it a GT and what is VRO (oil injected)? Don't know much about it, other than it is suppossed to run and I just couldn't pass up the price. 150 hp is the max I can go on my boat, so I would like to fix it up and use it. Please advise.

 

[Chris E]

vro stands for variable ratio oiling, meaning that it is oil injected with a separate tank in the boat for oil. the gt model was a bass boat engine. proabably a different gear ration than a standard 150 but i'm not sure.

 

[dynobo]

GT

The GT was a warmed over 150. Closer to 165-170 at propshaft. It had different heads, 1 3/8 carbs (235), 35 amp charging system, different cowling and maybe a couple other differences. The gear ratio is 1.86:1 which is common for all v-6 OMC's. Don't think OMC ever offered a different ratio for v-6's whether 150 or up.

 

[Tompulse]

hi dynobo, would the same apply to a GT200? (being something like 220HP?)

 

[Chris E]

had to do a little thinking here, but, these were bass boat engines, and at the time the hp limit was 150. so the builders tweeked them a bit i think they were allowed 15-20% over or under the 150 rating. i believe the merc xr4 was close to 170 so a 150 omc probably isn't far from the merc power.

 

[jonnyspeed]

hi dynobo, would the same apply to a GT200? (being something like 220HP?)

From What I've been told by OMC gurus my 89 GT175 should put down ~185hp at the shaft if it is healthy. I would expect ~210-220 for a GT200.

I've got my eye on an 87 2.6 GT which is about the same weight as a modern 150. The 2.6 put down ~ 230hp at the shaft if I remember.