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Which oil type for Hammerhead


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As the boating season is quickly approaching in our part of the country, I am wondering what type of oil I need for my Hammerhead (2006 RLXi) as I am planning on changing the oil sometime prior to the start of this season. I was reading on another thread on this topic and it contained the link to the Indmar manual. I was reading the manual and it seems that it says two different things. Towards the beginning of the manual, there is a chart that lists the oil type as Pennzoil 15W40 (I think I am reading the chart correctly). In chapter six of the manual it lists Pennzoil Heavy Duty 40W oil. I called the dealer in Florida that I purchased the boat from (former promo boat) and his service tech. told me to use 50W oil.

Which one do I use? I guess you can see I am somewhat confused. Thanks for your help in advance. I guess I will call the dealer in St. Louis which is the closest dealer to my hometown and see what they recommend.

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Your suppose to use straight 40 weight... but in higher temp areas (like Florida) you have to use straight 50 weight to keep the oil thick enough so the alarm doesn't come on every time you bring back the throttle (oil slosh)

That was a running mid-production change so thats why your manual is beefed up with different numbers... your stickers on your engine fill oil caps will say 15w-40 too.. peel those suckers off! :)

Cheers...

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Your suppose to use straight 40 weight... but in higher temp areas (like Florida) you have to use straight 50 weight to keep the oil thick enough so the alarm doesn't come on every time you bring back the throttle (oil slosh)

That was a running mid-production change so thats why your manual is beefed up with different numbers... your stickers on your engine fill oil caps will say 15w-40 too.. peel those suckers off! :)

Cheers...

Malibu and Indmar suggested I change to straight 50 weight to help with the alarm problem as well. It didn't solve the problem, but I am still running the 50 in the HH.

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I use nothing but Mobile Synthetic 15W 50 in my HH 365

As I've said before, not the same engine as the OP (with none of the oil pressure issues that the 383 has) is asking about, therefore not the same requirements. Please don't confuse the issue by bringing the old Hammerhead into the discussion.

I run 20-50w Amsoil or Valvoline Blue, whichever I can find at the time. I may go back to straight 40w this season, I get a few more warnings with the multi weight than I did with straight 40. I'm not a fan of Pennzoil though, I found that Valvoline & Amsoil seemed to hold up a little better. JME

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I use nothing but Mobile Synthetic 15W 50 in my HH 365

As I've said before, not the same engine as the OP (with none of the oil pressure issues that the 383 has) is asking about, therefore not the same requirements. Please don't confuse the issue by bringing the old Hammerhead into the discussion.

I run 20-50w Amsoil or Valvoline Blue, whichever I can find at the time. I may go back to straight 40w this season, I get a few more warnings with the multi weight than I did with straight 40. I'm not a fan of Pennzoil though, I found that Valvoline & Amsoil seemed to hold up a little better. JME

[hijack] the 383 has oil pressure issues? What sorts? My cousin just ordered a new boat with a 383.

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I use nothing but Mobile Synthetic 15W 50 in my HH 365

As I've said before, not the same engine as the OP (with none of the oil pressure issues that the 383 has) is asking about, therefore not the same requirements. Please don't confuse the issue by bringing the old Hammerhead into the discussion.

I run 20-50w Amsoil or Valvoline Blue, whichever I can find at the time. I may go back to straight 40w this season, I get a few more warnings with the multi weight than I did with straight 40. I'm not a fan of Pennzoil though, I found that Valvoline & Amsoil seemed to hold up a little better. JME

[hijack] the 383 has oil pressure issues? What sorts? My cousin just ordered a new boat with a 383.

I would hope that in the last two years they have solved the oil pressure issues. On my 06' HH, everytime I cut the throttle, the oil pressure would drop to zero and set off the alarm. Indmar first suggested that we run straight 40 weight, that didnt fix it, we moved to straight 50 weight, that didnt help. The final move on Indmar's part was to add an extra quart of oil over what it originally was designed for. Running the extra quart helps it, and I have not had an alarm since. Still not convinced that this is a proper fix.

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I use nothing but Mobile Synthetic 15W 50 in my HH 365

As I've said before, not the same engine as the OP (with none of the oil pressure issues that the 383 has) is asking about, therefore not the same requirements. Please don't confuse the issue by bringing the old Hammerhead into the discussion.

I run 20-50w Amsoil or Valvoline Blue, whichever I can find at the time. I may go back to straight 40w this season, I get a few more warnings with the multi weight than I did with straight 40. I'm not a fan of Pennzoil though, I found that Valvoline & Amsoil seemed to hold up a little better. JME

[hijack] the 383 has oil pressure issues? What sorts? My cousin just ordered a new boat with a 383.

I would hope that in the last two years they have solved the oil pressure issues. On my 06' HH, everytime I cut the throttle, the oil pressure would drop to zero and set off the alarm. Indmar first suggested that we run straight 40 weight, that didnt fix it, we moved to straight 50 weight, that didnt help. The final move on Indmar's part was to add an extra quart of oil over what it originally was designed for. Running the extra quart helps it, and I have not had an alarm since. Still not convinced that this is a proper fix.

weird... :unsure:

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Some have it worse than others, Kb's is about the worst that I've heard of. Very occasionally I'll get an alarm, & usually it's a specific set of variables that will do it: 1) it's usually toward the end of the oil's life cycle & 2) it's usually after coming off of a long WOT or high RPM run. I see it more often with the 20/50w that I've been running, which is why I'm going to be switching back to straight 40w this season.

Like I said, the 350ci Hammerhead & 383ci Hammerheads have completely different history & as such, completely different sets of issues & requirements to deal with those issues. That's why it's not a good idea to mix the 2 when making any kind of recommendation on what to do or use. Of course all of this could have been avoided had Malibu just changed the freakin' name when they changed the engine in 2005. Then we wouldn't have this type of ongoing confusion. Crazy.gif

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Some have it worse than others, Kb's is about the worst that I've heard of. Very occasionally I'll get an alarm, & usually it's a specific set of variables that will do it: 1) it's usually toward the end of the oil's life cycle & 2) it's usually after coming off of a long WOT or high RPM run. I see it more often with the 20/50w that I've been running, which is why I'm going to be switching back to straight 40w this season.

Like I said, the 350ci Hammerhead & 383ci Hammerheads have completely different history & as such, completely different sets of issues & requirements to deal with those issues. That's why it's not a good idea to mix the 2 when making any kind of recommendation on what to do or use. Of course all of this could have been avoided had Malibu just changed the freakin' name when they changed the engine in 2005. Then we wouldn't have this type of ongoing confusion. Crazy.gif

you dont know how that makes me feel Cry.gif

I always wanted to be special!

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Just not that kind of special, right? Honestly, I think that your engine was built too loose. I suspect that all of the 383s are built on the loose side, hence the reason that you don't have to break them in. But I suspect that they went a little too far with yours.

EDIT: Have you tried an engine additive such as Lucas? I'm not sure if it would help, but it might be worth a try.

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I run Valvoline VR1 Racing Oil 50w in my '08 HammerHead. I had the same oil pressure problems prior to my first change. Since then, not a problem. And, I don't burn any oil. My dealer was told by Indmar to run this oil.

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I have not had the oil pressure alarm go off in mine yet (knock on wood). If it did go off, I was not aware of it.

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I have not had the oil pressure alarm go off in mine yet (knock on wood). If it did go off, I was not aware of it.

Trust me...if it did go off you would be aware of it! Not to mention you loose throttle response while it is going off.

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