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383 Hammerhead Oil Consumption Problem


Malibu Fan

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I have a new 2007 247 LSV Sunscape with the 383 Hammerhead engine. Since the get go I have been having oil consumption problems. In the first 5 hours on the motor I got an "engine fault" message on the dash display only to figure out the oil dip stick was dry when I checked the oil level. This has been happening just about every five hours. I now have approx. 44 hours on the engine and have burned about 11 quarts of oil. Malibu tried to fix this probelm by cleaning the rings with piston and ring cleaner, telling me the engine didn't break in right. They also put in 50 weight oil and told me that is the recommended oil for my engine, even though the Indomar website says to use 15w-40. Since the Malibu fix I've burned another 3 quarts of oil in approx. 13 hours. I'm asking Malibu to put in a new engine and they haven't given me an answer yet. I hope I'm not in for a battle with them. Anyway, has this kind of problem happened to anyone else? I think the engine is bad and unfixable. Anyone agree with me that Malibu should put in a new engine?

Thanks for your responses.

Malibu Fan

Huntington Beach, CA.

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From what I understand the Hammerhead is particularly sensitive to following the proper break in procedure... if not then you will have high oil consumption (although 11 quarts in 50 hrs seems to be beyond "proper break in"). If you followed the break in procedure then you should have a very good case. If not, then you may have a tough fight. The engine control module records everything so the first 10 hrs of operation is recorded. This amount of oil consumption almost seems like the oil control rings were put in upside down. The heavier weight oil should help reduce oil consumption. My only suggestion is to contact Indmar.

I don't know if the '07 Hammerhead had catalysts but with that amount of oil going through the engine if you have catalysts, they are most certainly destroyed.

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If you do a search on this site you will find several posts documenting the same problems on my 2006 HH. I was told the same thing you were, and it sounds like they performed the same "experiments" on my HH. I have been running the 50 weight oil for two years now and they actually told me to run it a quart higher than the manual says. (this was due to low oil pressure problems when coming off throttle.) They, Malibu and Indmar told me it would get better as the engine reached that magical 100 hour mark. I was burning through better than a quart every 10 hours. I now have 120 hours on it and I am happy to say it has gotten quite a bit better. I have not had to add any oil in the last 20 hours or so. I continue to monitor it for excess oil consumption.

Good luck.

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From what I understand the Hammerhead is particularly sensitive to following the proper break in procedure... if not then you will have high oil consumption (although 11 quarts in 50 hrs seems to be beyond "proper break in"). If you followed the break in procedure then you should have a very good case. If not, then you may have a tough fight. The engine control module records everything so the first 10 hrs of operation is recorded. This amount of oil consumption almost seems like the oil control rings were put in upside down. The heavier weight oil should help reduce oil consumption. My only suggestion is to contact Indmar.

I don't know if the '07 Hammerhead had catalysts but with that amount of oil going through the engine if you have catalysts, they are most certainly destroyed.

Thank you for your response. I did take it easy for the first 10 hours as I was told. Not sure about the catalysts, but I will look into that. Thanks.

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If you do a search on this site you will find several posts documenting the same problems on my 2006 HH. I was told the same thing you were, and it sounds like they performed the same "experiments" on my HH. I have been running the 50 weight oil for two years now and they actually told me to run it a quart higher than the manual says. (this was due to low oil pressure problems when coming off throttle.) They, Malibu and Indmar told me it would get better as the engine reached that magical 100 hour mark. I was burning through better than a quart every 10 hours. I now have 120 hours on it and I am happy to say it has gotten quite a bit better. I have not had to add any oil in the last 20 hours or so. I continue to monitor it for excess oil consumption.

Good luck.

Thank you for your response. I will keep everyone posted on what happens.

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My 320 LCR burned a quart every 9 hours. After butting heads for a while they put a new engine in at 65 hours. The HH's sound like they normally burn a lot of oil so it might be a harder to get a new engine. In my opinion your oil consumption is unacceptable. I guess you got the 2 stroke version like I did.

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