Oil PSI

[MalibuMarc]

I have a '07 Wakesetter 23 LSV. The oil PSI seems to change from 45 after start to below 15. I'm not technical enough to know if this is a sign of a problem or related to the tempature. Thoughts?

[rodman]

what motor do you have? Is that at idle or running?

[rinconking]

Mine never drops below 35. ranges from 35-75

[REW]

Mine goes real low when idleing and comes back up with a bit of throttle. You should hear a warning if it is blow 20 with more than idle RPM. Mine has always done this has almost 500 hours with no problems. When you hear the alarm, check the guage to make sure it is coming back up. The guage will react the fastest. Changing the amount or viscosity of the oil does not help as I have tried both. Stick with the recomeded oil and amount, change as required and have fun in the water.

RWE

[MalibuMarc]

what motor do you have? Is that at idle or running?

The 4XX HP engine - "middle option" as I call it. And yes, I believe I notice being very low at slower speeds.

[WakingMeHappy]

When was your last oil change?

[SMERRILL]

Do you have the HH 383?

[MalibuMarc]

When was your last oil change?

The last oil change was 45 days ago (or about 30 hrs). We checked the oil and it was fine. It did it again tonight - cruising at 38-40mph for 10 minutes. Pull back the throttle to enter no wake zone and the warning comes on "threshold oil pressure". I'm leaving for Powell on Wed.

Marc

[kb3]

If you search this site you will find many threads talking about oil pressure problems on the HammerHead 383. Search for my screen name and you will get lots of info.

kb3

[dlb]

You probably need to change the oil sending unit. Order one from www.skidim.com. The discount code is Malibu, for 10%.

[rodman]

MM Don't be to concerned as long as you have oil around 10 t0 15 lbs. When you first start up will have higher oil pressure simply because the oil is thicker. When you are running the pressure will increase maybe to 35 to 45 lbs depending on your motor. As long as you do not go below 10 you are fine (factory spec LOW oil pressure is 10 to 15) for some reason they do not list a normal operating oil pressure. Maybe because they do not want the phone calls on Monday saying there pressure dropped below 40 and we shut the boats down. Or maybe they want all the oil in the pan because of the way we tilt our boats for wakes. They want all the oil in the ban instead of the pan.

Years ago when I raced drag boats we had deep sump oil pans that held 12 qts of oil, and had 65 70 lbs of oil pressure. There were 2 reason for our thinking. 1 was we needed the oil up top, so the more oil pressure we had would put all the oil up top, and the bigger pan held more oil, hence no problems. 2 was when we yanked a prop's out of the water there was enough oil in the pan so we would not spin a crank.

I am running all big hammers in my tow trucks now and shutter every time I look at the oil pressure they constantly are down in the teens at idle and all over depending on the rpm.

To sum all this up I think GM, Indmar or Monsoon who ever is overseeing these motors is putting low volume oil pumps in to keep the oil where it belongs, and that is in the oil pan.

Edited June 7, 2010 by rodman

[lib135]

I run straight 50w oil, that solved the issues for me, and was recommended by INdmar

[rodman]

All 2007 models use Pensoil

The recommended oil that should be used for the 5.7 and the 6.0 is 15w 40w Pensoil

The oils that should be used in the 6.2, 7.4, 8.1, and 8.2 is straight 40w Pensoil

[rodman]

I run straight 50w oil, that solved the issues for me, and was recommended by INdmar

Running a heavier weight oil will boost your oil pressure's especially at idle and first start up's.

[kthurst20]

All 2007 models use Pensoil

The recommended oil that should be used for the 5.7 and the 6.0 is 15w 40w Pensoil

The oils that should be used in the 6.2, 7.4, 8.1, and 8.2 is straight 40w Pensoil

I just bought a 2006 23LSV with Hammerhead engine. I am about to add oil, looked in manual, recommends 15w 40 as you said. The previous owner had a quart of straight 40W lying in the storage compartment. I am wondering what I should do here? just go back to 15/40 and stick with it from now on?

[WakeGirl]

No, it's different on the 383. In September of 2005 Indmar issued a release stating that all 383s should run straight 40w. Some are even running straight 50w. The idea being that it helps with the low oil pressure issue. You also need to make sure that you've got the shorter dipstick that they issued toward the end of 2008, early 2009.

This ONLY applies to the Hammerhead 383 that was an option from 2005 to 2009. All other engine models should follow what is stated in the Indmar manual.

[rodman]

No, it's different on the 383. In September of 2005 Indmar issued a release stating that all 383s should run straight 40w. Some are even running straight 50w. The idea being that it helps with the low oil pressure issue. You also need to make sure that you've got the shorter dipstick that they issued toward the end of 2008, early 2009.

This ONLY applies to the Hammerhead 383 that was an option from 2005 to 2009. All other engine models should follow what is stated in the Indmar manual.

Thanks WakeGirl for the corrections in the manual. Was not aware of them. I am still trying to figure out what and how the 383 is. I am a old gear head and the 383 in my head is a punched out stroked 350 cu in motor.

I am new to this forum, what a great site and job you are doing.

Hats off to the Crew

[WakeGirl]

It's just a stroked 383. My father inlaw actually has 2 of them in his hot rods, it's all the rage with that crowd right now since you get the torque & "umph" of a big block within the confines of a good old Chevy 350. If you've ever heard one run, you'll instantly fall in love with it. Lots of lope with a nice, pleasingly grumpy sound. Loads of torque too, just a really fun motor.

Here's my opinion of it in this application though. It's a relatively high performance engine (I actually really dislike that term, since it's so subjective.....but it works for this discussion) & to combat the tight tolerances needed, Indmar purposely built them a little on the loose side. Hence, you get low oil pressure readings after things are warmed up. So their fix is to use a higher viscosity oil & to cheat a little by bumping up the oil level itself. In most cases, it really helped those motors if you ran it hard from the start (rather than use their "recommended" break in procedure). In my theory, because it's a looser engine, you needed to do everything possible to seat those rings tight from the start. Many people have oil burning issues on top of the oil pressure issues, & I strongly suspect that that is directly tied to how the engine was broken in.

I had one in my '06 & loved it, but then again we broke it in by running it hard & never had oil burning issues at all. Oil pressure is something else & you have to be willing to both manage it as well as live with it in this case. I believe that I had a good working solution for our environment here, but I think that it's a somewhat relative thing that should be tailored based on your environment.

[kthurst20]

Thanks WakeGirl!! You are a huge help. I will go with straight 40W for now then. The previous owner did put in the new dipstick. I haven't had problems with low oil pressure but she is burning oil!

Thanks again!

[WakeGirl]

Just a tip....

If you're in a warmer climate (say, Phoenix), a straight 40 or 50 weight will be fine. You more than likely won't see huge swings in temperature, & temp averages are up there. Straight will handle that just fine. But for where I live, I found that a 20-50w was better because there are some days that we will see as much as a 50 degree swing in temperature. The 20-50 handles that better, particularly on a chilly morning starting cold, than a straight viscosity does. I ran 20-50w with good success here, so you may want to give some thought to the weather & temp patterns in your area.

[kthurst20]

Just a tip....

If you're in a warmer climate (say, Phoenix), a straight 40 or 50 weight will be fine. You more than likely won't see huge swings in temperature, & temp averages are up there. Straight will handle that just fine. But for where I live, I found that a 20-50w was better because there are some days that we will see as much as a 50 degree swing in temperature. The 20-50 handles that better, particularly on a chilly morning starting cold, than a straight viscosity does. I ran 20-50w with good success here, so you may want to give some thought to the weather & temp patterns in your area.

Well, I live closer to you... Eastern Washington area (spokane). So my temperatures are going to be more like yours. I am not a motor head and don't know alot about all this but i am willing and ready to learn. What do you recommend? I will also call my local dealer and see what they recommend.

[WakeGirl]

I think that up there I'd probably run 20-50 in it. If you go by the book, they say you should run Pennzoil. But frankly every motor builder that I've ever known hates the stuff, they claim that it's good at building sludge. I had good luck with Valvoline's VR1 racing blend - they have the 20-50 in both the normal as well as fully synthetic. I found that generally the synthetic would hold out a bit longer in terms of the low oil pressure issue. If you figure that you should change your oil every 50 hours, I would start getting low pressure alarms with more frequency earlier in that cycle with normal oil than I would with the synthetic. So if you don't mind spending a little more on the oil, then I'd try to find that VR1 fully synthetic in the 20-50w.

[kthurst20]

Thanks for the help!

[WakeGirl]

Remember that it's not a hard & fast rule that applies to every boat. If you're not satisfied with how the 20-50 is treating you, you can always switch to straight 40w.

[rodman]

It's just a stroked 383. My father inlaw actually has 2 of them in his hot rods, it's all the rage with that crowd right now since you get the torque & "umph" of a big block within the confines of a good old Chevy 350. If you've ever heard one run, you'll instantly fall in love with it. Lots of lope with a nice, pleasingly grumpy sound. Loads of torque too, just a really fun motor.

Here's my opinion of it in this application though. It's a relatively high performance engine (I actually really dislike that term, since it's so subjective.....but it works for this discussion) & to combat the tight tolerances needed, Indmar purposely built them a little on the loose side. Hence, you get low oil pressure readings after things are warmed up. So their fix is to use a higher viscosity oil & to cheat a little by bumping up the oil level itself. In most cases, it really helped those motors if you ran it hard from the start (rather than use their "recommended" break in procedure). In my theory, because it's a looser engine, you needed to do everything possible to seat those rings tight from the start. Many people have oil burning issues on top of the oil pressure issues, & I strongly suspect that that is directly tied to how the engine was broken in.

I had one in my '06 & loved it, but then again we broke it in by running it hard & never had oil burning issues at all. Oil pressure is something else & you have to be willing to both manage it as well as live with it in this case. I believe that I had a good working solution for our environment here, but I think that it's a somewhat relative thing that should be tailored based on your environment.

WakeGirl Not to get to complicated here. So with out getting into all the details the 383 is a 350 cu.in motor punched out and stroked with a 400 crank? I know that the 383's on the street are real monsters. I like your dad I build many hot rods myself. I like the 400 small block myself.