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Hammerhead problems


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Had the new Bu' out yesterday for the second time. Around hour 7-8 on the motor, I started to experience oil pressure problems. When coming to a stop and dropping off plane, the oil pressure would drop way low, sometimes to zero. I would shut it down and wait a minute or two. On restart the pressure would start low and then build slowly with throttle. It got to the point that we called it a day and headed for the dock. During cruising speed, 30MPH, the pressure hovered around 30-35 PSI....too low in my opinion.

I checked the oil and it was down less than a quart.....in the first 7 hours....that is a lot of oil consumption during break in...not even a tank of gas has been run through it....

I called my dealer's service guy...and he is not a lot of help at this time....

anybody else experience this?

Ken

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Read the first post in this thread:

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2581

The wording was taken verbatim from the service advisory that Indmar issued. My HH exibits the exact symptoms that are described in the article in the second paragraph & if the alarm does go off, it's only for a second or 2. It sounds like your oil pressure drops lower than mine does & when on plane doesn't get as high either. I'd ask your service guy about this service advisory & whether or not they used 40w oil or the standard 15-40w that the other engines call for. My oil pressure was just a bit lower before making the switch, so that may cure things for you.

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Tracie,

Thanks, I read that after I posted. I talked to the Service guy yesterday and he said he has never heard of a low oil problem on a Hammerhead....he accused me of running the engine too hard too soon, even though I have never had it above 4,000 RPM Mad.gif

From what I have read, I don't think I have done anything wrong. I will give him a call on Tuesday and see what he has to say about the service advisory!

Thanks again

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Ken mine did the same thing. Every once in a while low pressure alarm. Especially with the hotter temps out. Get your oil changed to either a good 40 or 50 weight. Per the advisory above.

Also, mine burnt about 1/2 qt in the first few hours and that was it. Rickmal burnt a quart a tank or so until about 70- hours and then it stopped. The big difference was I did an abbreviated break-in while Rickmal followed the break-in procedure to a T. Crazy.gif

BTW, my 8.1L says 40wt right on it now. Did they re-label your 383 or does it still say 15w40?

Edited by stewart
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I don't have the HH. But my service guy told me to expect my engine to burn through oil. 'It's typical in these marinated engines.' So I just expected it. But it's never really been an issue.

Good luck kb3

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I don't have the HH. But my service guy told me to expect my engine to burn through oil. 'It's typical in these marinated engines.' ...

i have been around marine engines and marine mechanics a long time. and have never heard that.

Other than regular oil changes, I have not had to add a drop to my Monsoon.

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Ken mine did the same thing. Every once in a while low pressure alarm. Especially with the hotter temps out. Get your oil changed to either a good 40 or 50 weight. Per the advisory above.

Also, mine burnt about 1/2 qt in the first few hours and that was it. Rickmal burnt a quart a tank or so until about 70- hours and then it stopped. The big difference was I did an abbreviated break-in while Rickmal followed the break-in procedure to a T. Crazy.gif

BTW, my 8.1L says 40wt right on it now. Did they re-label your 383 or does it still say 15w40?

the label on the oil fill cap on the 383 still calls for 15w40. I topped it off and will run it again this weekend. Last Friday the air temp was in the upper 90's and the water was upper 70's.....it is only going to get worse as summer approaches.

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Ken mine did the same thing. Every once in a while low pressure alarm. Especially with the hotter temps out. Get your oil changed to either a good 40 or 50 weight. Per the advisory above.

Also, mine burnt about 1/2 qt in the first few hours and that was it. Rickmal burnt a quart a tank or so until about 70- hours and then it stopped. The big difference was I did an abbreviated break-in while Rickmal followed the break-in procedure to a T. Crazy.gif

BTW, my 8.1L says 40wt right on it now. Did they re-label your 383 or does it still say 15w40?

the label on the oil fill cap on the 383 still calls for 15w40. I topped it off and will run it again this weekend. Last Friday the air temp was in the upper 90's and the water was upper 70's.....it is only going to get worse as summer approaches.

When you do the 10 hour service have them put in 40 or 50 wt. I would go with 50 wt since it gets real hot out there all summer.

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Stewart -

I am going in for my 10-20 hour service soon too. I wonder, do we have a average temp to determine 50 or 40? This is our first TX summer, so I am guessing 50. Is it just a guess on how hot warrants 50?

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When I talked with Indmar, they said that if it's consistently over 90, go with 50w. I'm in a quandry over this because we're right on the border, I would bet that we average in the high 80's-low 90's throughout the summer. What's a girl to do? Dontknow.gif

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When I talked with Indmar, they said that if it's consistently over 90, go with 50w. I'm in a quandry over this because we're right on the border, I would bet that we average in the high 80's-low 90's throughout the summer. What's a girl to do? Dontknow.gif

Change you oil depending on the current weather conditions. Besides, you've already mentioned how easy it is to jack up one side of the trailer every time the oil needs changed. Tongue.gif

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All this talk of the HammerHead engine burning oil and exhibiting low oil pressure would have me very concerned.

Like Indmar is trying to figure something out on the fly.

From the service bulletin referenced earlier, Indmar states that GM says 4 psi is enough to protect the engine, and the alarm as set by Malibu sounds at 4 psi.

In my opinion, that is way too low, even for a brief period (like 2 seconds). 4 psi of oil pressure may be enough to theoretically protect the engine, but I have never heard of any engine running at oil pressure that low, high performance or not. Malibu would not set the alarm to sound at 4 psi if 4 psi was in the normal operating range, or they'd have a flock of customers to the dealer every Monday yelling about an alarm they heard everytime they pulled back to idle.

My point is 4 psi may be enough to protect the engine, but it is not within the "normal" operating range, hence the 4 psi setpoint on the alarm.

I'll go out on a limb and make a prediction for the future. Indmar has a lubrication issue with the HH. Maybe a batch of bad oil pumps, some design flaw in the oil gallery, or some other issue. They are trying to figure out the problem and the best way to fix it (recall, replace engines, whatever), and in the meantime are issuing the straight 40WT band-aid to keep the beepers from sounding and the oil pressure gauge registering while new owners are under warranty.

I feel the only engine that should burn oil is a 2-stroke.

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All engines will burn a little as they wear in, but it shouldn't take long for that to happen. If it continues to do it after it's worn in, then you should be concerned.

When I talked with Indmar, they said that if it's consistently over 90, go with 50w. I'm in a quandry over this because we're right on the border, I would bet that we average in the high 80's-low 90's throughout the summer. What's a girl to do? Dontknow.gif

Change you oil depending on the current weather conditions. Besides, you've already mentioned how easy it is to jack up one side of the trailer every time the oil needs changed. Tongue.gif

Where's that Bite Me emoticon? :)

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All this talk of the HammerHead engine burning oil and exhibiting low oil pressure would have me very concerned.

Like Indmar is trying to figure something out on the fly.

From the service bulletin referenced earlier, Indmar states that GM says 4 psi is enough to protect the engine, and the alarm as set by Malibu sounds at 4 psi.

In my opinion, that is way too low, even for a brief period (like 2 seconds). 4 psi of oil pressure may be enough to theoretically protect the engine, but I have never heard of any engine running at oil pressure that low, high performance or not. Malibu would not set the alarm to sound at 4 psi if 4 psi was in the normal operating range, or they'd have a flock of customers to the dealer every Monday yelling about an alarm they heard everytime they pulled back to idle.

My point is 4 psi may be enough to protect the engine, but it is not within the "normal" operating range, hence the 4 psi setpoint on the alarm.

I'll go out on a limb and make a prediction for the future. Indmar has a lubrication issue with the HH. Maybe a batch of bad oil pumps, some design flaw in the oil gallery, or some other issue. They are trying to figure out the problem and the best way to fix it (recall, replace engines, whatever), and in the meantime are issuing the straight 40WT band-aid to keep the beepers from sounding and the oil pressure gauge registering while new owners are under warranty.

I feel the only engine that should burn oil is a 2-stroke.

I agree with this whole line of thinking. I have always been invovled with performance engines in autos and never had one exhibit this low of oil pressure. I think the warm air/water temperature arguement is not a good one....as the boat is always taking in relatively cool water (80F) compared to a closed system on the car. The boat may be operating in near 100F air temps but so are most cars in the California Central Valley during the summer. If one of my performance engines in any of my road vehicles exhibited this type of problem, it would be time for a tear down and investigation. I am not comfortable with this situation on the Hammerhead and will make sure it is well documented through the factory and dealear in case of premature engine failure.

As for burning oil....I will give it a few more hours of break-in before that alarms me too much.

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Isn't the 383 a GM crate engine? What's its record in other uses?

Yup! and it is very reliable.

Oil burning issue, you guys are killing me ROFL.gif

If you do lame break in and baby ANY engine it will burn oil, because the rings didn't seat properly. My Hammerhead 383 burnt 1/2 quart of oil in the first 2 tanks, and that was it. 93 hours and not one hick up. Tracie what about you? the only person I know who had an oil burning issue did an overly cautious Indmar break-in and burnt oil unitil about 60 hours or so, and then after that not one drop. And he has over 150 hours on it now.

As for oil types. Indmar has always been a "one oil fits the bill" for every application company. The 383 is a very high performance engine and deserves a high performance oil. Look at any race engine and you will see them running a 40 or 50 wt. Heck, look at the labels on the 40 or 50 wt and you'll see who its marketed to.

BTW, my 8.1L has 40 wt labeled right on it.

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Isn't the 383 a GM crate engine? What's its record in other uses?

Yup! and it is very reliable.

Oil burning issue, you guys are killing me ROFL.gif

If you do lame break in and baby ANY engine it will burn oil, because the rings didn't seat properly. My Hammerhead 383 burnt 1/2 quart of oil in the first 2 tanks, and that was it. 93 hours and not one hick up. Tracie what about you? the only person I know who had an oil burning issue did an overly cautious Indmar break-in and burnt oil unitil about 60 hours or so, and then after that not one drop. And he has over 150 hours on it now.

As for oil types. Indmar has always been a "one oil fits the bill" for every application company. The 383 is a very high performance engine and deserves a high performance oil. Look at any race engine and you will see them running a 40 or 50 wt. Heck, look at the labels on the 40 or 50 wt and you'll see who its marketed to.

BTW, my 8.1L has 40 wt labeled right on it.

I hope I did not perform a lame break-in....I never saw that in the book! Cry.gif I just ran it like I plan to in the future, but have yet to go WOT. The oil usage at this point is no big deal, but I am going to convert it to 40 or 50 weight soon!

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I agree about the oil burning not being a big deal, but...

I'd still be very concerned about an engine producing 4 psi of lubricating pressure, even when running 15W-40 at higher operating temperatures. Indmar is too, as evidenced by the service bulletin they released.

If 4 psi of pressure is normal and O.K. for the HH, and you are being told to go to the straight weight to keep it just a bit higher (5-6 psi to keep Mailbu's 4 psi alarm from sounding) then there is no problem.

But it just seems like an awful low oil pressure...

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Isn't the 383 a GM crate engine? What's its record in other uses?

Yup! and it is very reliable.

Oil burning issue, you guys are killing me ROFL.gif

If you do lame break in and baby ANY engine it will burn oil, because the rings didn't seat properly. My Hammerhead 383 burnt 1/2 quart of oil in the first 2 tanks, and that was it. 93 hours and not one hick up. Tracie what about you? the only person I know who had an oil burning issue did an overly cautious Indmar break-in and burnt oil unitil about 60 hours or so, and then after that not one drop. And he has over 150 hours on it now.

As for oil types. Indmar has always been a "one oil fits the bill" for every application company. The 383 is a very high performance engine and deserves a high performance oil. Look at any race engine and you will see them running a 40 or 50 wt. Heck, look at the labels on the 40 or 50 wt and you'll see who its marketed to.

BTW, my 8.1L has 40 wt labeled right on it.

Nope, I've never noticed any oil consumption by this engine. It runs like a top.

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Isn't the 383 a GM crate engine? What's its record in other uses?

As Stewart already answered this is a crate engine from GM. Indmar does not tinker with this engine internally. Indmar is just passing along what GM tells them. If GM says 4psi is okay then that's what Indmar tells us. What else can they say? GM should know better than anyone what their engine is capable of.

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