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2014 vlx bad oil consumption


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Alright guys we put 46 hours on this monsoon 350 after its oil change at 34 hours and the oil pressure light came on. Zero oil on the dipstick. Added two quarts and rode for right at two hours full ballast. Checked the oil barely touching the dipstick when it was at the half way mark. Immediately called Malibu they said call indmar. Called indmar and the guy told me its normal to consume some oil. I replied" Yes some not 2 quarts in two hours of surfing stopping and starting. God help me if I decide to take a 8 hour trip with a bunch of friends riding and surfing the engine would lock up. He told me to take it to the dealer and have it looked over... Dealer seems to think that's normal .....what would you guys do about this?

I dont think i should have to carry a gallon of oil every time I go out to refill a brand new engine.

Ive been around engines all my life. Something isn't right here too much ring shutter or super high clearances on the oil rings .

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My 05 340 uses virtually nil. Barely perceptible drop in level all season - 40 hours or so. Certainly have never topped it up or come close.

It can be reasonable to consume some oil but It can't possibly be 'normal' to empty the sump in less than four hours.

Maybe you could change the oil again to make absolutely certain the correct oil is in there?

In the absence of any leaks it can only be burning it. Maybe check the spark plugs to see if one seems unusually black indicating a bad cylinder / rings...?

Is the PCV valve ok? Not pumping it into the flame arrestor? (That would be a massive amount and would surely be all over the bilge?)

  • Like 1
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Alright guys we put 46 hours on this monsoon 350 after its oil change at 34 hours and the oil pressure light came on. Zero oil on the dipstick. Added two quarts and rode for right at two hours full ballast. Checked the oil barely touching the dipstick when it was at the half way mark. Immediately called Malibu they said call indmar. Called indmar and the guy told me its normal to consume some oil. I replied" Yes some not 2 quarts in two hours of surfing stopping and starting. God help me if I decide to take a 8 hour trip with a bunch of friends riding and surfing the engine would lock up. He told me to take it to the dealer and have it looked over... Dealer seems to think that's normal .....what would you guys do about this?

I dont think i should have to carry a gallon of oil every time I go out to refill a brand new engine.

Ive been around engines all my life. Something isn't right here too much ring shutter or super high clearances on the oil rings .

How do you know you burned two quarts? I don't understand your logic that after the 2 hours it has burned two quarts. Any strange exhaust color or fume?

  • Like 2
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There is no oil in the bilge. I even whipped it with a white rag and didn't see anything on the rag so its not leaking externally. When I called indmar they told me it did not have an oil cooler which eliminated that possibility of it being lost there.

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I personally added two quarts of rotella 15-40w and the dipstick showed just over the halfway point at 80.3 hours I did this. Ran the boat for two hours. checked the oil again and it was barely on the end of the dipstick.I'll ask the dealer to yank the plugs today to see if a cylinder is out.

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I personally added two quarts of rotella 15-40w and the dipstick showed just over the halfway point at 80.3 hours I did this. Ran the boat for two hours. checked the oil again and it was barely on the end of the dipstick.I'll ask the dealer to yank the plugs today to see if a cylinder is out.

The dipstick doesn't reflect 5 quarts full and at the middle, 2.5 quarts, etc. In other words, you may well have been 2-3 quarts low but still had 2-3. When was the last time you had it changed if you're at 80 hours? Given the new oil you added, are you positive you were reading it right given the clarity of new oil? How much time did you allow for it to settle back in the engine?

Edited by 85 Barefoot
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This has come up on this sit more then once. This sounds worse then most but its not uncommon. I would like to do some follow through on one or two of the engines that have seen this. Got to believe something similar would show upon on all of them. Ring flutter, bad bore, valve guide. piston slap.

With that said you would need to see more then one or two engines that show the same issue to point the finger at one thing.

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If you are burning 2 quarts of oil in 2 hours then you would know that something is horribly wrong because you would be leaving a HUGE trail of blue smoke behind your boat. So if that's not the case, then 2 quarts didn't get burned. It could have leaked out, but that would be obvious too.

When you saw it at the halfway mark (after adding 2 quarts) it was probably a false reading. I believe you would need to have more than a 2 quart deficit to have an oil pressure issue. My guess is that you were more like 3-3.5 quarts low at the time you noticed the original issue.

When you add oil, pour it in, wait a minute, run the boat the for 30 seconds, wait another minute, then check the oil with the boat in the water.

Edited by boardjnky4
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that's a good point. Did you check the oil under the same conditions?

Like did you fill it on the water then check it on the water? Or did you fill it on the trailer and then check on the water? It matters

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Oil was checked in the boat on the water with the gear lever in neutral everytime and the engine off while still warm.The original case where the oil light came on. The boat was 3 to 3.5 quarts low. I only had two quarts of rotella. That filled it up to the half way mark on the dipstick. So it probably still needed another quart to fill it up. I checked the dipstick at least 3 times to ensure where the level was. This is not an issue of how to check oil or make sure the level is right. I've built plenty of motors in my life. The oil is definitely not in the bilge area. And its not blowing blue smoke. Its a mystery right now. The exhaust pipes are clean. Pulled the cats off and we didn't see but a trace amount of oil. The plugs look a little oily and have some black on.them not gray from natural carbon production from the combustion cycle. Plugs dont look oil soaked though. ........ So here's the next test drained the oil filled it back up with new rotella 15-40w and a new filter. I'm going to run it for 2 hours with new oil full ballast and 750pnp's and open the surf gate with a 175 pound rider surfing being the boat at 9.6 mph. I'll let you guys know what I find after.

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I rarely have fast motors that don't use oil.

Mine uses about .5 qt every 20-30 hours or so, depending on how hard it's being driven. Doesn't bother me much. Sucker still runs strong, doesn't smoke, and I just top it off.

Now - 2 qts between oil changes is a bit much. Those plugs will tell you the story. Burning 2-3 qts that fast will have visible signs.

  • Like 1
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I also burn 1/2 quart every 30 to 40 hours. I have 805 hours on our 2013 350 monsoon and knock on wood... running great! Has burned that 1/2 quart since day 1. IMHO, this is normal for some, if not most. Those engines that don't burn oil, they should be very happy as that is not the norm. 2 quarts in that short time, there should be evidence of what is going on somewhere in the engine or exhaust. Hopefully it was a anomaly and will not happen again. Hope you solve it quickly with little or no expense. Have a great summer and safe boating!

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Oil was checked in the boat on the water with the gear lever in neutral everytime and the engine off while still warm.The original case where the oil light came on. The boat was 3 to 3.5 quarts low. I only had two quarts of rotella. That filled it up to the half way mark on the dipstick. So it probably still needed another quart to fill it up. I checked the dipstick at least 3 times to ensure where the level was. This is not an issue of how to check oil or make sure the level is right. I've built plenty of motors in my life. The oil is definitely not in the bilge area. And its not blowing blue smoke. Its a mystery right now. The exhaust pipes are clean. Pulled the cats off and we didn't see but a trace amount of oil. The plugs look a little oily and have some black on.them not gray from natural carbon production from the combustion cycle. Plugs dont look oil soaked though. ........ So here's the next test drained the oil filled it back up with new rotella 15-40w and a new filter. I'm going to run it for 2 hours with new oil full ballast and 750pnp's and open the surf gate with a 175 pound rider surfing being the boat at 9.6 mph. I'll let you guys know what I find after.

I think that's a good plan... Sounds like you know what you're doing, it just doesn't add up. If the oil was burning, you would surely know. If it was leaking, you'd probably know that too... But 2 quarts of oil doesn't just vanish.

Could it be getting into the water system and getting dumped out of the exhaust? (that wouldn't burn the oil so there would be only trace amount of smoke).

To test it you could run the boat on fake-a-lake and exhaust some water into a bucket and see if that water is oily.

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If you know a good speed shop or maybe some good local racers can you find someone with leak down testing equipment I think it would be well worth the test. Another test blow by. But the leak down can tell a wealth of information on a engine with no tare down other then plug removal. This if you are not aware is not a compression test.

As asked how long after shut down did you look at the level? If you had ballast in the boat could you have had a large amount of oil holding on the heads in the valve covers?

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Sixball after shut down I waited about 5 min. Boat sits level in the water with the factory tank in the front and a 1000lb bow sac filled halfway. Didn't get a chance to run her yet but I will in the morning. Then do a leakdown test as you suggested I'm also going to so the water test with two five gallon buckets that boardjnky4 suggested.

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In post number 11, you said that you changed the oil. When you drained the oil, did the amount you got out confirm that oil was being burned?

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That's the problem the boat was a demo. I have no idea how it was treated during break in. Boat had 30+ hours when I bought it from the dealer.

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That's the problem the boat was a demo. I have no idea how it was treated during break in. Boat had 30+ hours when I bought it from the dealer.

It was treated like how all demos are treated: not broken in, never warmed up, loaded down with weight and the crap ran out of it. Dealers use demo boats to show customers how well they can can perform. It's not gonna be their boat for the long haul so they don't care.

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It was treated like how all demos are treated: not broken in, never warmed up, loaded down with weight and the crap ran out of it. Dealers use demo boats to show customers how well they can can perform. It's not gonna be their boat for the long haul so they don't care.

IDK. Every dealer demo I have been on has been pretty tame. If anything, they never load it down with enough ballast.

  • Like 1
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The variabilty of break in procedures between different manufacturers leads me to believe there is no such thing. Engine abuse notwithstanding.

Oil consumption is more about poor tolerances of engine components or even damage during assembly. Listing during surfing also promotes uneven oil distrubtion which can exasterbate existing issues.

My 2 cents.

  • Like 1
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The variabilty of break in procedures between different manufacturers leads me to believe there is no such thing. Engine abuse notwithstanding.

Oil consumption is more about poor tolerances of engine components or even damage during assembly. Listing during surfing also promotes uneven oil distrubtion which can exasterbate existing issues.

My 2 cents.

Exactly ... there is even much debate among race car engine builders about proper "break in". My boat runs great and it was sacked out on a Demo at the 2 hour mark.

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