Oil use?

I've got a 2005 Malibu 23 LSV with about 290 hours on it. Always well maintained and serviced annually. My crew is always asking for more ballast, so this season we've been running from 1300 to 2100 pounds of water ballast plus whatever number of people in the boat, usually 4 to 8. We've also been wakesurfing more in the midday chop, which I assume is a bit more stress on the power plant because of the low speed. How much oil do you think I should be burning with that kind of use?

Hey boat people! I must have hit you up on a bad day. Any experience with the monsoon engine using oil. I haven't been able to get much info. out of my dealer so wanted some real life experience before I went any further investigating the problem, if there even is a problem? Appreciate the help. Les

1 quart per 50 hours.

We have about twice that many hours on our malibu and it leave the dock everyday sitting very heavy at about 2,500lbs plus people. We don't "burn" any oil. I change the oil every 100 hours and it looks good and all is accounted for.

Scott...what oil do you use?

I used Pennzole on the first one because that was all I could find in the manufacture recommended weight 15w-40. Now I use Valvoline for the last three times. I run a Fram tough guard filter.

Scott...have you noticed any diff in not using "marine" spec oil? Or is that just that the weight is right and that is it?

I use Amsoil Marine 10w40 Synthetic and the Amsoil EaO25 Filter.
http://www.amsoil.com/StoreFront/wcf.aspx
http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/detail.aspx?ID=6912

I also use the Amsoil Synthetic ATF in my direct drive trans.
http://www.amsoil.com/StoreFront/atf.aspx

2006 Malibu Response LXI, 340 Monsoon, Direct Drive

No oil usage between changes.

Fram sucks!!! There was post/test results on malibu crew about filters and fram was by far the worst! Napa Gold all the way..Or Mobil 1 works too.

Okay, so that's enough information to give me some concerns. I had my local dealer, Ultimate Water Sports in Santa Rosa, look for any explanation last winter when I had the boat serviced, and they found a gasket leak in the V drive and said they tested the engine compression and checked it all out and didn't find any problems with the engine at all.

I've still got a full year on my warranty and am a bit concerned that i might get stonewalled by the dealer until after it isn't there problem anymore. Anybody have any ideas about how I might approach this with them? I used to have a pretty good relationship with Eric when he was the manager, but he's moved on and now I really don't know the staff there. thanks, Les

I went to Auto Zone to get my stuff(have to change plugs also) and the only oil that they had in a 15w-40 was the Rotella diesel oil. THey gave some BS about flat tappit cams, but Indmar uses roller cams. Anyway the guy at Indmar told me that as long as it meets the specs that are called for in the manual then it is all good. I guess I will be stopping by AutoZone to see if these requirements are met!

Most any heavy duty diesel oil will also meet marine specs. I know for a fact that Rotella is fine as well as Valvoline 15W40. The biggest difference in heavy duty and marine oil is that the TBN number is higher. This the higher the TBN number the more resistant the oil is to becoming acidic in harsh conditions (ie heavy load on engine and moisture being pulled into the engine). The moisture factor is the reason why Indmar recommends changing oil every 50 hours. On a side note, I know all oil has come a long way in the past and I have no data for the argument, but I still can't put Pennzoil in my Indmar.

Scott, I am thinking that 100 hrs is too long, I have always heard 50 hours and that changing your oil more frequently is best for your motor. Just my $0.02, nothing more.

1boarder kevin,
I totally agree. Not a chance in hell I will put Pennzoil in my engine. It came out the at the first oil change and will never go back.

same here for nay on pennzoil in anything i own. i also use the rotella 15w40 every 50 hours in my indmar and everything seems to be working out great. its hard to tell if you are burning oil or if you have a small leak somewhere try to smell you exhaust sometime when the boat is running but not moving. it always looks darker than the exhaust from a car but you should be able to tell if its starting to be a darker gray and also check your plugs and see if there is any oil on the diodes or if they are a really crispy dark black. those are 2 things i would check, i guess also the drain plug area on the crank case i'm not sure how yours is set up with a hose to a plug or whatever but i would check there and your oil filter to make sure there are no leaks in those areas.

I think the Pennzoil thing is funny. I hate it too! That was the label my boat came with and that was what the dealer had but like I said I only used it once. The 100 hr mark was what my dealer and brother told me. If the oil looked dark or had any sign of over use.He graduated MMI and works at one of the largest boat dealer in Orlando. They both also said that running non marine specific oil would not matter as long as the weight was right.If it looked bad in anyway I would change it more often but it looks great! That is why I run the Valvoline.

Thanks for the tips Cody. I'll check those things. I've looked around in the engine compartment and it seems really clean. I do see some darkness in the exhaust when I'm just getting up riding, but that's when it is pulling hard. I'll take a look at the plugs and the filter.

By the way, I spoke to the new manager at Ultimate in Santa Rosa, Brian, and he was really helpful and totally willing to check it out in detail. He thought that I could probably go thru a quart at Tahoe in a week with 50 hours of use and a lot of weight and surfing.

pennzoil is one of the best oils you can buy..........apples to apples......love to see this oil filter test.shoot me a link