'03 BU VLX Oil Pressure

I've added a little more ballast recently to my boat. 350lbs in bow, 600lbs in center, 2x150lbs in the rear lockers, MLS filled up and between 400 and 600 lbs of people. At the start of a set when hit the throttle and the bow rises, the LCD displays "Oil Pressure" and it beeps 2-4 times then disappears (about 2 seconds).
Should I be concerned about this, will it do any harm to the engine? It happens about 50% of the time with that setup.

I am not a mechanic, but I would guess that the ballast would have little to do with the oil pressure changing other than taking off harder and raising the pressure. I would be worried because if it is experiencing low oil pressure, you will damage your motor. What is the oil pressure gauge showing while it is alarming. It could be a bad sensor giving a false alarm but I wouldn't bet the health of your engine on it.

I would also check to insure the dipstick if firmly attached and not loose.

Have you checked the oil level?

this is normal from what I've seen in these boats. every heavly weighted VLX/LSV does it...3000lbs +.

My vlx will drop oil pressure on take off and regain once on plane. From what I have read its pretty common with most V-drives as the oil pump in near the front of the motor so the oil shifts back in the oil pan upon acceleration.

Thats what I thought, once it starts to plan it goes away.
The dipstick is tight and I changed the oil about 20 boat hours ago, used ~5 quarts and ran the engine checked the dip stick level, etc... Which was all fine.

matt, it's only on malibu's for some reason...I ride/drive quite a few different v-drives and it only happens on the malibus ( when weighted)

My 2 v-drives have never dropped oil pressure and I have run with significant weight. If you are really dropping pressure during take-off (not just a sensor provblem)I would be very concerned for damage to the engine, max load and torque with inadeguate lubrication equals extreme wear.

I agree George.

I wonder how many others with Bu's see this happen. Most every bu I have looked for it have the issue; maybe its a sending unit issue? FWIW when we surf the pressure drops just like a normal wakeboard pull (at the start), and picks back up in about 3-5 secs into the pull to normal operating pressure.

I have an 03 vlx and it does the same thing. Every vlx from 01's through the 04's that I have been in do the same. All of these have the 3335-340 horse indmar motor. I have not noticed this in the 05 or 06's that I have been in. Personaly, I have not been too concerned about it since the least oil pressure that I have found on the digital read out has been 16, 17, or 18 psi. The alarm sounds below 20 psi. 16-18 psi is still enough pressure to lube a running engine. With all of that said I would worry if the pressure drops once you are in gear and have been running a bit.

The only way that the oil pressure will start to drop is if air is getting picked up by the pump inlet. This is not good but it's not fatal unless too much air gets in too often.
If the pickup is to the bow the oil sloshes away from it if acceleration is hard and the bow lifts.
It becomes very important to check that the oil level is at the full mark and not just above the add mark.

GM had this problem on some cars and their fix was to make a new dipstick that had you add a 1/2 quart of oil more than before. (and replace the engine on those that lost rods before that fix)

(Message edited by rallyart on July 05, 2007)

I had the same problem. I hooked up a mechanical oil pressure guage so I could see the real pressure. It was way higher, and in normal range, than the dash guage read.

then I replaced the sending unit and have not had the problem.