Axis Wakeboard Boat Forum

I check my v drive oils and motor oil every time I take it out. It's cheaper to check the oil and add some then to lose a motor or drive for the couple of minutes it takes. I always check it before I even take it out of my garage. And checking gauges isn't going to tell you that your low on oil. Hope nothing was damaged! Good luck! After a new oil change u could drop a half of quart of more by just filling the oil filter once it's been started up. If your dealer didn't run it after the oil change you could have been low a quart the first time out.


Zurri13

Thanks for feedback guys. Makes me feel a little better that it is common in some boats. Although, as much as we spend on these boats, I would expect a little more standardization with these engines/boats. I will say that I've been a little let down with the quality control of Malibu/Axis, and I've let them know this. Every other issue I've had up until this point has been pretty minor. But.....the issues are adding up!
And no where in my manual does it mention anything about ever changing oil prior to 50 hours, or consuming more oil under any circumstances.

As of right now, they do not think any damage was done, because there were 3.5 quarts in the engine. And I never smelled anything burning and the engine temp was fine. But for now on, I'm carrying extra oil in the boat, and I will be checking it all the time now!

hmmm... how did you break in your engine?

alexandera.......I was told that when you do your first oil change, it should be done much earlier then normal. And I've heard that time frame referenced as the "Break In" time. Yeah....it kind of through me for a loop first time I had someone ask "did you break it in yet"?

Guess I was asking... did you follow the break in requirements to a "t"? RPMs, weights, excessive idle, etc....

Heavily weighted boats and surfing in particular and it's effects on engine oil have been somewhat of a topic lately so I though I'd share this info.

I recently sent an oil sample to Blackstone Labs for analysis. A little background. I have a 2016 T22 with the 6.0L 409 with 63 total engine hours. The oil was Rotella 15W 40 with 43 hours on it. We surf about 75% of the time with about 3500# of ballast. Surfing RPM's are around 3000-3100.

My main goal in sending the oil in was to see how much life it had left and if I could possibly go longer between changes. The report was that all was good as far the metals present but I was a little shocked to see that the viscosity of the oil was "thin" and that they recommend that I change the oil every 40 hours.

I changed the oil with the same Rotella but will run a synthetic next year ( probably RP ) and see if Blackstone recommends the same frequency.

My 330hp burns oil, my mechanic thinks I didn't hard run the motor at all in the beginning and the rings never seated fully. Tried some hard runs 5000 rpms at 40 mph a few times before riding, but this was 3rd year after just under/over 200 hours from previous 2 years , it seemed to make no difference at this point. I think he is right because many of us put in more run time hours surfing at lower rpms early in boats life cause it's so much fun.

I have a 15' A22 and experience the same oil loss. I have found that if oil level is at "fill" line on dipstick you are 1 qt low and no oil on dipstick is 2 quarts+. We go through 1 qt of oil per 15 hours of run time. I have asked 3 different dealers and all said this is common with PCM engines. I put it out on other forums and was told we have an issue so before our last trip I changed oil (Rotella 15w40) to verify the oil the dealer was using wasn't the issue and still experienced the same issue. Upon return I contacted PCM direct and this is what I received.

I responded with the question "if this bulletin was created 4 years ago, why isn't it in the engine manual that goes out with the boat?" I haven't received a response but they now recommend oil changes at 30 hours using the oil listed. If we waited till 50 hours and never checked the level, we would be out of oil before we hit the change interval.

Guys... I wish Walter was still active on the boards, so he could chime in... but, I am a shade tree mechanic and think this is simply BS.

WHoever's mechanic talked about ring seating above is spot on IMO. Enngine break-in in boats is absolutely critical; regardless of how much more advanced manufacturing techniques and materials selection has gotten.

Everyone I know who gets a boat and "drives it like its stolen" has this problem and vise-versa. I have the 350, slam my boat to surf, and I burn zero oil. I followed break-in to a T... same on my old LSV and old A-22... have never had a marine engine burn oil excessively.

Dealers need to be very adamant bout break-in with consumers... its the most critical time of your boats life.

Once the rings aren't set; it doesn't matter what oil you put in or how often you change... nothing can be done (correctly at least), so just get in the habit of adding oil and enjoy your boats! DOn't stress... way I see if, if you are adding oil all the time, no need for a quicker oil change right? It's continuously replenished with new oil!

No issues with my 409 in 165 hours. I changed at 25 hours, then maybe around 90, and at the end of last season at 125.