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Curious how you acquired the replacement bilge pump? Will Malibu just mail a replacement pump? I’m dealing with a similar issue with the forward bilge pump tripping the circuit breaker. Tommy’s is also my dealer and doesn’t have any service availability. Pretty easy to access the forward bilge.

If you don't want to buy a 2nd boat, and like this one for everything else, consider having your bride join a private lake. Can ski there for many years for the price of a new boat, and make new friends that share her slalom passion.

You should expect to pay between $10,000 to $12,000 in parts and labor for the installation, depending on whether or not you already have high performance AGM batteries and an onboard battery charger in the boat.

I have a 2004 Response LXI Monsoon 340 that I have had an ongoing issue with the ignition relay's on the wiring harness cluster being popped. The boat will run great but the relay's and harness tends to get a bit warmer than I feel they should. When I turn the engine off if I don't crack the engine cover and make sure to let the heat dissipate from the engine compartment the next time I try to fire to boat up it will either not start or start then shut of at which time it will not fire again. If I switch the relays around the boat will fire back up but if I was just running the boat this can take some time or needs to cool down. I also try and make sure when i am just casually putting around the lake I have the engine cover cracked or at least blower on. Any one a similar experience or thoughts or and what could be causing this. I now carry a couple extra relays in the boat with me. Thanks Ed

The center bilge area by the belly plug is the lowest part of the boat, so water will tend to accumulate there. Lifting the bow as high as possible may allow the bilge water to drain out the rear drain plug at the transom. To loosen a stuck belly plug, I will often use a small hammer to tap on it several times, then use a long curb water valve shut off tool for leverage to remove the belly plug. Worse case, if the T-handle on the belly plug breaks off, the plug and garboard fitting can be removed and replaced. There are only 4 screws holding it in which can be accessed from underneath the boat.

Is the bluetooth device running to an AUX input or to RCA's? It may be a loose connection to the audio input or something simple like that. If you really do have a bad bluetooth reciever, I have a used JL MBT-RX that worked when I took it out to install the Wetsounds radio in my boat. I would let you have it if you covered shipping costs, if you are interested.

Based on the described use, you are best to have one Cranking and one Deep-cycle battery. The deep-cycle is better for the house loads. Now, the answer to core question, you need enough battery Ah. More Ah came in the form of a larger battery than the current or adding another deep-cycle in parallel to the existing house battery to make one larger battery. Just note. its not ideal to wire a new battery to an old battery. So if you go the 2-battery house bank route, start with 2 new same size and type batteries.

So, we had some water in the center ski locker. Rather than pulling out the plug through the hull, I opened the opened the plastic plug that I thought/assumed would drain that water back to the bilge where I could then drain in out the transom plug which was already out. However, I was surprised to see a gush of water coming IN to the center ski locker area. The bilge was (or should have been) completely dry already since the transom plug had been out after 20+ miles of trailering, including some long and steep inclines. So, what I'm wondering... Where was that water coming from that was "trapped" in the boat and gushing into the ski locker despite having seemingly already drained the bilge completely dry? I'm also unable to get the thru-hull plug out in the center ski locker. The prior owner or whoever put that in last, tightened that thing so damn tight. I'm out of options to find ways I can get enough leverage to loosen that thing. Any tips would be appreciated on that as well.

I'm thinking the hilly curvy road might be the problem and all four brakes, or three of four are working as they should. Can you take it out for a 15 or 20 mile straight flat straight trip and then measure the same?

Hello, we have a 2012 wakesetter. The prior owner was the original owner. He put an accessory on the boat so he could Bluetooth music from a phone. Last fall we started having issues with it intermittently. This year our phone will show “connected” but there is no audio. I think the accessory is just worn out. Does anyone have a good suggestion for a new accessory for Bluetooth?

First time poster, so go easy on me! I recently picked up a nice 2004 Wakesetter for next to nothing because it had a cracked block. (Chevy Vortec 5.7) The previous owner kept everything in tip-top shape, he just forgot to get it winterized before our first freeze. He had a shop test all the components, such as the ECU and the alternator and the fuel injectors, ETC., and they are all fine. That shop quoted him a super-high price to replace the engine, which is why I got the boat for such a good price. Anyway, I've replaced the engine with a new remanufactured one. I'm used to replacing standard inboard/outboard engines, so this direct drive was a breeze compared. Prior to removing the original, I brought it up to TDC on the compression stroke. I scribed a line on the distributor housing, and the intake manifold. I then scribed a line to show the exact placement of the rotor. After the new engine was installed, I primed the oil system (Royal Purple break-in oil), then installed the distributor. It took a few minutes of fiddling with the oil pump tang to get everything lined up, but I was able to accomplish getting it all back in and lined-up perfectly. I turned the key to the on position to prime the fuel system, then cranked it over. It fired up and ran perfectly after about three cranks. I ran it in the driveway on the fake-a-lake at about 1800 rpm's under no load for about an hour. No leaks, and everything seems to be great. So here's my question (sorry for such a long-winded explanation): Do I still need to time this engine? Or does the ECU take over and make it right as long ad I'm close? I've heard of a special plug that I can buy that puts me in "base mode" or something, then I should set it at 10 degrees BTDC. Can someone guide me on this? I don't want to put a load on this engine until I'm sure everything is correct. Thanks in advance.

In automotive (similar systems, largely same batteries and use cycles) it's RARE to have a battery be good much out beyond 3 years. I test customers' batteries every day, and probably 1/3-1/2 fail at their rated load capacity 12-14 months old - even though they will start and run the vehicle fine most days, until ambient temps approach freezing. If the batteries are 3 or more years older, I'd replace them with as high a rated ones as you can find, or get them tested at a minimum.

How has the cover held up long term? Any issues with rubbing?

Looking to simplify my life a bit. Have any of you ever paid to have this installed on your boat from your dealership? if so, what was the price?

I did replace the calipers. I think I was able to identify them based off the stampings on them and then cross referenced to the UFP catalog (I think I linked it earlier in this thread), and ended up sourcing on Amazon from some trailer store. They may have come from "Shadow Trailers" as well. I'm not sure anymore. https://www.google.com/search?q=ufp+db-35+caliper&rlz=1C1GCEB_enUS966US966&oq=UFP+DB&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgCEAAYgAQyBggAEEUYOTIKCAEQLhiABBjlBDIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDIHCAgQABiABNIBCDc3MThqMGoxqAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 The master I got from Boatmate (their parts pricing was better, even shipped). https://www.boatmateparts.com/product_details.php?itmId=1827 If calipers are hanging up with the master locked out, you either have a caliper sticking like I previously showed in the video link, or you could have a bad hose that is failed internally. I really truly doubt that's the case for you because it's all wheels at different situations. I guess it's possible the main feed line is damaged coming off the master cylinder if you have a folding tongue, but I'd seriously doubt it. Did you already bleed the brakes? If so, what did the fluid look like that came out of the bleeder screws on the calipers? Also, now I'm just looking for a reason to make a work trip out to the RDU area, if I can/do, I'll make some time to swing by and see what's going on. Can't guarantee that I'll be out there though.

i'm having issues with aft starboard ballast bag draining (fill up, no issues). I'm not too familiar with the boat mechanically, usually take it to the shop. But since they're all booked up I'll try to look at puke, fuse, and clogged pump since i want to use my boat this weekend and every shop is booked. I'll let you know how it goes! thx

Current system is: RF head unit (model number?) powering 4 6.5 coax speakers @ 50x4 (I think?) Punch P400-2 amp running the (two) tower speakers (Alpha II 6x9s - made by wet sounds?) Punch P600-2 amp running the 12" sub Sooooo - I took the boat home (new to me) last Friday and the sub worked for about 1/2 of 1 song and quit. P600-2 amp is flashing orange (circuit protection mode?) at me. Disconnect sub speaker wires at amp and orange light goes away. I pulled the sub and it smells like house fire, so that's all done. But I don't know if the amp could have blown the sub? Any way to tell before I install another $300 sub (and potentially blow it up as well)? Overall the stereo seems about 60-70% as loud as I'd like it. 0-22 is almost inaudible, 24-28 is nice cruising, but maxed out surfing it is not really enough. Thinking about different tower speakers, or replacing the P400-2 with something bigger with more channels and running the 6x9s and 6.5s with it? I suppose part of that depends on the health of the P600-2 - maybe it makes more sense to replace both with a good newer 5-channel? Thoughts, suggestions?

Did you replace the calipers? where did you order a new Master Cylinder from and how hard was that to install? Could the brakes be sticking, even if I had the brake lock-out in place? Thanks

Right, but if he’s got calipers seized, he still needs to replace those. You can get a new master cylinder for under $100, you don’t have to buy a whole actuator assembly.

Ryan, kudos to you for having done some homework on this. As far as trusting a service advisor, I understand that but if he “believes” 220 is normal, I’d push to back up that data. He (as well as his techs) have the “phone a friend” option by calling Ford. You do too. My comment on weight distribution was more along the lines of “be careful, if you are towing outside your vehicle limits, Ford and the dealer will quickly wash their hands of your situation”. If I’m correct, 2014 was the first year for the new 23’ hull, so my 08 is a different weight than yours, and I use an F150 so my experience is a little different than yours, but not too far off.

We found a number of the same suggestions to be helpful in our 2011 VTX, but ultimately chose to buy a nice, though older Lxi, and then eventually upgraded our VTX to a 25lsv, which we needed as the kids hot bigger. I also completely understand that your wife feels misled. The dealer is a salesman, plain and simple. He's not a bad guy, I have known him for 20 years, but a salesman for sure. We initially wanted a VTX in the hope of only having 1 boat, that would do everything well enough. We outgrew it's abilities fairly quickly though, and are much more satisfied with a 2 boat set-up. Seems to me your wife is already past the point where a tru slalom boat is needed. I would start looking for a pure slalom tractor, then figure out what to do with the VTX.