Front Ballast Tank Fills Itself

[Mactoons]

I noticed that several Malibu owners have had a similar problem. I have an '04 VLX and my front Ballast tank fills by itself with the switch off. The other problem is the plastic elbow fitting is cracked so once full, the water leaks into my bilge. I have plugged the hose temporarily to save my battery but wanted to know how to resolve. My assumption is that I have to replace the pump? I already bought a new fitting that I will replace this weekend. Does anyone know if there is a shut-off valve for the ballast tanks? I purchased the boat used and there were no manuals.

[Jimmypooh]

I noticed that several Malibu owners have had a similar problem. I have an '04 VLX and my front Ballast tank fills by itself with the switch off. The other problem is the plastic elbow fitting is cracked so once full, the water leaks into my bilge. I have plugged the hose temporarily to save my battery but wanted to know how to resolve. My assumption is that I have to replace the pump? I already bought a new fitting that I will replace this weekend. Does anyone know if there is a shut-off valve for the ballast tanks? I purchased the boat used and there were no manuals.

Most pumps have a quater turn valve right at the inlet. Should be down by your vdrive. As for the reason you're tank is filling by its self is because it is siphoning. There isn't a problem with your pump. You need to loop the tube going to your tank higher or add an anti siphon fitting at the top of the loop. It looks like this:

[Mactoons]

I noticed that several Malibu owners have had a similar problem. I have an '04 VLX and my front Ballast tank fills by itself with the switch off. The other problem is the plastic elbow fitting is cracked so once full, the water leaks into my bilge. I have plugged the hose temporarily to save my battery but wanted to know how to resolve. My assumption is that I have to replace the pump? I already bought a new fitting that I will replace this weekend. Does anyone know if there is a shut-off valve for the ballast tanks? I purchased the boat used and there were no manuals.

Most pumps have a quater turn valve right at the inlet. Should be down by your vdrive. As for the reason you're tank is filling by its self is because it is siphoning. There isn't a problem with your pump. You need to loop the tube going to your tank higher or add an anti siphon fitting at the top of the loop. It looks like this:

Thanks for the info. I am on my way to the lake shortly and will check out the valve and look for the loop? I just don't understand why it just started filling recently? Will any marina carry the "Anti-Siphoning Loop"? The closest Malibu dealer to me is about 1 1/2 hours away. Thanks again.

[skicrave]

I'm not sure what quarter turn valve Jimmypooh is referring to, but almost no pumps I've seen include that. Your system may or may not have a brass ball-valve immediately before the fill pump for the center tank though, so if that's installed (it varies from one boat to the next) you can always use that as a shut-off.

A vented loop is not a very standard fittings, so you may have trouble finding one locally. West Marine does carry them though, or you can order one online from Bakes or from us. Malibu started installing vented loops from the factory late in 2004 to fix the issue you're having, so you can count on that eliminating the passive filling.