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Serious Transmission Problem


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Yesterday while skiing I heard a clunck. Hope it was just something shifting in storage. This morning I checked it out as much as I could took it for a spin. Got it up to mid 40's and everything seemed fine. Then a bit later took a tight turn and hear a much louder clunk. Put the boat up on the lift hoping to see something wrapped around the prop but that all looked good. I opened the engine cover and noticed a 12" long crack on the transmission housing just behind the starter. I assume there is an internal problem that caused the housing to crack. Any ideas what could have caused this and what the repair bill may be?

I will post some pictures of the crack later.

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Transmission housing is cracked? Or the bell housing is cracked? Sounds like your bell housing is cracked which would indicate your damper plate detonated. :yes: There was one year of boats that seemed to have that problem more than others. You might search "damper plate". IIRC it was 2005 that had the issue but I'm not certain.

A pic would definitely help.

Edited by NorCaliBu
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I'm going with damper plate. When the plate in my 2004 went it was much worse.

I have a 2005 RLXI and had to replace my damper plate last year. Indmar sent me a new stronger one for free. Call Indmar they should replace it. Mine did not blow up and go through the bell housing. Not sure how Indmar will handle that part. Good luck

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My pictures didn't turn out very well but I am confident it is the damper plate. Too bad I didn't read this thread yesterday before it broke the bell housing. Well we will see if MN Inboards comes through for me. Wish me luck. And thanks to everyone who posted!

Edited by thealy
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Just replaced my '05 plate this winter. Good thing I did. A few of the springs were broken and it definitely would have failed this summer. It took nearly a month to get the plate. Indmar gets the plate from GM and parts from GM were slow coming. Hopefully your dealer does not have to wait that long. Good luck

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Yesterday while skiing I heard a clunck. Hope it was just something shifting in storage. This morning I checked it out as much as I could took it for a spin. Got it up to mid 40's and everything seemed fine. Then a bit later took a tight turn and hear a much louder clunk. Put the boat up on the lift hoping to see something wrapped around the prop but that all looked good. I opened the engine cover and noticed a 12" long crack on the transmission housing just behind the starter. I assume there is an internal problem that caused the housing to crack. Any ideas what could have caused this and what the repair bill may be?

I will post some pictures of the crack later.

Glad I read this. But now I am getting really nervous. I have an 05 with 260 hours on it. Is there a point that these damper plates go? or is it random? Does Indmar provide a new damper plate free of charge?

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My dealer said they have only seen one other damper plate failure. Does this sound reasonable given that almost every Malibu sold in MN is from this dealer? They said Indmar would not cover the prior failure but they would give them a call about mine. This not only sounds like a huge customer sat issue but also a serious safety issue. I have never heard of a boat motor that has the potential to launch lethal projectiles. Just think of all the jokes we would be making about this problem if were happening on say Moombas or maybe even better, Bayliners. I thought I had purchased a "top of the line" ski boat. I know it is not directly a Malibu problem and is really an Indmar issue but why hasn't Malibu contacted me about this potential so I could have had it replaced (like over the past 5 months of MN winter) before it became a serious problem? Am I overreacting?

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...why hasn't Malibu contacted me about this potential so I could have had it replaced (like over the past 5 months of MN winter) before it became a serious problem?

Malibu sells a few thousand boats every year, at what percentage failure rate should they be expected to do something? Of the more than 10,000 members here, we have how many damper plate failures? A dozen? Maybe?...

Not to diminish your experience, nor your concerns, but in terms of "failure rate" it is a very small percentage. That said, having knowledge of the likelyhood of the problem occurring I would hope Indmar would be willing to work with customers who find themselves outside of the warranty period (particularly on model year 05 boats).

Don't get wound up yet. I have heard very good things about Indmar's customer service.

Edited by NorCaliBu
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It was a bad year for GM drive plates, from any marine engine mfg, but more likely on larger or ballasted v-drives that incur higher torque loads. (Or thousands of in-and-out of gear)

pb.

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Malibu sells a few thousand boats every year, at what percentage failure rate should they be expected to do something? Of the more than 10,000 members here, we have how many damper plate failures? A dozen? Maybe?...

Not to diminish your experience, nor your concerns, but in terms of "failure rate" it is a very small percentage. That said, having knowledge of the likelyhood of the problem occurring I would hope Indmar would be willing to work with customers who find themselves outside of the warranty period (particularly on model year 05 boats).

Don't get wound up yet. I have heard very good things about Indmar's customer service.

Too add, damper plates do not just randomly explode, there is a telltale rattling in and out of gear before they fail.

-Chris

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Too add, damper plates do not just randomly explode, there is a telltale rattling in and out of gear before they fail.

-Chris

Not on mine.

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Not on mine.

This was discussed here about this time last year IIRC. The damper plates that are having problems are on heavily weighted boats (almost exclusively wakebord boats), not boats used primarily for slalom. If you're overweighting the boat or at least heavily weighting it for boarding, surfing etc you're the one who is most at risk of having this problem. If you're slalom skiing with your '05 RLXI you most likely have no worries. The Bakes Marine guys have good info on this issue.

Ed

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This was discussed here about this time last year IIRC. The damper plates that are having problems are on heavily weighted boats (almost exclusively wakebord boats), not boats used primarily for slalom. If you're overweighting the boat or at least heavily weighting it for boarding, surfing etc you're the one who is most at risk of having this problem. If you're slalom skiing with your '05 RLXI you most likely have no worries. The Bakes Marine guys have good info on this issue.

Ed

Strictly waterskiing but it does have the 383 in it so maybe the extra torque is the problem?

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This was discussed here about this time last year IIRC. The damper plates that are having problems are on heavily weighted boats (almost exclusively wakebord boats), not boats used primarily for slalom. If you're overweighting the boat or at least heavily weighting it for boarding, surfing etc you're the one who is most at risk of having this problem. If you're slalom skiing with your '05 RLXI you most likely have no worries. The Bakes Marine guys have good info on this issue.

Ed

Sorry but not true. My 2005 RLXI only had 260 hours on it and is used only for slalom and a few time a year for barefootin

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This was discussed here about this time last year IIRC. The damper plates that are having problems are on heavily weighted boats (almost exclusively wakebord boats), not boats used primarily for slalom. If you're overweighting the boat or at least heavily weighting it for boarding, surfing etc you're the one who is most at risk of having this problem. If you're slalom skiing with your '05 RLXI you most likely have no worries. The Bakes Marine guys have good info on this issue.

Ed

I have always followed this with some interest because I own a 05. That said I do remember a few of the failures were ski only boats.

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I have always followed this with some interest because I own a 05. That said I do remember a few of the failures were ski only boats.

If so I guess I missed that. In the previous discussion of this topic I was pretty much assured that it was almost exclusive to boats being loaded with lots of ballast or higher HP (high torque) engines. I've followed it with interest also as another '05 owner. Guess if I start hearing or feeling any vibrations or clunks I'd better get digging quick...

Ed

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My boat had the HH engine. The failure happened two seconds into the holeshot while pulling a 200 lb wakeboarder with full ballast and wedge. I have heard that a rough idle is the warning sign, but I had no warning at all. Half of the 75 hours were spent pulling wakeboarders with full ballast and wedge. The other half was pulling hydrofoilers with no ballast or wedge and an easy holeshot. After the repair, I logged 800 trouble free hours.

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I have an 05 also and have watched and listed for any strange noises but have yet to hear any. I hate always having that in the back of my mind though. Has anyone just replace the thing before it fails so they dont have to wander if it will go or not? If so what did it cost to have it done?

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I have an 05 also and have watched and listed for any strange noises but have yet to hear any. I hate always having that in the back of my mind though. Has anyone just replace the thing before it fails so they dont have to wander if it will go or not? If so what did it cost to have it done?

I don't have the final figures yet but replacing the plate and the bell housing will be in that 1k area. The parts are fairly inexpensive. Had I known of this potential, likely I would have tried to replace it myself over the winter months.

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I have the Monsoon engine and again, I was pretty much assured in the previous discussion that it wouldn't be an issue with that engine used almost exclusively for course skiing. So I don't think I'll be losing much sleep over it personally.

Ed

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  • 3 months later...

My boat had the HH engine. The failure happened two seconds into the holeshot while pulling a 200 lb wakeboarder with full ballast and wedge. I have heard that a rough idle is the warning sign, but I had no warning at all. Half of the 75 hours were spent pulling wakeboarders with full ballast and wedge. The other half was pulling hydrofoilers with no ballast or wedge and an easy holeshot. After the repair, I logged 800 trouble free hours.

Same thing happened to me today. As soon as I throttled up the tranny just quit delivering power. At first I thought I lost the prop. Mine has a hole the size of a bullet in the bell housing. What are the odds it is just the damper plate and nothing else? I'll have to replace e housing too. Should I just get a new tranny?

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