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Cracked factory ballast tank connection


malibudog

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Over the weekend, I discovered that there is a crack in the fitting coming out of my left rear factory ballast tank. Anyone confront this and know what it takes to repair it? Do you have to take the tank out and replace the entire drain plug assembly? If so, is the tank hard to get out?

Here is a picture:

brokenfactoryballastwithlabels.jpg

Edited by malibudog
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I had a tank fitting break like that on a '04. If the fitting is screwed too far into the tank, it cracks the tank fitting. I repaired it and it lasted at least until I sold the boat last year.

I unscrewed the fittings and filled the cracks on the tank fitting with 5200 sealer. I put a hose clamp around the tank fitting and snugged it down so it couldn't expand the fitting again. Leave the hose clamp on the tank fitting and screw the fittings back together with thread sealer. Don't over tighten it again. These are tapered threads so they will tighten pretty fast. Let it all setup up before you use it.

I would get new fittings and not use the one you have in the picture with all of the sealer on it. If the inside of the tank fitting isn't clean, you will need to clean it too so you get a good seal.

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I had a tank fitting break like that on a '04. If the fitting is screwed too far into the tank, it cracks the tank fitting. I repaired it and it lasted at least until I sold the boat last year.

I unscrewed the fittings and filled the cracks on the tank fitting with 5200 sealer. I put a hose clamp around the tank fitting and snugged it down so it couldn't expand the fitting again. Leave the hose clamp on the tank fitting and screw the fittings back together with thread sealer. Don't over tighten it again. These are tapered threads so they will tighten pretty fast. Let it all setup up before you use it.

I would get new fittings and not use the one you have in the picture with all of the sealer on it. If the inside of the tank fitting isn't clean, you will need to clean it too so you get a good seal.

Ronnie: Sounds like this should work. Thanks for taking the time to post it up. Rob

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I dealt with this on my boat as well. Pretty much what Ronnie said will work. I used epoxy to fix mine, then smeared some silicone on top of that just to make sure I didn't get any leaks. Seems to be holding strong for me.

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THis happened on both of my tanks on my 06 and were replaced with new tanks by dealer under warranty. Before those threaded fittings cracked, I had issues with the plugs that were screwed into the unused ports breaking. I replaced all of those myself but when the cracks appeared in the threaded inserts I got the dealer to handle.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Digging this thread back up.

When the fitting was cracked, did it actually leak? Mine is cracked just the first picture. The boat is new to me, so I don't actually know if it will leak.

Were your guys leaking?

Thanks

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Mine was leaking quite a bit - bilge running every 10 minutes or so to pump it out. I repaired as suggested, and seems to be working just fine now. Of course I haven't filled it up a hundred times like I hope to this summer. :biggrin:

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  • 4 weeks later...

had same problem on 2008 vlx, water was pouring in one day and bilge and hand pump to get water out... fixed them up abit,lots of silicon around outside and holding up well, just had 2 new tanks supplied under warranty so plan to change them soon...as everytime i am out i worry they could leak again ... check if your warranty hasnt expired.. 2011 dont have that problem and tanks seem to be hidden cant see them and lots of room in rear lockers to work on engine and store things..wish the 08 was like that..

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