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Damper Plate Failure - Why?


blk93jeepzj

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I know that the damper plate/ride plate has been discussed to great lengths on here, from failures to upgrades and replaceing. What I have never been able to find through the readings is what causes the damper plate to fail. When I dropped the new engine in my 04 LSV over the winter I went ahead and upgraded to the improved Indmar sealed ride plate. Could not use the heavy duty one since I have the ZF 45 tranmission and it would not fit.

Our neighbors have an 05 LSV and while on vacation last week their damper plate went out again. Original=toast, second was and OEM open spring=toast, third was a sealed spring=toast last week. I know that 05 is notorious for problems but to have gone through 3 damper plates and now on the 4th seems extreme, boat has almost 700 hours and has the ZF 45 transmission as well.

So my question is why/what causes the damper plate/ride plate to fail? Any theories?

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I wonder if it could be how hard you take the throttle from neutral to speed.

I have always put the throttle in idle for a least 1 second prior to pushing it down to pull up the rider. Even then it is about a 2 second push on the throttle to get it to where it needs to be to pull up the rider.

I have been with people you just mash it down out of neurtal and it does not feel good to anyone while in the boat....and I'm sure it does the damper plate no favors.

What about the rate at which people for from foward to reverse?

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  • 6 years later...

Does the boat you are looking at still have the original plate?  I don’t remember all the details (I think there was a thread on Wake World many years ago with specifics and maybe the cost) but yes... it was a real issue. My friend had his go out right around the hours that it typically happens. We were out camping and put the boats in the water and he went to pull the first rider and bam, clank, clank, clank. It was done for the trip. If the motor in the boat you are looking at has really high hours then either it was already replaced or may not be effected. I think it typically happened in the 300-400 hour mark (but I could be wrong)... but I now it wasn’t super high hours.

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So this was my thread originally.  I know I have commented on this in other threads as well, search around a bit for more information.  

Even though I replaced mine when I replaced my engine as a preventative maintenance, the new one still let go and it took out the bell housing.  Further investigation points to the bell housing in that year range (late 04 - early 06) across different brands as well.  There were bad casting on the bell housing and it caused an alignment issue from the engine to the transmission.  Seems as if the damper plate is not the true issue but is the weaker link that will fail.  Hopefully it takes out the bell housing so both have to be replaced instead of just the damper plate being replaced and waiting for it to fail again.   

Check to see if the bell housing has been replaced, new updated model has a top and bottom starter position on it.  The top position will have a plate over it.  Here is the part number # 531410P.  

Mine is working great since I replaced both.  Neighbor that had so many issues, finally it took out the bell housing and it had to be replaced. They haven't had issues since replacing both.  

  • Like 3
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On 2/28/2019 at 10:25 AM, JohnSchneider said:

I am looking at purchasing a 2005. Should I be worried about this? Are they costly to replace? Thanks for the help.

Yes, you should be.  I would be concerned about any of the '04 - '06 GEN-I SBC plates/bell housings.  I am certain a different housing is used on the big block and likely a different damper plate, so probably not an issue there. 

If you find a '04-'05 with the LS1 motor (not a lot of them in the wild), that may be okay as well.  Likely a different bell housing and might be a different damper plate. 

Without verified receipts of a damper plate, all bolts and bell housing replacement, I wouldn't buy a '04 - '06 unless I got it for 4-5k less than one with all that replaced.  This failure happens way too often. 

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On 2/28/2019 at 10:25 AM, JohnSchneider said:

I am looking at purchasing a 2005. Should I be worried about this? Are they costly to replace? Thanks for the help.

What kind of boat?  Not too hard to replace on a DD.  I'm assuming it would be more difficult/expensive on a V-drive, though.

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14 hours ago, powbmps said:

What kind of boat?  Not too hard to replace on a DD.  I'm assuming it would be more difficult/expensive on a V-drive, though.

Thats a good question. Does it happen equally on both dd and v drives ?

Steve B.

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IIRC, there was originally a separate part for the DD and VD bell housings.

The new bell housing can work for either the DD or VD since it has a spot for top mount or bottom mount starter. 

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  • 2 months later...

Does anyone have an idea whatbit cost to replace?  Dealer price and then also DIY’er. If you did it yourself did you remove engine?  

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damper plate -  https://www.bakesonline.com/indmar-drive-dampener-plate-heavy-duty-all-gm-motors.html

bell housing - https://www.bakesonline.com/indmar-bell-housing-for-gm-top-or-bottom-mount-starter.html

You do not need to remove the engine to do this.  Not sure of the costs for dealership replacement.  

Loosen the engine mounting bolts, rear.  Take nuts of engine mounting bolts, front.  This allows you to pivot the engine up and down.  If you have access to a forklift, tractor or overhead hoist of some kind.  

Move rear most center seat base.  Disconnect drive shaft.  Remove the v-drive and transmission.  Remove the bell housing, remove the damper plate. 

Clean anything you can if there is excess grease and oil from damper plate letting go.   

Install new damper plate.  Install new bell housing.  Re-attach transmission, and V drive.  

Bolt engine back down.  

Align the drive shaft.

 

These are way simplified instructions, I can get more detailed ones for you if you need them.  Takes about a day start to finish if you haven't done it before.  Overall it's not a hard project, time consuming yes, but the engine does not need to come out and is faster to pull trans and vdrive.  

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Blk93 can you send me detailed instructions? I’m pretty good at mechanical work just didn’t know if I had to remove engine. Dealership made it sound like it was a must. 

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I'll get them typed up, it's been a couple years so it's a little fuzzy.  Mechanic at the local dealership that talked me thru it said they never pulled the engine, easier to pull the trans.  

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  • 2 years later...

I know this topic has been discussed at length from various other posts I have read on this site, but I'm in a bit of a time crunch and looking for information on a part number for a bell housing on a 2005 Malibu V-Ride. We're working with a mechanic who is both slow and rather uncooperative. After much research online I determined that we had a damper plate issue with our boat. This particular mechanic tended to disagree but after FINALLY removing the transmission it was in fact determined that our damper plate was destroyed. Since the boat is already torn apart I wish to have the bell housing replaced to avoid this issue again since it seems that the issue with 05 V-Rides/Indmar engines is the bell housing and not the damper plate itself. We had given the mechanic the part number listed in previous posts (531410P) and he claims it is incorrect and he is dismissive of our desire to replace the bell housing because he feels it isn't necessary. Necessary or not, I would like it done, and feel that bell housing part number may be correct and does not match whatever information he has found because it is a universal housing designed to work with either top or bottom mounted starters on direct drive and V-drives. My knowledge on this topic and engines in general is limited and am desperately in search of a proper part number that will in fact work on our boat. Summer is slipping away and we'd really like to be able to hit the water again before fall sets in.

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16 hours ago, MalibuVRider said:

We had given the mechanic the part number listed in previous posts (531410P) and he claims it is incorrect and he is dismissive of our desire to replace the bell housing because he feels it isn't necessary. Necessary or not, I would like it done

Good cal.  Definitely stick to your guns here, otherwise you might be doing the same repair again down the road.  The bell housing is indeed the issue and there is for sure an updated part/rev number. 

EDIT:
Looks like Bakes has the updated bellhousing and shows the part number to be part #531410P.

https://www.bakesonline.com/indmar-bell-housing-for-gm-top-or-bottom-mount-starter.html

Also see this post, hat tip to @blk93jeepzj.  Maybe he can chime in...

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10 hours ago, formulaben said:

Good cal.  Definitely stick to your guns here, otherwise you might be doing the same thing again.  The bell housing is indeed the issue and there is for sure an updated part/rev number. 

EDIT:
Looks like Bakes has the updated bellhousing and shows the part number to be part #531410P.

https://www.bakesonline.com/indmar-bell-housing-for-gm-top-or-bottom-mount-starter.html

Also see this post, hat tip to @blk93jeepzj.  Maybe he can chime in...

Thank you for the response.
 

Also, does anybody have any input on the part number for a new damper plate? Our mechanic is looking for one but I have no idea if he is looking for the original part, an aftermarket (probably not a good idea), or the “improved”/updated one from Indmar (885203). I assume that one would be the best choice.  

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I saw that part number too.  Just do some searching and you'll find it.  I believe others have had good luck with aftermarket parts, so I wouldn't discount it...some look stronger than others, but either way the bellhousing is the root cause of the problem so if you get that you should be good.

  • Like 1
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You are correct about all of that. Have your reluctant mechanic read the threads on this subject on this site. Or go somewhere else. Don't let him

undermine the proper repair which is the correct bellhousing and upgraded damper plate.

Steve B.

 

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