Bummed on my new (to me) Malibu. Pressure from the plate.

[Steve04]

Howdy Geniuses! I'm new to the group here and would like to share my recent experience with my boat that I just bought. The boat is an 05' Wakesetter 23 LSV that I purchased from NorCal Mastercraft. It has about 230 hours on it and last weekend-our 3rd trip on the boat-the pressure plate that is located between the motor and v-drive basically disintegrated and blew a hole through the bell housing near the starter. Awesome! Considering the pressure I put on my wife to get her to agree to let me buy this boat, then have it break after 10 minutes on the water on our 3rd trip with it, I've had better weekends. It has the ZF Hurth trans/v-drive and Monsoon 340 motor. Anyone had a similar experience?

Look forward to hearing from you guys and thanks for reading.

[Bill_AirJunky]

Wow, that blows.

I've had the same thing happen on a Mastercraft Prostar 190..... but it wasn't on the 3rd trip out. It wasn't a very tough repair on a direct drive. We pulled the transmission & had a new pressure plate in it in a couple hours.

I think I'd be going back to your dealer though. I have to imagine they will want to keep you as a happy customer & will make it right with you.

Good luck.

[teamerickson]

Sorry to hear about that. Is the dealer helping?

[Steve B.]

Hopefully the dealer will step up.

Having read tons on this great forum, evidently that is a somehwhat common problem. I know there is an upgraded heavy duty damper plate replacement.

Good luck,

Steve B.

[coyote055]

I just had mine replaced this summer. Cost was $1280 an 6 weeks of summer. If you are a DIY guy, check this out http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/page/articles.html/_/damper-plate-upgrade-r19 . Good luck an hope you're back on the water soon.

[Steve04]

Thank you guys for all the comments. Really appreciate the link from coyote055; might be doing it that way. I've spoken with my sales person and he assured me that it has no warranty (thanks for affirming that). I live in Huntington Beach and the boat was up in Nor Cal, so the purchase was made site unseen and based solely on pics and the salesperson's opinion. The boat is in great shape and ran great too, until the breakdown. I have someone that works for a dealership that will fix it for around $2k which sounds like a viable option if I decide not to do it myself.

This is a great forum!

[Manga Boats]

Yes it is a "known issue" on most drivetrains up to around 2005, damper plates were not originally designed for the weight/power/prop combos we now commonally throw at our boats. Indmar in particular started using the damper plate from the 8.1 big block on all there engines around that time period so would be interested to see some pictures when it comes out

[jkendallmsce]

Thank you guys for all the comments. Really appreciate the link from coyote055; might be doing it that way. I've spoken with my sales person and he assured me that it has no warranty (thanks for affirming that). I live in Huntington Beach and the boat was up in Nor Cal, so the purchase was made site unseen and based solely on pics and the salesperson's opinion. The boat is in great shape and ran great too, until the breakdown. I have someone that works for a dealership that will fix it for around $2k which sounds like a viable option if I decide not to do it myself.

This is a great forum!

Continue to pressure your dealer...like others have pointed...there is a known problem, and yes the pressure plate is flimsy at the best, like some made in China piece of crap, even if the dealers refuse to acknowledge it. May be negotiate them to do it witheach party paying 1/2?? Better than nothing??

If the dealer eventually is no help, call or email this guy....Blake Moore, he is the ultimate ya or nay on warranty work: Good luck

There are a number of good shops in the Sacto area that can do the work and install a muchooo better unit that will last for a 1000+ hours....

Blake Moore

Director of Customer Service & Warranty

[email protected]

(865) 458-7222

[Steve B.]

Sorry to hear the dealer wont even meet you halfway.

Seeing as you bought it sight unseen, morally, ethically whatever they should step up. In my feeble mind they should have at least offered a 30 day drive train warranty on a purchase that big.

Who was the dealer?

Steve B.

[jkendallmsce]

Sorry to hear the dealer wont even meet you halfway.

Seeing as you bought it sight unseen, morally, ethically whatever they should step up. In my feeble mind they should have at least offered a 30 day drive train warranty on a purchase that big.

Who was the dealer?

Steve B.

Yes, let other boat owners and prospective owners know who won't take care of their customers....

[tvano]

devils advocate: let the buyer beware.

based on the info in this thread i'm not sure i could blame just the dealership.

a purchase this large was accompanied w paperwork. that paperwork (contract) either stipulates a warranty or it doesn't.

when you, as an individual, sell your car/boat/etc. without warranty are you going to field calls from the unhappy new owner?

if a dealer sells 'as is' then i expect the selling price has been adjusted for that lack of support.

if the manufacturers warranty has expired then only 'good will' is going to help.

sure, i'd like to see malibu step up here but i would not expect it as a given.

flame on, garth.

[Bill_AirJunky]

devils advocate: let the buyer beware.

based on the info in this thread i'm not sure i could blame just the dealership.

a purchase this large was accompanied w paperwork. that paperwork (contract) either stipulates a warranty or it doesn't.

when you, as an individual, sell your car/boat/etc. without warranty are you going to field calls from the unhappy new owner?

if a dealer sells 'as is' then i expect the selling price has been adjusted for that lack of support.

if the manufacturers warranty has expired then only 'good will' is going to help.

sure, i'd like to see malibu step up here but i would not expect it as a given.

flame on, garth.

I agree. And legally, your right. But I would hope that the dealership would step up & help the new owner. If it's really only been 3 outings, and the boat has so little hours, then I think it would make a big impression.

Not that it should be done for free, but maybe cost on parts & free labor?

Really depends on how the sale went too. If the buyer nickle & dimed the dealer for every little thing, then I think the dealer is going to be less inclined to help out.

As for Malibu stepping in, no way. I wouldn't expect it unless the dealership asked them to help with cost on parts.

Edited October 3, 2012 by Bill_AirJunky

[teamerickson]

Sorry to hear the dealer wont even meet you halfway.

Seeing as you bought it sight unseen, morally, ethically whatever they should step up. In my feeble mind they should have at least offered a 30 day drive train warranty on a purchase that big.

Who was the dealer?

Steve B.

Nor Cal Mastercraft in Sacto. The OP lives in Huntington Beach. 7 hour drive.

[John I.]

Howdy Geniuses! I'm new to the group here and would like to share my recent experience with my boat that I just bought. The boat is an 05' Wakesetter 23 LSV that I purchased from NorCal Mastercraft. It has about 230 hours on it and last weekend-our 3rd trip on the boat-the pressure plate that is located between the motor and v-drive basically disintegrated and blew a hole through the bell housing near the starter. Awesome! Considering the pressure I put on my wife to get her to agree to let me buy this boat, then have it break after 10 minutes on the water on our 3rd trip with it, I've had better weekends. It has the ZF Hurth trans/v-drive and Monsoon 340 motor. Anyone had a similar experience?

Look forward to hearing from you guys and thanks for reading.

[BlastRlxi]

My guess is you just found out why the previous owner traded it in. If the original owner knew the signs and symptoms (that are well documented on this site) of the failing damper plate and began to notice these signs, he may have decided to trade it in before it blew apart. I doubt most dealers do more than start the engine in the lot with a fake-a-lake for a few minutes which would not have caught this. Always insist on a test drive when buying used.

[jkendallmsce]

I agree. And legally, your right. But I would hope that the dealership would step up & help the new owner. If it's really only been 3 outings, and the boat has so little hours, then I think it would make a big impression.

Not that it should be done for free, but maybe cost on parts & free labor?

Really depends on how the sale went too. If the buyer nickle & dimed the dealer for every little thing, then I think the dealer is going to be less inclined to help out.

As for Malibu stepping in, no way. I wouldn't expect it unless the dealership asked them to help with cost on parts.

Bill is right...as usual...but the recreational industry is a tad differnent than most...very discreationary as to how and what people spend their fun money on...Goodwill goes a long way in the industry and word of mouth is cheap advertising Just look at this site and how many problems could have been handled differently and better, and customer would tell his fellow boater, hey this is a great place to take you boat...you'll be treated fairly and honestly. The buyer should have asked/demanded a 30-90 warranty, not sure if those are done, but when buying anything used...it is buyer beware.

Like I said, hopefully the dealer will step up and maybe split the cost or at dealer cost?...I would only hope that NORCAL did not know of the existing problem...that would make it even worse.

I know firsthand, that I'll never buy a Fineline product, as their warranty is not worth the paper it is written on...and that was 20 years ago. I still get wee weed up over that experience!!

[malibuparadise]

Thank you guys for all the comments. Really appreciate the link from coyote055; might be doing it that way. I've spoken with my sales person and he assured me that it has no warranty (thanks for affirming that). I live in Huntington Beach and the boat was up in Nor Cal, so the purchase was made site unseen and based solely on pics and the salesperson's opinion. The boat is in great shape and ran great too, until the breakdown. I have someone that works for a dealership that will fix it for around $2k which sounds like a viable option if I decide not to do it myself.

This is a great forum!

You might want to talk to someone at the dealer other than the salesman? Worth a try if not done already...I did because I know the folks there (also a MC owner).

[Steve04]

Hi Crew. Thanks for all of the replies to this post. No luck on any help from the dealer on getting this fixed, guess the devil's advocate was right. Anyway, the boat has been tucked away for the winter so it's almost time to put her back to work.

Any recommendations on a solid pressure plate that will stand the test of time? We'll be doing the repair ourselves, but I'd like it to be the last time it gets done... Once again, appreciate the feedback from everybody.

[blk93jeepzj]

http://www.skidim.com/products.asp?dept=1100&val=0&pagenumber=1

Unfortunatly the heavy duty on in the above link will not work with the ZF45, tried putting it on mine last year. Ended up going with the plate from the below link, as you can see this is the Indmar upgraded one and the springs are covered and sealed. I have a 2004 and my neighbor has a 2005 both with the ZF45, just purchased mine last year and when i installed the new engine also did the plate. Neighbor has had theirs replaced twice, now has the upgraded one as below and hoping that will fix the problem.

http://www.bakesonline.com/detail.aspx?ID=1648

[scvlx]

What are the warning signs for the damper plate going out? I tried a quick search but could not find anything. Thanks

[wakebrdr94]

Steve,

Tilly's Marine is an Awesome dealer to work with. They are based out of Ventura, but just opened a service location in HB not long ago. I live in Yorba Linda and still make the 100 mile drive to them. Well, now that the HB location is there, It'll be less driving. Brett is the owner and they do a good job of taking care of people down in the HB Location. Maybe give him a call and see what they can do for you. not saying it will be covered, but if you need help with parts or anything else. Shoot me a PM if you need any info for them

[Steve04]

Thanks for the info on Tilly's, I'll talk to them soon. My boat stays in Needles so I need to work out the logistics of whatever I'm doing before I bring it home.

[Steve04]

Thanks to blk93jeepz for that info too. That's what I was hoping to hear before purchasing parts...

To scvlx: Prior to mine going out, I would occasionally hear a sound from the engine compartment that was like an empty soda can being tossed around. It was totally intermittent and had no rhyme or reason so I kept running it until that sound turned into a hole in my bell housing. The sound literally would go completely away with the boat running perfectly, and then for no reason come back. I didn't have enough experience with my boat (as it was my 3rd trip ever with it) to know it was the drive plate; we thought it had a sticky lifter because it was difficult to identify where the sound was coming from with the engine running. The sound did however correspond with the RPM's so the sticky lifter seemed logical...

[Manga Boats]

You may hear a rattling noise from the bell housing area BUT you may not notice it with all the upholstery in the boat and the engine cover down just replace on this week that went out the side in a 05 boat

[Big Jay D]

I'm not a "boat" mechanic and I have not done this job personally. But I have pulled the 8.1L out of a X45 recently. KNowing what I do now I would seriously look at doing this a couple of ways.

1. If there is enough room, I would look at removing the muffler and impeller from the boat. Disconnect any harnesses, fuel lines, and water lines needed to move the engine. Throttle cable might need to be disconnected.

2. I'm not sure if there is enough room but, disconnect the 6 or 7 (there were 7 on the X45) bellhousing bolts. There are probably 2 bolts holding the "dust plate" to the bellhousing as well. It might make things easier if you pull the throttle body/air filter off.

3. Use a couple of ratchet straps to support the Transmission. Remove the 2 bolts holding the rear engine mounts to the stringers. There are 2 bolts on each side.

4. Using a lift, raise the engine just enough to slide is away from the trans towards the stern of the boat. DO NOT FORCE IT! Check and double check that everything is disconnected that needs to be to move the engine! The engine and trans should come apart pretty easily.

5. Slide the engine to the stern far enough to access the pressure plate bolts. Remove the 6 bolts, remove the pressure plate.

6. Remove the bolts that hold the bellhousing to the transmission. Replace the bellhousing. Use a drop of BLUE loctite on the bolts. Replace the pressure plate and use a drop of BLUE loctite on the bolts. Follow the torque specs for the pressure plate bolts.

7. Reassemble. When sliding the engine back into place remember that the engine may need to be rotated so the splines on the input shaft line up with the pressure plate.

I hope this helps a little.