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1999 Malibu Sunsetter VLX Restoration


wakesetterDD

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4 minutes ago, wakesetterDD said:

My boat seat riser broke over the weekend.  Two pieces of lumber I had screwed together just completely ripped apart from each other.

Fixed it by getting the right size of lumber (2x12) so it's supported as wide as the track.  It's very solid now.

 

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Ya know, aluminum tube will do the same thing.  ;)

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7 hours ago, Eagleboy99 said:

Ya know, aluminum tube will do the same thing.  ;)

I used 3" galvanized pipe nipples for mine.  Painted them black prior to installing.

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I have to say I like all the stuff you've been doing but each time you add a wood block to something in your boat i cringe!  Your boat was made with no wood, so try to find materials to keep it wood free.  Since it will eventually mold, rot, etc.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Left my stereo on (no sound playing, just switch left on).  Batteries drained.  

Charged engine start battery.  Connected my engine start battery only to the engine leads.  Ignition circuit breaker popped time and time again once I turned the key to the on position after 5 seconds.  It would start in the first 5 seconds but after 5 seconds it would pop.  So I researched that to no avail.  After charging my second battery I connected the two batteries in parallel as per the usual setup along with all the other wires (stereo, other controls... yet everything- lights, blower, heater, ballast pumps, etc.works when only the engine battery is connected- except for the CD deck).  No breaker issue and engine starts and runs fine (on fake-a-lake on my driveway).  Weird!  It seems like there is some odd wiring causing a ground fault if the rest of the control and stereo cables aren't connected to my second battery (while batteries are paralleled).  So weird!

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  • 5 weeks later...

Boat winterized.  Pulled plugs, hoses, impellers.  Forced compressed air through openings/hoses including heater core.  Ran fuel stabilizer thru engine while on lake a week or so.

Now working on whether or not to replace hot water shower.  It wasn't working this past year; I did find a small piece of metal in the plug that screws into the engine that supplies hot water.  I blew out all the hot water shower lines and air is moving just fine.  The shower is always pretty hot and so given how the cold water side of the shower is T'd I would believe it doesn't get great flow.  So basically I think the shower is dead.  Maybe I will order a plug for the engine to install if the hot water shower doesn't work again next year.

Found a Plastics shop that cut me some puck board that I can cut to my ski locker cover shape with a jig saw.  Only cost me $25.  Hoping to get to that next week.  Will cover it in sea deck. 

Got some black outdoor fabric to mend the nose of my cover.

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On 8/20/2020 at 1:41 PM, wakesetterDD said:

Left my stereo on (no sound playing, just switch left on).  Batteries drained.  

Charged engine start battery.  Connected my engine start battery only to the engine leads.  Ignition circuit breaker popped time and time again once I turned the key to the on position after 5 seconds.  It would start in the first 5 seconds but after 5 seconds it would pop.  So I researched that to no avail.  After charging my second battery I connected the two batteries in parallel as per the usual setup along with all the other wires (stereo, other controls... yet everything- lights, blower, heater, ballast pumps, etc.works when only the engine battery is connected- except for the CD deck).  No breaker issue and engine starts and runs fine (on fake-a-lake on my driveway).  Weird!  It seems like there is some odd wiring causing a ground fault if the rest of the control and stereo cables aren't connected to my second battery (while batteries are paralleled).  So weird!

Something is not hooked up correctly,   Sketch out where the positives and grounds run and post your findings

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Got 1/4" NPT brass fittings- a plug and a hose barb, to replace the hose barb for my hot water shower (fed from the starboard side engine drain).  You can find these at distributors (Red-L or Gregg in Canada).  Neither thread on very far but the original fitting has damaged threads so maybe the engine block threads are rough too; I didn't have any leaks with the original though so I think it will be ok.  I will test in spring; hopefully they thread on enough.  I bought a "plug" and a new "hose barb" fitting because if the shower doesn't work with the new hose barb fitting (old one had a piece of metal stuck in it) then I will remove the shower and just plug the holes.  Also bought 1/2" plastic fittings to plug the T that feeds the cold water side of the hot water shower system.  FYI this "T" is just after the raw water pump, and before the transmission cooler, which then goes into the engine to heat up. 

Today or next week I will work on my ski locker cover and splicing the oil pressure sensor switch wire to add a little length so it doesn't have to stretch to reach the sensor.

 

Just ordered TRD Conversion kit to replace my Medallion computer- looking forward to new working gauges.  www.Skiboatpartsonline.com 

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Ski locker cover done.  3/8" puck board cut to size/shape with jig saw.  Seadek on top.

Spliced oil pressor sensor switch wire and replaced the end because as the wire was bending it was breaking off the o-ring terminator thing.

Added TheMalibuCrew decal to port side window  (no photo).

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Put compressed air thru v-drive openings just to be sure water was out- heard no sloshing and no water came out.  Air seems to move through well.

Tightened all trailer bunk nuts (replaced one missing but).  Tightened all brake line nuts.  No issues.

Cover is on with pipe and wood supports for pending snow fall... 

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3 hours ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

How much snow do you typically get? Personally I wouldn’t risk damage to my cover and would pay to have the boat shrink wrapped if I needed to keep it outside. 

Edmonton?  LMAO... snow central.  Youare right though - that thing should have a cover over it.  A lot of folks shrink wrap, but many keep their canvas cover on and build an A-frame that they tarp.  A poor man's  Shelterlogic if you will.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 10/6/2020 at 3:51 AM, ahopkinsVTX said:

How much snow do you typically get? Personally I wouldn’t risk damage to my cover and would pay to have the boat shrink wrapped if I needed to keep it outside. 

About 40-50 inches of snow per year.  Cover does fine; I pull the snow off as it falls for the most part.

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On 10/3/2020 at 6:48 PM, wakesetterDD said:

Ski locker cover done.  3/8" puck board cut to size/shape with jig saw.  Seadek on top.

Spliced oil pressor sensor switch wire and replaced the end because as the wire was bending it was breaking off the o-ring terminator thing.

Added TheMalibuCrew decal to port side window  (no photo).

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Just a suggestion.  You should really spend a little extra $ and use the higher quality ring terminals (with heat shrink boots), also your tape job on your splice is not a long term solution, make a proper crimp, use a high quality butt splice and if you need to tape, use at least Scotch Super 33 or better super 88 (PVC tape), or even better Scotch self annealing tape; wrap tight (i.e. stretch the tape when you wrap).  Or you can heat shrink over your crimp connection.  Your repair shown is not a long term fix, you will have issues down the road.

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  • 4 months later...

Hey JTREZON, so I'm thinking about redoing the vinyl soon.  Did you do it yourself?  I'm worried about all the stitching and corner/angle folds.

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The other day I used a hole saw to increase the size of the finger hole in the ski locker cover so you can actually fit a finger in it to tug it out.  Now it works great.

I installed the TRD gauge conversion kit!  Worked great, just had to pay attention to routing the cables through the backing plates so that the cables don't get in the way of the plate sliding onto the gauge.  I am dying to throw the batteries in to see if it powers up fine BUT I'm probably a month away still from being able to run the boat on my fake-a-lake and keep the batteries installed so I will probably just wait... I wish I had a newer boat setup where you can plug in directly to 120V and the system manages the charging without removing batteries... but I don't have $200k.

One concern - my supply connector (boat end) has orange wires and the TRD conversion kit connector does NOT.  All other wires match up colours/positions.  Orange or orange and white are typically a horn switch or accessory or ballast in newer models- not mine- and I know that my horn is setup on a different colour- so hopefully I'll be fine.

TRD Conversion kit: www.skiboatpartsonline.com 

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8 minutes ago, wakesetterDD said:

Hey JTREZON, so I'm thinking about redoing the vinyl soon.  Did you do it yourself?  I'm worried about all the stitching and corner/angle folds.

That job is not a first time DIY.  You need some pretty special skills, some good machinery, and lots of time.  Try a few upholstery places in your area for quotes (Wayne's Upholstery for instance)

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7 minutes ago, wakesetterDD said:

The other day I used a hole saw to increase the size of the finger hole in the ski locker cover so you can actually fit a finger in it to tug it out.  Now it works great.

I installed the TRD gauge conversion kit!  Worked great, just had to pay attention to routing the cables through the backing plates so that the cables don't get in the way of the plate sliding onto the gauge.  I am dying to throw the batteries in to see if it powers up fine BUT I'm probably a month away still from being able to run the boat on my fake-a-lake and keep the batteries installed so I will probably just wait... I wish I had a newer boat setup where you can plug in directly to 120V and the system manages the charging without removing batteries... but I don't have $200k.

One concern - my supply connector (boat end) has orange wires and the TRD conversion kit connector does NOT.  All other wires match up colours/positions.  Orange or orange and white are typically a horn switch or accessory or ballast in newer models- not mine- and I know that my horn is setup on a different colour- so hopefully I'll be fine.

TRD Conversion kit: www.skiboatpartsonline.com 

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I don't have my instruction manual handy, but here are the Indmar harness colours for your vintage.  Cross-check - or call Ron; he's very helpful.  

Malibu
Wire Harness Color Codes
• Black--------------------Ground
• Gray---------------------Tachometer
• Brown-------------------Water Temp.
• Tan/Blue----------------Engine warning buzzer
• Purple-------------------Ignition power from Lanyard Sw.
• Purple/White-----------Ign. Switch Accessory Power
• Purple/Black-----------Ign. Power from Key to Lanyard
• Red 10Ga. or 6Ga----Battery +12 Volts to breaker buss
• Red 16 Ga.-------------MMDC power from docking lights
breaker
• Yellow/Red------------Starter Solenoid from key
• Lt Blue-----------------Oil Pressure
• Dk Blue----------------Lights
• Orange /Black--------ECM Data Link from engine
• Pink--------------------Fuel Sending unit/Gauge
• Yellow----------------Blower
• Brown/Red-----------Auto bilge-power from breaker
• Orange/Black--------Bilge pump switch-power from breaker
• Orange/Yellow------Blower switch-power from breaker
• Orange/Green--------Heater power from breaker
• White/Purple---------Stereo Memory-power from breaker
• Orange/Gray---------Light switches- power from breaker
• Orange/White-------Horn switch-power from breaker
• Orange/Purple-------MLS midship-power from breaker
• Orange/Blue---------MLS Rear Port
• Orange----------------ACC plug-Power from breakers/Rear MLS
STBD
• White/Orange--------Horn-power from switch
• Blue/White-----------Int.Lights-power from switch
• Green/White----------Seat Heater-power from breaker
 

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I connected a battery- my new gauges work!  I learned from Ron at SkiBoatPartsOnline.com that the hour meter inside the tachometer, records and displays engine hours independent of the engine ECM.  So I will now be going to a shop to get my engine hours read.  All I have at the moment is one photo of my tach/hour meter at 729 hours when I changed the oil on May 12, 2020.

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4 hours ago, wakesetterDD said:

All I have at the moment is one photo of my tach/hour meter at 729 hours when I changed the oil on May 12, 2020.

If you have Perfectpass it can be set to store the old guage hour readings.

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1 hour ago, Eagleboy99 said:

If you have Perfectpass it can be set to store the old guage hour readings.

it's the oldest PP around but I will check into it!  Thanks

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11 hours ago, wakesetterDD said:

So I will now be going to a shop to get my engine hours read.

Check out the "Let's Talk MEFI" thread and build your own cable.  Perhaps a fellow could help you out with software....

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Today I discovered the "secret" (not secret) menu in my perfect pass.  It does track hours.  784.7.   That means we put on about 55 last year (changed oil at 729 in May 2020).  Not bad.

Also discovered why one of my speakers doesn't play as loud as the others: there must be an issue with the left RCA plug coming from the head unit.  I tried the other RCA plugs in the spot for that set of speakers and voila- started working properly.  So I'm going to try a single RCA cable (since I have one) from the RCA out on the amp to the left channel and keep the right channel RCA coming from the head unit as that one seems to work.

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On 3/20/2021 at 11:14 AM, wakesetterDD said:

Hey JTREZON, so I'm thinking about redoing the vinyl soon.  Did you do it yourself?  I'm worried about all the stitching and corner/angle folds.

No.... I had bought a set of factory skins back when an ex Malibu upholstery manager was selling them on the side.  I took all the pieces to a local shop to recover a few at a time in the off season.... bolted everything back up myself. 

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