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Ballast help on 2007 Malibu 23LSV


Eddy

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Alright first time boat owner that has never owned boat before. I am a do it myself unless I’m lost I’ll take it to dealer. It’s a 2007 Malibu Wakesetter 23LSV and the issue I’m having is the starboard side will fill but not drain, and the port side will drain but not fill. I do believe I have the wake makers piggyback system since there is 2 ballast bags sitting on each side in the rear. Anyone have any suggestions? I have checked the back 2 pumps by the v drive and port side was little dirty and had water in it and the starboard side was dirty but no water in it. Thank you 

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The pumps by the vdrive are the fill pumps and there should be similar drain pumps connected to the bags.  Check the ballast fuses under the helm.  If the fuses are good, then remove the pump motor from the pump housing to see if it is clogged or if the impeller is hard to turn and needs a new motor.  Also, check your pump wiring and plugs.  The helm rocker switches or MUX may not be working or there could be a problem with the power module where the fuses are.  It is a process of elimination.

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50 minutes ago, csleaver said:

The pumps by the vdrive are the fill pumps and there should be similar drain pumps connected to the bags.  Check the ballast fuses under the helm.  If the fuses are good, then remove the pump motor from the pump housing to see if it is clogged or if the impeller is hard to turn and needs a new motor.  Also, check your pump wiring and plugs.  The helm rocker switches or MUX may not be working or there could be a problem with the power module where the fuses are.  It is a process of elimination.

I’m new to boats by helm you mean under the steering wheel or right side of the driver seat? I did remove both of those pumps they spin but not very quick I mean are the suppose to spin freely after giving it a good spin or no? Is the Mux the digital display?

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Sorry, Malibu didn't use MUX buttons or power module fuses until 2008, so disregard that. 

The ballast pump motor impeller should spin very freely by hand when they are not turned on, and they will spin very quickly when the pump is turned on.  If the pump impeller spins slowly, makes a lot of noise, or feels hot after running it then it probably needs to be replaced.

Each of the MLS (ballast) switches and pumps are wired to the MLS breakers on the side panel to the right of the driver seat.  If those pop out the ballast pump won't work until you push it back in to reset it.

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3 hours ago, csleaver said:

Sorry, Malibu didn't use MUX buttons or power module fuses until 2008, so disregard that. 

The ballast pump motor impeller should spin very freely by hand when they are not turned on, and they will spin very quickly when the pump is turned on.  If the pump impeller spins slowly, makes a lot of noise, or feels hot after running it then it probably needs to be replaced.

Each of the MLS (ballast) switches and pumps are wired to the MLS breakers on the side panel to the right of the driver seat.  If those pop out the ballast pump won't work until you push it back in to reset it.

That’s my fault I do have the MUC switches I looked them up and it’s exactly what I had I forgot other boat I looked at was 2007 this one was built in 07 but considered 08 model. 
 

when I removed the motors they hand spun but as soon as I stopped it would instantly stop would not keep spinning freely. One of the caps came off of one when I took it out also.

i know there are some breakers on the right of drivers seat towards the bottom but none say for ballast or MLS 

thank you also for the help

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2 hours ago, csleaver said:

If you have MUX switches then there is a power module box under the dash that has fuses for the ballast pumps in it.

Alright perfect I will check those as far as the pumps so I can manually spin them but as soon as I stop they stop and do not spin freely at all 

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1 hour ago, csleaver said:

The pump impeller should not free spin like a pinwheel by hand, they should stop when you are not turning them, but they should not have much resistance as you spin them by hand.

Alright I’m gonna check them out once more. Thank you for the information and can they be tested out of water as long as they are not ran long just to see if it spins? 
On side note do you happen to know where the drain pumps are at for the back ballast.

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Yes, the pumps can be run out of the water for a few minutes.  The drain pumps are usually connected to the back of the below floor tanks at the very back of the boat.  If you have ballast bags in those comparments, it has been modified and I can't be certain where the pumps are.

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20 hours ago, Eddy said:

Alright I’m gonna check them out once more. Thank you for the information and can they be tested out of water as long as they are not ran long just to see if it spins? 
On side note do you happen to know where the drain pumps are at for the back ballast.

Yeah you can run these pumps dry no problem. Everything leaver has said is spot on. Just make sure the ball valve below the fill pumps is open, not closed. Sounds simple but sometimes it can be missed and you defintely wont get any filling haha. The pumps should spin freely by hand but they will stop as soon as your hand leaves the impeller, they wont free wheel. I replace one or two a season (I have an 08, and they're original) they're slowly dying off one by one. The big black Medallion box under the dash has all of the MUX fuses. The pumps have 5amp fuses one for fill and one for drain on each. You may have a popped fuse or two. Once spinning the pumps by hand to free them of corrosion you can try replacing the fuses that are popped (if any) and you might be back in business. However you're on borrowed time, that pump will likely fail in the near future, but you might get a season out of it. I had a pump fail this fall that was working properly but for some reason it just sometimes wouldn't turn on, but also wouldn't pop the fuse so I just swapped it out because it was intermittently working. 

As for the rear drain pumps, they should be at the very back of the boat like leaver said in each storage locker. There is a raised carpeted piece with 3 screws in it. (this is provided your boat was made late enough to have those access panels. In 2007 some boats, if not all don't have those access panels to the pumps and you have to lift the whole locker floor to get to the pumps) Remove that cover and the pump will be attached to the bottom rear of the tank. Spin the pump cartridge out of the pump housing and inspect the impeller, replace if necessary. BUT if your bags have additional drain pumps attached to them, you could have addition pumps like leaver said. Most piggyback systems just drain back into the hard tank though. 

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On 9/23/2020 at 10:16 AM, dcwilson said:

Yeah you can run these pumps dry no problem. Everything leaver has said is spot on. Just make sure the ball valve below the fill pumps is open, not closed. Sounds simple but sometimes it can be missed and you defintely wont get any filling haha. The pumps should spin freely by hand but they will stop as soon as your hand leaves the impeller, they wont free wheel. I replace one or two a season (I have an 08, and they're original) they're slowly dying off one by one. The big black Medallion box under the dash has all of the MUX fuses. The pumps have 5amp fuses one for fill and one for drain on each. You may have a popped fuse or two. Once spinning the pumps by hand to free them of corrosion you can try replacing the fuses that are popped (if any) and you might be back in business. However you're on borrowed time, that pump will likely fail in the near future, but you might get a season out of it. I had a pump fail this fall that was working properly but for some reason it just sometimes wouldn't turn on, but also wouldn't pop the fuse so I just swapped it out because it was intermittently working. 

As for the rear drain pumps, they should be at the very back of the boat like leaver said in each storage locker. There is a raised carpeted piece with 3 screws in it. (this is provided your boat was made late enough to have those access panels. In 2007 some boats, if not all don't have those access panels to the pumps and you have to lift the whole locker floor to get to the pumps) Remove that cover and the pump will be attached to the bottom rear of the tank. Spin the pump cartridge out of the pump housing and inspect the impeller, replace if necessary. BUT if your bags have additional drain pumps attached to them, you could have addition pumps like leaver said. Most piggyback systems just drain back into the hard tank though. 

The boat I have is a 2008 I posted the wrong year whoops. 
By the ball valve you mean when you take the cartridge out you can see straight out right? Because if that’s the case on the starboard side which is the side that fills it I can see completely through. Now for the port side pump when I removed the cartridge it had water sitting and I could not see all the way through. I’m new to boats so not to sure how it should be. 
I did go buy some new cartridges today, but they are only rated for 380/500 GPH and some things I have seen it says 800/1000 for theses Malibu’s? Will the others not be enough even though they stated the 380/500 is what goes on the newer Malibu’s..

I knows exactly what little raised box you are speaking about I will check them first thing tomorrow. Also I have the wakemakers piggy back system that’s designed for Malibu’s that I believe drains back into the factory tank like you mentioned.

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6 hours ago, csleaver said:

This should be the correct pump core, if you need them:

https://www.bakesonline.com/shurflo-piranha-replacement-cartridge-for-800-and-1100-pumps.html

The ball valve on the fill pumps should be open with the handle facing up / vertically, not closed with the handle horizontal.

Thank you for your help 

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On 9/24/2020 at 10:55 PM, Eddy said:

The boat I have is a 2008 I posted the wrong year whoops. 
By the ball valve you mean when you take the cartridge out you can see straight out right? Because if that’s the case on the starboard side which is the side that fills it I can see completely through. Now for the port side pump when I removed the cartridge it had water sitting and I could not see all the way through. I’m new to boats so not to sure how it should be. 
I did go buy some new cartridges today, but they are only rated for 380/500 GPH and some things I have seen it says 800/1000 for theses Malibu’s? Will the others not be enough even though they stated the 380/500 is what goes on the newer Malibu’s..

I knows exactly what little raised box you are speaking about I will check them first thing tomorrow. Also I have the wakemakers piggy back system that’s designed for Malibu’s that I believe drains back into the factory tank like you mentioned.

Yeah the ball valve leaver handle should be vertical and you can see right out the boat when you remove the pump cartridge on any fill pump. Leaver posted the correct cartridge you need there. The 800 and 1100 GPH cartridge is the same so you can use either or. The only difference is the outlet on the 1100 housing is larger with a 1" outlet vs 3/4' on the 800gph. Sometimes the 1100 pump is cheaper to buy so I have done that as well and just swap the cartridge.

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