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2020 Malibu MXZ - Modifications for Saltwater


Andycarson

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I am buying a used 2020 Malibu MXZ 23 and taking it to Florida.  I need to know what modifications I need to make to make it salt water ready.  I heard I need to buy something to attract the oxidation on the prop and other metal parts.

 

Andy Carson 

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3 hours ago, Andycarson said:

I am buying a used 2020 Malibu MXZ 23 and taking it to Florida.  I need to know what modifications I need to make to make it salt water ready.  I heard I need to buy something to attract the oxidation on the prop and other metal parts.

 

Andy Carson 

Does the engine already have closed cooling?  If so, a few zinc anodes will really help keep the galvanic corrosion down.  I would also make a habit of spraying the entire engine (except directly on the belts and pulleys) and the wiring under the dash several times a season with light spray oil.  Get the engine mounts and every other metal part you can see also.  I'm currently using Power B'laster, but I will use anything I can get my hands on, from WD-40 to LPS-2. 

Any external parts such as surf gate or wedge actuators should be sprayed with a heavy coat of LPS-3 and maintained before every outing.  I'm talking about keeping a thick, waxy coat on it all over, all the time so that water intrusion is less likely.  Yup, it's ugly.  Spending money on dead parts is uglier.  Personally, I would do this in fresh water as well.

What part of Florida?

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Malibu has the large transom mounted anode that you can buy and install.

 

Bond it with green wiring on the inside of the boat to any underwater running gear, mounting bolt on the inside for the wedge, etc.

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On 12/15/2020 at 4:35 PM, Andycarson said:

I am buying a used 2020 Malibu MXZ 23 and taking it to Florida.  I need to know what modifications I need to make to make it salt water ready.  I heard I need to buy something to attract the oxidation on the prop and other metal parts.

 

Andy Carson 

trailer is the problem , so if not on lift its next to impossible to take enough care of the trailer to avoid degradation from consistent launch and retrieves  ,  if this is permanent you can count on eventually replacing the trailer.   just do the maintenance until you see real rusting of cross members  and then replace the trailer with galvanized or aluminum.  very hard to rinse inside the frame rails and cross members  , but you can plug drain holes and fill, but it ain't perfect, thoroughly rinse outside of trailer and suspension and brakes  

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 12/15/2020 at 9:41 PM, justgary said:

Does the engine already have closed cooling?  If so, a few zinc anodes will really help keep the galvanic corrosion down.  I would also make a habit of spraying the entire engine (except directly on the belts and pulleys) and the wiring under the dash several times a season with light spray oil.  Get the engine mounts and every other metal part you can see also.  I'm currently using Power B'laster, but I will use anything I can get my hands on, from WD-40 to LPS-2. 

Any external parts such as surf gate or wedge actuators should be sprayed with a heavy coat of LPS-3 and maintained before every outing.  I'm talking about keeping a thick, waxy coat on it all over, all the time so that water intrusion is less likely.  Yup, it's ugly.  Spending money on dead parts is uglier.  Personally, I would do this in fresh water as well.

What part of Florida?

West Palm Beach - Singer Island

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I have a 2020 25lsv that I ordered with the salt water package, and it is doing pretty well.  I wash it after every outing and run fresh water through the engine after every outing.  I also coated the engine and other metal components in the engine bay with something oily.

I am experiencing a problem with the wedge sensor, because the factory has a splice in the wires of the sensor such that salt water is able to creep into the cable and it causes the wedge sensor to read improperly due to the conductivity of the salt water.  The splice is just covered with heat shrink and the factory did nothing to stop the salt water from getting to the splice.  There is no silicon around the splice.. Presumably they were unable to order the sensor with longer wires.

 

I am attempting to silicon the splice, then put new heatshrink over the splice, but ideally the factory would order sensors with longer wires from the manufacturer so there would be no splice outside in the salt water.

 

 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, MalibuGreg said:

I have a 2020 25lsv that I ordered with the salt water package, and it is doing pretty well.  I wash it after every outing and run fresh water through the engine after every outing.  I also coated the engine and other metal components in the engine bay with something oily.

I am experiencing a problem with the wedge sensor, because the factory has a splice in the wires of the sensor such that salt water is able to creep into the cable and it causes the wedge sensor to read improperly due to the conductivity of the salt water.  The splice is just covered with heat shrink and the factory did nothing to stop the salt water from getting to the splice.  There is no silicon around the splice.. Presumably they were unable to order the sensor with longer wires.

 

I am attempting to silicon the splice, then put new heatshrink over the splice, but ideally the factory would order sensors with longer wires from the manufacturer so there would be no splice outside in the salt water.

 

 

 

 

 

Can you post pictures of the splice?

 

From memory there isn't one from the factory.

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9 hours ago, MalibuGreg said:

I have a 2020 25lsv that I ordered with the salt water package, and it is doing pretty well.  I wash it after every outing and run fresh water through the engine after every outing.  I also coated the engine and other metal components in the engine bay with something oily.

I am experiencing a problem with the wedge sensor, because the factory has a splice in the wires of the sensor such that salt water is able to creep into the cable and it causes the wedge sensor to read improperly due to the conductivity of the salt water.  The splice is just covered with heat shrink and the factory did nothing to stop the salt water from getting to the splice.  There is no silicon around the splice.. Presumably they were unable to order the sensor with longer wires.

 

I am attempting to silicon the splice, then put new heatshrink over the splice, but ideally the factory would order sensors with longer wires from the manufacturer so there would be no splice outside in the salt water.

 

 

 

 

 

that is wrong and that should qualify for warranty,  the sensor comes with a complete cord with exposed leads so that it can pass through transom and then the leads of the that plugs directly into a factory plug wire tied higher than bilge flood level,  sounds like someone did an oops after installation !! many of us with an axis auto set wedge sensor have had to replace it and it is a simple waterproof procedure and should be same for any power wedge

Edited by granddaddy55
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