24 MXZ Problems

[FutureTigeOwner]

Okay guys, I’m having major problems with our 2018 24 MXZ.  A few weeks ago while surfing left I noticed the engine belts were slipping and it felt like the engine was bogged down and not accelerating like normal.  I opened the back hatches and the engine was soaked and sitting in about a foot of standing water.  The bilge couldn’t keep up with it.  I found the source of the water.  There was about a 4 inch crack along the inside of the rub rail where the deck and the hull were attached and when tanks are filled and surfing left water from the lake just pours in.  I called the dealer and the promptly got me in for service and patched it.  I was out on it Saturday and it was dry as a bone surfing right and surfing left.  Yesterday we go out and while surfing right, I hear the belts slip again. I open up the back hatches and water is flooding in again as it did on the other side.  Now I have about an 8 inch crack on the right side.  I can only assume this boat has something wrong structurally with it from manufacturing.  Not sure where to go with it from here.  Has anyone experienced something similar?  Any ideas?

[csleaver]

It sounds like you are talking about the "shoe box", or where the lower half of the boat is attached to the upper half of the boat.

The upper deck overlaps the lower deck and is just held together with screws.  The rub rail covers it up like a kind of beauty trim.  It very likely just needs some sealant and new screws installed.

Boats can flex and screws can pull out or come loose.  I have seen it happen to several different boats (especially on bass boats).  The way the water splashes up the side of your hull during surfing will funnel the water right against that lip and into the boat.

Just like John Bender said in the Breakfast Club, "screws fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place."

It is important to keep the hull as dry as possible on boats with Raptor engines to prevent belt slippage and failure.  Have the belt and pulleys looked at to make sure they are not damaged.  Changing a drive belt on any MXZ or M235 with the Raptor engine is a nightmare.

If you have warranty coverage, just have your dealer take care of it and they can determine if the issue is serious or not and get it fixed.

[FutureTigeOwner]

Thanks for your response and the ”shoebox” analogy makes sense, but I could not find any screws holding the top and bottom together and could find no missing screws either.  It looks like the two pieces were glassed together.  I will dive in a little deeper after work today and talk to my dealer tomorrow when they open.  It is under warranty and the dealer has been very responsive to the issues up to this point…I will post an update from what they tell me.  Thanks again!