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Personal opinion. It's not the tracking fins, it's not the lid of the Hydrophonic dampening box, but likely the internal seal of the box itself as mentioned above. Take it in to the dealer and have 'em fix it. Peter. ps - You'll need to have them glass over those holes for the fins that now are loose and re-tap them.

HDS leak is a 'Hydroponic Dampening System. It's basically a box around the area where the shaft comes thru the hull that fills with water & is supposed to provide some sound dampening. Leak can be hard to see as depending on where its leaking, it can come in under the bilge liner & further front. It's a great boat & ours has given us few problems in the 6 years & 300 hours we've used it. Price is a little high - it's listed @ more than I paid for mine when I bought it 6 years ago.

Some other things to look for: Steering wheel might be difficult to turn if the cable hasn't been changed. They tend to start wearing down after 10 years. Not too tough to replace, and around $150 if I recall correctly. There is even a very good write up on this site with pics in the DIY section. (from the SwagKing I believe). Check the risers/exhaust manifolds and water pump for water seepage. Gaskets may deteriorate over time. (though may not be an issue with new engine). Check exhaust under the floor behind the engine. I've seen some fiberglass exhaust actually warp/shrink/deteriorate due to overheating. That boat may not have fiberglass exhaust. Some 90's Malibu's came with the HDS (Hydro Dampening System?). I'm not sure if that boat has it, but it's something to look for/at. It's a big rectangular box between the exhaust that the prop shaft goes through. Apparently they are notorious for cracking when the prop hits something (though mine hasn't failed). You can do a search on the HDS to find a lot of info on it. If I think of anything else, I'll post it. Others should feel free to add to/correct anything I've mentioned.

Hydrophonic (as in sound) Dampening System.

OK I googled that. I got back an older malibucrew thread (which was an amusing read), but it didn't say what it is still. Is it a sound dampening thing?

Sad to say, but I belive he is. Actually, I heard the same story earlier today only I heard the two guys are leaving their wives because they're in love with each other and that they're renaming the company Brokebackbu. That brings a whole new meaning to the SSP now doesn't it.... Not to mention "The Wedge" Hey you think the gay guys... oh wait we can't use that anymore can we? You think the homos.... er, sorry - you think the wealthy men will do away with the Hydrophonic Dampening System?

I found only these patent applications: PUB. APP. NO. Title 1 20120167812 Wake Shaping System 2 20110209654 WAKE TOWERS AND METHODS OF USE AND MANUFACTURE THEREOF 3 20100083888 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DAMPENING RUDDER VIBRATION

That is the Hydroponic Dampening System (HDS) box. It fills with water & is supposed to help dampen vibrations/noise... There's considerable debate here on if it works or is just an area know as bad for leaks.

For the purposes that you are describing the SSLXI is a great fit. You can definitely foot w/ it it isn't the worlds top but very manageable. Skiing wise it has a bigger wake that the Response but the diamond hull makes the wakes soft and only slight larger and wider. If the trailer is in ok shape make sure the wheels/bearings are checked before you leave and make sure to have a spare! The two things that I can say that you'll want to watch with this boat is the HDS (Hyponic Dampening System) that Malibu uses to dampen vibration on the drive-line but surrounding it w/ water. Easy check and fix. First have the bilge filled w/ water to cover the black flat top plastic covering w/ several screws located under the rear removable center floor covering (behind the engine). If it leaks just need to silicone it. Second is the gas sensor this boat is very inaccurate and will quickly show only a 1/4 tank left. Here is the link to an article that shows you how to change it, not really a big deal but annoying. If wakeboarding or surfing is even something you want to consider I'd get a floating wedge if it doesn't already, otherwise forget it. The rear 18 cu ft trunk is sweet and probably the largest of any DD. Make sure to do a wet test w/ the dealer and ask for all maintenance records if they exist. For the price imho it must be in great shape w/o anything needing to be done, some nicks are just part of buying a used boat though.

Silent Running vibration dampening does not affect air-borne sound levels. It will only help on structure borne sound, such as vibration. While it probably helps deaden the material it is applied to, I would not expect it to help quiet an engine box as the sound waves are air-borne. Peter

2005 - Wakesetter - No connection to output flange - noise in bellhousing - Almost 100% guarantee the dampener plate (flex plate) busted. This plate attaches to the flywheel and provides connection to the transmission input shaft, while dampening out the engine firing pulses. In 2005 they found the new heavier boats with ballast were overloading the flex plate used, and immediately moved up to a heavier duty plate. Peter

It needs some back pressure but the baffles are for sound dampening and to keep water from going side to side. They are notorious for having issues after a engine overheats when the fiberglass gets cooked. -Paul

I am getting a lot of noise coming from the flame arrestor (air filter) when the boat is running at different speeds/RPM's. Its enough to annoy my wife and daughter, so I have to try and figure something out. Has anyone else with a 2010/11 VLX/LSV/24 noticed this noise? The dealer is claiming this is normal, but he also mentioned people who have been demoing boats are noticing it. So this tells me we are not the exception. I noticed a substantial gap inbetween the center rear cushion and plastic tray that will allow a lot engine noise to filter in the boat. Has anyone here plugged that gap with a piece of plastic strip? and added any noise dampening material to the bottom of the plastic tray? any ideas for a good material to do this? The Flame arrestor is right behind the seat, super close to where you sit, so it does not surprise me you can hear the air sucking into the motor. Never experienced this noise with my Supra, but the intake was much further away from the seating area, and there were no gaps for sound to escape. If anyone has any ideas please send me a post..... thank you.

My friend's I/O boat has snap-in carpeting. We usually run it without the carpeting to keep the interior dry and smell-free. There is no difference in noise dampening with or without the carpet in the boat. His storage compartments are all carpeted however, permanently.

The hydra-phonic dampening system Malibu uses for direct drives has known to leak. It's a black rectangular box where the rear drive goes through the hull (see attached picture). You'll see a top plate with several screws, remove and reseal. Otherwise it could very well be the packing nut and just needs to be tightened.

First, use the google search bar on the search page. It searches this site, let's you use 3 characters and compound conditions. If you do, you'll find lots of threads on HDS or "hydophonic dampening system". It is a box, in direct drive boats, that fills with water and is supposed to cut down on noise.

That's a cool looking servo and this would be a great application for a test. I won't fly a new brand of servo in a plane until testing it first. Might be the next servo for my profile. That gyro might not be too bad. I have the exact same one on my T-rex heli, but it does not hold a candle to the genuine Futaba, but for about 10% of the price it holds the boom plenty still for my heli skills. I'm a 3D plane pilot trying to learn helis one crash at a time. The dampener will be a must. Some sort of fluid dampening plate or the shock idea would be cool, but I'm no ME. The only thing that worries me about the gyro used for the rope tracking with a controller is precision. I think with a reasonably priced controller, the lack of high bit count floating point precision will eventually drift mean the angle tracking will slowly loose it's aim on the rope as the voltage tracking drifts over time. The only way to find out how much is to give it a go. I think the best thing to do would be start with a single axis (rope swing on the x axis) and go from there. If it works well, add the y axis and rock out.

i was planning on using the rc plain gyros. i believe the heading lock gyros would do the job. no programing needed. and as far as the servo. i think that it depends on the design. i think we could get away with the miniature ones as long as they weren't carrying the load. i think the pan servo should be a regular sized servo (was thinking the Power HD DS090M based on price and this review: )the pcb camera is 38mmx38mm im guessing that the mini servo can roll that one pretty easily. and depending on the pitch mechanism. that would be a toss up. If we did it on all 3 axis then we could use a longer lens camera which would be really nice. (can't go too long because it would amplify vibrations) as for the gyro's. there are a couple i was looking at. but i was leaning toward this futaba clone. think its cnc401 or something like that. there are a slew of sub $15 gyro's on the market. not sure how smooth they would be. but something to look into (with some dampening) (http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=10113) this is another interesting find, tailer made for areal photography: http://www.rotorpics.com/ another option to conisder is using a mechanical gyro on one of the axis's. im just not sure about drift. but i'd assume that mechanical gyro's have better precision then servo based systems.. i.e. http://www.maxx300.com/ after thinking about your post for a night. you may be right to delete the 'roll' servo. could introduce some noise.

You can do a search on this website for HDS. It has been discussed extensively. Hydroponic Dampening System is the water-filled black box that the prop shaft passes through towards the rear of the boat. Usually it takes some kind of shock to damage the HDS and it's seal is cracked and the boat will leak. Very annoying and needs to be fixed ASAP.

So my heater core sprung a leak again, 1st weekend down at norris lake and hot water starts seeping under my feet....Yuck. I just replaced with the napa part 6603100 2yrs ago. Has anyone tried to make some sort of dampening attachments to the heater to isolate some of the vibration and banging to preserve the cores? Or I guess I can keep replacing them as they break since its only a 30$ part. Thanks for the rant.....I feel better now.

I was just thinking about going to Lowes and picking up some insulation as ordering from the US probably wont be very cost effective. Then again I don't suspect I will be getting near the noise dampening quality than the stuff that is made to block sound so it might not even be worth it.

The hydro box(hydroponic dampening system) or HDS is just to the rear of the stuffing box. The hydro box can be the "achilles heel" of these boats if they start to leak and is a bit pricey to repair.

Sullivan, Thanks, I read both. I might have come off a bit harsh as well, as I was in the mood to reply like for like. My apologies as well. edit: the following is just my voice, making a statement. It is not an invitation for discussion or debate, as it is pre-loaded with ammo for someone to jump on the pro's and con's. It is written purely as information from one side of the river. With luck, we can all ski in the same river and enjoy it throughly, even if we still go home to our respective sides. Just as an FYI for all, as one of the points brought up relates to the warranty, and the transfer of warranties. Malibu in years past had ...well, "overlooked" may be the best term, warranties started as "new" for customers buying boats from a promo team member. As this was thought of to be a perk, it was really a disservice to Malibu and Indmar, as now they were essentially providing a 4 year warranty bow to stern, along with the lifetime warranty. This changed a few years back, when Malibu informed all dealers that regardless of who owned the boat, the in-service date (delivery date) to the first customer was when the warranty period started, no matter who the customer was. The second part of this which has always been there is the warranty transfer forms for both Malibu and Indmar. While the 3 year warranty does carry over to the second owner (lifetime does not unless paid for), the Indmar warranty does not transfer without a fee paid to Indmar, and neither transfer without the warranty transfer inspection forms. The warranty inspection forms are quite detailed, perhaps more so than many dealers do when taking a boat in on trade. Full engine inspections including compression test (or cylinder leak-down test), ECM calibration, etc, and full boat inspections including some time-eaters like hydrophonic box test. The whole deal takes time to complete, fill out the forms and forward them to Malibu and Indmar with payment to complete the transfer. My point is just this. To transfer the warranty will cost you money, (And unless you have a written authorization from a Malibu (company) Rep saying he's going to cover the cost, expect to pay) Second, and no offense to promo team owners as I was one from 87-97 myself, but they often will say you're buying a new boat, and let the dealer try to make it fly. I did. Heck, I believed I was doing so much work for the dealer that they should have paid me! hehehe....and of course I was much younger and idealistic then. I understand some labor rates have skyrocketed, and often I myself don't understand the rational, but I do understand how I set my own pricing, and the agonizing I endure trying to find a happy medium between being fair to the customer and keeping the shop open. The only thing I can suggest is this. Don't look at the hourly rate posted on the wall. Talk to the dealer about what needs to be fixed, what the driveability problem is, or just you'd like to transfer the warranty. Get an estimate, quote, or set a limit on what you'll spend to diagnose the issue, before moving on. Many times you might find that the total cost quoted is less than the hourly rate added up. I understand that it's value may not always be justifiable to you, and you may choose to not complete the work. Other times you will. But discuss it first so that you both have a clear understanding, and can respect where it stands. Thanks for your time, Peter Brown

I was one of the first to ever have this problem on my 1998 Response LX. For me, it would happen between 36 and 40 mph. With a single person in the boat, I could pull a skier at 36 mph using perfect pass and no problems, but with 3 people in the boat, it needed just a few more rpms and the boat would surge big time. Took the dealer a couple of months to figure it out. During one of the test of the fuel pump, we hooked up a pressure gauge to the fuel railes on the engine and ran the boat - it never did have the issue. The rubber hoses on the pressure gauge provided just enough dampening to fix the issue. Once the problem was identified, the new crossover tubes with the rubber insert fixed the problem.

Would the bilge pump run if you turn on the dash swithch? sometimes a small piece of debris will stop the impeller from turning. As for the 4" of water, with the boat on the trailer, plug in and battery disconnected so bilge pump will not run (if you already fixed that problem) put watet in the boat, let it sit, and see where it comes out. Any screw bolt or hole through the hull is a possibilty. If it comes thru the hole in the hull where the prop shaft is, it could be a leak between the stringer/bilge assy. and the hull. Referred to as a leak in the HDS (Hydronic Dampening System) I would tighten the packing a little (1/4 turn) prior to this test as water could migrate past the packing giving a false reading for HDS Problem. Loosen packing and re-set prior to next boat use.