Malibu Floor removal? Trying to reach ballast!

I have a 2006 Malibu Wakesetter and my center ballast tank has sprung a leak! I removed the floor in the back to install my underwater led's and figured why I had half the floor up why not remove it all and fix my center ballast tank. Problem is I can't figure out how to get access to it? I removed the floor over the fuel tank(super easy by the way just two screws). But the floor over the center ballast tank appears to be a huge U-shaped piece that goes under the dash and glove box? If I removed the fuel tank could i slide the ballast tank out? How does the dealer pull this tank out? Any help appreciatted! Thanks

I'm not sure if this will help but here are some pictures during the build process of a Malibu. It might give you an idea of where to look.

Looks like you'll have to remove the gas tank and slide it back.

It does look like the gas tank needs to come out! Thanks for the awesome pics! No wonder I looked for an hour and couldn't find any screws for the front carpet! lol Well I've got all the carpet pieces that are missing in these photos removed so time to pull the fuel tank I suppose! lol Seems like a big project just to fix a little leak! lol

pull the gas tank and the ballast tank will slide back. It is actualy very easy when done. were is your tank leaking from? almost every thing is at the back of the tank.?

Yes you have to take out the gas tank.

Glad I could contribute. Be careful when you pump that gas out.

Don't have to worry about pumping gas out of the tank my boat runs on fumes! lol

The tank is leaking from the very top where it looks like the fill line goes!

I'm glad the pictures helped. They are from one of the factory tours I went on. The top two are from a LSV and the bottom one is a 09 VLX but should be very close to the same design as yours

Well I never have enough time to get to all my projects. But I finally managed to finish removing the gas tank and ballast tank.

First thing I noticed when I popped the fuel tank out was a chunk of fiberglass missing out of the floor? Not a big one but a little nick I guess we'll call it.



I wonder what caused that? Perhaps the screw stuck to the bottom of the fuel tank?



Gotta love that quality control! lol

Well pulled it all out and theres no fittings on top of the tank? The water was coming from up there? So my two ideas are either the tank level gauge is leaking? Or the hoses have a leak somewhere? I guess I'll just reseal the gauge on the ballast tank and put new hoses in and hope for the best. At least it'll give me a chance to scrub the hull and clean the carpets real good! Speaking of which I didn't realize the carpets where so nasty! If you've been on my boat lately you might want to see a doctor and get a shot! lol



Speaking of carpets anybody have any ideas on how to get them fluffy again? Is there anything that can be done?

Take your carpet to a self car wash that has a good pressure washer. You'll be amazed at the crap that comes out, and they'll be as good as new!

I have a pressure washer. I guess i'll give that a try! Thanks for the tip!

On another note! Taking the boat apart always leads to more projects, or at least talks of more projects! So my buddy Garry decided to come by and help after I have everything removed. Good timing Gary, glad to hear that dinner was good, thanks for the invite there dude. But anyways we started talking about the photos Ben posted on here of the boat being built. Needless to say, whats under those floor pans? We were thinking thats alot of unused potetional ballast? I am half tempted to take the saw and cut a hole to have a look see and possibly add some sacs in there. Has anybody ever done this before? Or maybe I should ask is there any reason this shouldn't be done? It would be nice to get all the extra ballast under the floor instead of right where we walk, or maybe have ballast there too! lol

On a side note, Gary should never be allowed to visit my house, he always has some crazy idea, some more so then others and his second crazy idea was how come no one makes a hard tonneau cover for the front of the boat like pick up trucks have? If you had a removable hard tonneau cover it would be no big deal if you took a little water over the front of the boat as it would roll right off. As much weight as we put on the boat sometimes it might be a nice safety feature, and as a side note it could even be used as a little cabin to get out of the sun and sleep?

We're probably crazy and I'm rambling. So what do you guys think about popping the floor up directly in front of the rear side ballast and adding more ballast. Thanks

p.s. Some of these crazy ideas might have originated in my crazy mind but I'm blaming them all on Gary because he didn't bring me dinner and my Top Ramens cooking as we speak!

i like how your really getting into this project robert. your probably learning more about your boat and its construction than most of us would ever know. props to you.

as for the under the floor ballast, where exactly are you thinking. im pretty sure if you break under the floor outside of the stringers your gonna be dealing with a lot of foam, especially in a bu.

and i will second that on a hard cover. like they did with the vet bu. imo the most hard core wake boat you could build would a old 210 or 205v closed bow, motor tower and slammed with hard tanks.

Robert If you cut holes out side of the stringers you will find lots and lots of foam. the same foam that ensures your boat will never truly sink. As far as your leak have you looked at your antisiphon fitting located at the observers compartment?

You should just finish removing everything but the stringers and make the entire floor board the top of your ballast system. I'm not sure what will happen to your lifetime hull warranty.





FYI. The 1" holes that can be seen in the floor board in my first post are filled with flotation foam further down the assembly line. The stringers are empty but in the Malibus that is the source of fresh air for your motor compartment. Notice the large holes in the stringers under the motor? Those are for the supply air that is routed from the front vents and then it exhausts out the rear corner vents.

Anyone who has not been down to the factory needs to go. There is tons of information to be learned. See the full write up here: http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/604767.html

(Message edited by soundbox on July 30, 2009)

Is it a spray in foam?

Are plan is to remove the floor under where the ice chest is and under the flip up seat directly across and add sacs in there. The more ballast the merrier!

liljohn where exactly is the antisiphon fitting? I did notice the pump was loose on the bottom of the tank but I had water leaking off the top of the tank when it was filling? Seems really weird to me as no water should be above the tank unless its full? right? I might throw the tank back in it tomorrow and hook the fake a lake up to it and see if that helps me figure out exactly where the leak is!

Not really worried about the hull warrantty as its hard enough to get cracks in the fiberglass warrantied as it is.

Any good ideas on what brand of sacs would be best to run? Was thinking about running factory rear ballast hard tanks but that would mean cutting up more floor then I really want to. Think if I run a fat sac I can make a small inspection cover to do the install thru and then cover it back up. Less is better some times, especially when it comes to cutting the boat up!

p.s. Thanks for the photos Ben, Gary and I are already making plans to run over to the factory and take a tour!

(Message edited by 2006maliblue on July 30, 2009)

Robert the antisiphon should be right inside the observers storage on the right side hose coming in and going out. my thought was it might be leaking and following the line down on top of the tank. if you have bow ballat this might also be the case. have you tried to preasure test the tank? maybe it has a small crack..