another wakeplate question

[yearround]

i looked at some of the other wakeplate problem post, but could not tell if any were the same as my problem.

the plate will not move up or down. i think the plate is down all the way now, the plate is about 1-2 inches below the bottom of the boat (on the trailer) when i move the lever, the pump make noise and you can feel it vibrate, but the plate does not move.

one of the cylinders was leaking when new in April, but the dealer replace/repaired that (15 hrs). the plate has worked fine till now (81 hrs)

in looking at the pump thing that is just inside the motor compartment, i did not see a fill line on the fluid reservoir, but it looked like the fluid was about half way in the tank. i think this level would fluctuate as the plate is raised up or down.

any thoughts? what should i look for? another link referenced a relay?
08 lsv

[Sled491]

I know this isn't much help, but an 08 I would be all over my dealer, especially with this being the second time.

[yearround]

sled, you are right, not much help. unfortunately my dealer lost all his service, something along the lines of they are "now pursuing criminal action" and he simply says he has no way to help, he just refers me to the next dealer, almost 100 miles from me.

[Sled491]

Holy crap that's insane!

Well there has to be a fill plug, if you have a tank there has to be a way to fill and bleed the system. It's my understanding that the system used by Moomba is a commerialy available system with parts available from Overtons. That being said maybe you would be better off sending the manufactuer a quick email with your question. I have had great success with this approach in the past.

[yearround]

i phoned the other dealer to talk about the problem. the plate was all the way down, the fluid in the reservoir was down to the bottom of the fill site. we are thinking it is just low on fluid, but don't know where it went.

filled the reservoir to about 1/2 of site. after lots of playing, it started to move. when the plate is all the way up, the site was reading nearly full. we cycled the plate up and down for 10 minutes, after a while it seemed to get the air out and seemed to work fairly dependably.

i hope this is the solution, but am quite surprised at how sensitive the fluid is from full to inoperable. i would also like to know where the fluid went.

[Sled491]

It is possible that after the first repair that there was an air lock or some line not filled properly.

[Reese350]

I had an issue with mine earlier in the year and it turne out to be a wiring problem behind the dash. The wires weren't crimped all that well so I cut/recrimped them all and the problem went away. Worth a look.

[tazz3069]

What type of fluid is needed for the plate pummp?

[yearround]

reese, it was not a wire problem, the pump was always working, you could hear and feel it working.

tazz, the pump housing says "any type ATF"

could be sled, but the first repair was done at about 15 hrs, we now have 80, i would think that the air lock would have worked out sooner. have looked at the lines, there does not appear to be a leak, etc. but there is motor oil all over, still need to clean all the extra oil out of the bilge after the leak.

we now have this recorded and will monitor the fluid level regularly to see what is going on. hope to get out for a ride this week.

[aintskeered]

Yearround, I Just jumped into my system as well.

There is one line from the pump to each cylinder(2 total). Its a push pull on each hose. So its going to take a lot of time if it will purge the air in the line.

I had to change one of my cylinders and they hold about 3/4 cup of fluid each. If the new cylinder was not pre filled before instillation that is where a good deal of the fluid went. I am still wondering how long and if all the air will eventually purge from the lines? If not I am thinking I will have a full down indication but have a soft recoil on the plate. Hopefully this will self purge and once you are toped off good from then on.

[yearround]

well, i thought topping of the tank was going to work, but the palte was not working this weekend, will have to see about bleeding the plate to make sure all the air is out. i don't think it is leaking

any suggestions on bleeding the lines?

thanks

[Sled491]

there should be bleeder screws on the pistons.