Axis Wakeboard Boat Forum

I've developed a slow leak. It's not the water pump as I can visualize that while its running and no water is coming out. If I let it sit in the water overnight, there is water in there in the morning despite being completely pumped out the evening before, but it seems to accumulate faster if the boat is running.

Any idea what it is likely to be and how would I figure it out? I mean, should I put the plugs in, fill it up with water and see where it drips out? What's the process for troubleshooting this?

Maybe shaft seal.

^^^^^ this most likely

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

agreed dripless seal

Okay, I tipped it up a bit in the driveway and filled it with water. There was a very slow drip coming from the rear plug and a very slow drip from the exhaust. That's it. There was nothing coming from the driveshaft opening. Does that definitively rule out a leak of the shaft seal? (we even spun it a bit by hand).

I can't imagine those two very slow drips are the issue.

According to my friend with an older Malibu, the seal allows water in but not out, so my test in the driveway might not be valid

But out on the water today I looked around a bit at idle. It was definitely leaking even at idle. I could see a very faint flow on the floor when I pulled off the tranny cover running from the engine area toward the center bilge. But looking at the engine I couldn't tell from where. So frustrating...

Would you try having the seal replaced without knowing that's the cause for sure?

Your friend is correct. Locate the shaft seal and you should see a very large nut, 1 7/8 with the same size jam nut butted up to it. Run the boat on the water and check the shaft at idle. It will likely be leaking like a slow faucet, which is to much. If so, it will need to be tightened to drip at the rate of about 1 drip every 10 seconds.

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=480&hilit=shaft+seal

This thread discusses ugrading the seal, but if you want to try tightening it (and or repacking) you could go that route. Best of luck. I had this same problem at the beginning of the season and once I got the needed wrench, I just tightned and was good to go.

I thought 2015 Axis boats had a dripless seal. Is that not the case? Can I still tighten it up even if it is dripless, and in that case, do I just tighten it until no water comes through?

2015 would have a dripless shaft seal.

Leak is continuing to worsen so I went looking again this week. I found three of them! One of my rear bags is leaking terribly where the bag meets the valve on one end. The other rear bag leaks at the top but very slowly. Then I found that the water pump/impeller is actually still leaking- you just can't see it at idle, you have to sit back there while the engine actually does some work. I guess I'll fix all that stuff and see if I can get it stopped.