Axis Wakeboard Boat Forum

Hello, I am recently new to owning an inboard and I am having an issue with my 2011 Axis A20. It has the AR335 Indmar engine.

It feels like under certain engine load and rpm levels that something is catching the drive line or maybe like an engine hick-up with no power for just a split. But no codes. It feels like something is like tugging or jerking on the back of the boat for a split second.
If I ride at a higher RPMs like surfing at 10MPH or at wakeboarding speed (21MPH) under full load, it's good. It seems to happen if I run at lower RPMS like around 15 mph (not on plane) and unweighted, or even on slow turns around 10mph fully weighted.

Nothing seems to be wrapped around the shaft or prop, however I have noticed that it is extremely difficult to spin the prop by hand. It takes a wrench on the prop nut to spin it, and it's pretty difficult. I could almost change the prop without using a block of wood to prevent it from spinning. Other than the occasional pulse from the "catching", nothing else seems to be acting up.

Warranty is out of the question, and I'm mechanically inclined, however I'm not sure on where to start diagnosing the issue.Any ideas on what it can be or what I need to start checking? Your help is greatly appreciated!

Vdrive and tranny fluid look good and is full? I'd start at least there.

If the prop is hard to turn by hand you either have an alignment problem or something could be bent, mine turns pretty easy if the strut is wet, if it's dry the prop shaft squeaks in the rubber bushing but still turns with one hand fairly easy

How "new" are you to inboards? Specifically, weighted down V drives?

Of course do what walter says and when the boat is on the trailer, try to spin the prop by hand, it should be relatively easy with one hand to get it to spin (won't spin freely, but if you can not spin it with one hand... something may be amiss)

check your tranny fluid and v-drive fluid (same ATF in both)

monitor your engine oil pressure on your dash during these times. The 335 can burn oil... mine does, others do not.

But my guess, since you may be new to weighted down v drives is cavitation. What prop are you running and how much total ballast? Heavily weighted boats do not want to move, but these 335+ horsepower motors do, and sometimes (mainly when hard starting holeshot or tighter turns) the props will cavitate. It is a terrible feeling/sounding condition that corrects itself after a couple seconds or once the turn is complete. You can get lake weed/debris to grab your prop and it will mimic this condition at higher rpms as well, but sounds like your situation is happening semi-frequently.

After you have checked all your fluids and pressure, grab someone with some experience in heavily weighted v-drive wake boats and get your boat to do it for him/her. (even if your boat is not heavily weighted, you can get this condition, especially with an aggressive prop and not enough weight for its intended purpose)

Have you replaced or repaired the prop?

While I am new to v-drives, I'm pretty familiar to cavitation with weighted I/Os. I have checked oil and of the 60 hours I put on it since July, I did use about a quart which isn't that bad. The tranny fluids are good too. The RPMs don't increase when it happens, it just seems like a quick jerk or tug from the back. RPMs don't really alter or anything. I am going to be checking alignment, packing and the strut to start off eliminating drive line components.

I have repaired the prop when it was slightly dinged from what seemed to be a 3/4" stick on take off with full ballast and crew. I don't remember if the "catching" started before or after that though. I did feel a slight vibration for the rest of the day, under full load and take off, but it only lasted maybe a couple seconds. Do you think that could have messed something up?

I would not think a minor hit like that would cause other issues but I'm pretty new to inboards.

My old prop with more pitch did that a couple of times and scared the crap out of me. I changed the prop to lower pitch had the problem has never happened again. Also my throttle is a lot less while surfing, boarding, and skiing, and my fuel consumption is down, also.

I think the higher pitch was causing significant load on my poor engine and a sudden cavitation was caused by almost anything that generated a bubble nucleation site. Could have been debris passing through the prop path, for example. Reducing the torque loading of the engine will make it last longer and is easier on the transmission as well.

Not sure of this is the same issue as you are having, but if it is, a re-pitch can make it go away.

Wayne

Might be a shot in the dark but take your distributor cap off and check for moisture. It's happened to mine and it will jump spark and have a really bad miss. Worth checking out.