Axis Wakeboard Boat Forum

I lost a day on the lake (hauled the boat up there, put it in the water, never got out of the no-wake zone before it overheated.) In the end, the impeller was shot. I never did anything wrong to it (like run the boat dry etc).

I learned some important lessons.

# 1 Carry a spare impeller. It is quick and easy to change it out and can easily be done on the water. But you have to have it. So buy one and put it with your spare prop (not so easy to change on the water, but doable and simple to do on the ramp.)

# 2 Your dealer probably won't say anything about an impeller at your annual service. My dealer has a different winterizing service they do at one year versus two, but neither includes swapping the impeller.

# 3 According to Axis, the impeller is a two year maintenance item. Mine was shredded at 2 years and 2 months (and only about 240 hours total.) If you don't want to be changing it on the water, you might want to make it an annual item, especially if you put 100+ hours on your boat a year.

It's an annual item for me.
Make sure to check your transmission cooler/line/baffle for any shredded rubber from the impeller.

I've had 4 boats over 15 years and it's always been annual or 100 hours, which ever comes first. If the old one still looks good I'll throw it in the glove box for an emergency spare.

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I pulled one after one year and it still looked new. I am on year two of mine plan to replace it at the beginning of next season.

Can you give me a little more description of how to do that? Or a link to a picture? I'm sure there's a few chunks in there.

Assuming you're raw water cooled, there are some good images on this page - http://www.mastercraft.com/teamtalk/sho ... hp?t=33135. Or here - https://www.bakesonline.com/detail.aspx?ID=2177.

It is made of some cooper type alloy so it is not all that strong. If you ratchet too much when putting the hose back on, you can bend the inlet.

It's also worthwhile to either get the kit with the gasket or a couple of gaskets separately. In a pinch you might be able to reuse the existing gasket, but that might not always be the case.

My owner's manual says replace every 100hrs or annually. 240hrs on yours I surely would've taken it upon myself to have done that much sooner. Two years is just too long in my opinion even if you only put 50hrs on in those 2 years.

Basically changing the impeller annually should be done, don't let it stop you from a boating weekend if you haven't done it. Change it when you get around to it. Most change it while changing the oil. Also, don't worry about the gasket. The worst that can happen is a little water drips out into the bilge.

I keep a spare impeller and an impeller puller in my glove box. It's an annual spring item for me. If last years still looks good it becomes the new spare. No reason I couldn't swap it out in the middle of the lake.