Air in Hair basket

[dondi2]

My Hayward pump works fine, no air leaks indicated when running. As soon as the pump is off I can see air bubbles in the clear pipe running from the pump to the multiport valve. The hair basket at the pump continues to drain down to just bellow the level of the inlet piping. The pump has enough water to self prime when I restart it. I can't find any leaks in the cover gasket. Is this indicative of either a pump seal or diffuser gasket? Or is there some other place I should be looking.
Thanks....

 

[mas985]

If you are only getting air when the pump is off, then it could be the multi-port valve spider gasket that is allowing air in but not any water out. This problem has been reported before by several pool owners.