Quote Originally Posted by scout-j-m View Post
Here is an update from last night...I got the spanner nut off by just using a screwdriver and some light taps. Didn't appear to be torqued at all nor have any type of threadlocker or compound on the threads. Then the bearing carrier just pulled right out! From a rookie perspective the bearing carrier, prop shaft, reverse gear, rear main bearing, and pinion gear all looked/felt good. The clutch dog had a little rounding on the corners but didn't seem too bad to me. The forward gear was missing an entire tooth, however, so it will need to be replaced. I wonder if that tooth was broken off prior to a previous lower disassembly/rebuild because I would think that a whole tooth getting ground up in there would seize up at least one of the ball bearings in there, but they all seemed pretty smooth to me. If I could get by with a new forward gear, shift rod assembly, some seals, and a new spanner nut I'd be pretty happy.
I’d run a magnet around in there real good and pick up any shavings that might still be there. Clean real good with brake clean. My bet is some one pulled drain plug and that piece was stuck to magnet on plug. The ideal thing and some will say this is to replace the gears that mate to the forward gear. I check the mating gears and if they look good and have a clean wear pattern I’d just change the one gear. When you get it back together do a breaking procedure similar to a new engine. Maybe about 4-5 hours. Give that gear time to wear in against the old one to establish a wear pattern that matches the old one. Change lower unit oil, check and clean drain plug mage net. Run it another few hours normally and change oil again. Pay attention to how much if any metal is in oil and on magenet. Gould be very minimal at this point. Oil is cheaper than labor and parts.
When reinstalling, screw in that retainer and snug. Try to shake shaft, then loosen a turn and turn shaft a couple of times and retighten nut. This just makes sure every thing is aligned and seated properly.