Drive shaft upprer? seal and retainer ring 1998 75 HP Force by Mercury

[capnstabbin]

OK, so pictured here is the exploded view of the top end of my drive shaft for the 1998 75 HP Force.

The diagram shows the seal and retainer ring.


My questions are as follows....

a) how important are they, looks like they would keep a bunch of stuff out of the power head????????

b) Looks like the seal goes upright with the fat end up, i found it wedged in the drive shaft housing with no retainer ring, shown in picture below



c) I cant order that retainer, unless thats the ring jammed up inside ( which I have not tried yet to retrieve) the drive shaft housing, pictured above. Can I order a retainer ring for a different engine/year/model or something.

and...

d) last but not least, if and whenever I can get my hands on a retainer ring, how far up or down the shaft do I secure the seal and retainer ring??????

 

[capnstabbin]

Re: Drive shaft upprer? seal and retainer ring 1998 75 HP Force by Mercury

Loking further at these diagrams on crowley marine
http://www.crowleymarine.com/mercury-outboard/parts/2534_19.cfm

These dont look like the right parts, the seal looks a lot different and there is no visible nut ( # 7) on the above diagram



It looks like all these parts go on top of it.



So really my question is, where did this part come from???????????

 

[capnstabbin]

Re: Drive shaft upprer? seal and retainer ring 1998 75 HP Force by Mercury

well I replaced the seal in the prop shaft shift shaft and found where the black seal goes on the drive shaft found a retainer ring in the drive shaft housing right below where the red circle is in the above image ....
and then put the water pump gasket in place tightened it down the housing and bolted the lower unit back on.
Took for quick 5-10 min. Ride. Everything worked great.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Drive shaft upprer? seal and retainer ring 1998 75 HP Force by Mercury

Wow, can't believe you got no responses from the first 2 posts.

But glad you got her all figured out.

Thanks for reporting the results, it will help someone in the future.

 

[Phares]

I'm in pretty much the same boat as the first guy except the owner before me I'm guessing put it together the last time without that retainer ring I found the seal chewed up exactly like he said but I can not find the retainer is there anyway around it or another place to buy one??

 

[jerryjerry05]

They don't like it when you open up posts that are old.
Start a new one and use the info from that post.
Always include the year, model and serial# if you have it.

​The seal and retainer, still available $14 42461 A1
That is if your motor is a later year Force with the Mercury lower unit.

You can add a signature to your posts and include the info on your boat and motor.

 

[GA_Boater]

Closed.