Re: Propeller shaft bearing cage
Slather anti-seize on the two (single exhaust) Oring seals and cage lands. Liberally coat the internal mating surfaces of the gearcase with it also. Helps keep the aluminum from corroding. Use lower unit oil on the internal seal (shaft seal) This seal has two lips. Inner lip keeps oil in and outer lip keeps water out. That's why Merc and OMC use two seals here. That's one reason they are more expensive than Force. At any rate, The inner lip is lubricated by the lower unit oil and the outer by the water against it so you might as well use lower unit oil on it--that's what will displace the grease anyway.
BTW: Anti-seize should NOT be copper based. Grey nickel based is preferable for galvanic potential. NEVER, never, never use graphite on an outboard engine.
never mind...will last much longer as jerry pointed out. It also might not hurt to lightly resurface the seal contact area of the prop shaft using 1500 grit or higher wet/dry sand paper. If you choose to do so...do so extremely lightly. The object is not to remove any metal from the surface of the prop shaft as it is to remove any surface glaze that might be on the shaft where the shaft and seal contact eachother.
