Replaced mine today. Going on 4 years and 700 hours. I had between 3/8"-1/2" of play in it. New bushings took all the play out and its a good snug fit again. Was a pita and I ended up having to use my sawzall to carefully cut the bushings to get them out. Not much of a lip to get on to drive them out. Now if i can just figure out how to take up the play in the reverse plate locking pin holes. They are wallowed out some. Doesn't effect the way it runs but I can feel it when running.

Did you take any pictures of the bushing?

No but I can tonight.

any pics? may have to tackle this one before season starts...

I'd like to see pics also.

Posting up for information.

I converted one over from a short to a long shaft a couple weeks ago and had to use a sawzall too. I couldnt drive the bottom bushing out. Pretty easy task once I cut it.

No pics of the process but this is one of the old ones. And I will say that after running this weekend I have no more fishtailing of the LU like I did before. I had alot of play in my old bushings and I could see it wobbling back and worth when running. Its pretty straight foward. You need 2 bushings. 1 presses in from the top and 1 from the bottom of the tower.

Is this in the sleeve that holds the lower unit. Mine aggrivates the hell out of me with the sloppyness in it. I was told there was no way that could be resolved.

I thought I had been told the same thing, but yeah. It's not the aluminum sleeve you run the bolts through to hold the lower unit, but there is a sleeve at the top and the bottom of the transom mount. I just upgraded to a tall transom and it came with a new lower bushing. There is def a lot less play even though I only replaced the lower one.

Took all the play out of mine. In fact it was kinda tight getting the LU back into the tower. Preston said his still had a little play but was much better.

The round aluminum upper spacer on the L/U and was worn also. Once I changed it out no play at all.

Next time try a Air hammer with a chisel bit..... Seems to be some type of hard plastic/teflon/poly bushing. Mine was very easy to change. It didn't take long at all.

I just reached in and ripped mine out! But then again I do have one hell of a Kung Fu grip!

post dig, but how long/how hard was it to do? (i forsee a few comments at my expense...)

Depends on if you have ever pulled a PD apart before. If your set up with a place to hang the power head it doesnt take very long. Couple hours start to finish but I have done it a few times. Its pretty basic stuff. I suggest to anyone with a PD to tear down and completely clean and regrease the LU and shaft/spline every 12-18 months. The old grease gets gummy and it also helps to ensure that it will come apart easily if you really need to replace something. The old never seize wears off after time and can let things rust and freeze up too. Make a big difference in steering IMO.

oh i got ya.never had one apart before but doesnt look like it would be veryhard to remove the powerhead. ive got a cherry picker so it shouldnt be very to hard... might aswell replace the case gasket while im there....

Yea, mine has some slop in it as well! Guess I need to change the bushings too! Need a new prop seal as I'm gettin a lil water in the LU, and a case gasket, it aint leaking to bad right now, but would like to get the parts on hand!

Its always gonna have a little bit of play in it. Its hard to guestimate without having another to compair it with. Hell, MH you only got 150 hours on a 5 year old rig. It can't be that bad...........

Finally got around to changing mine. Was not bad at all. Hour and 15 minutes start to finish and I have the hydro reverse which adds a few steps.

Took almost all the slop out. Pictures below.

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Y'all might be onto something.

The only down fall to that idea is trying to drill through the reverse plate. Its like trying to drill through ceramic! I barely put a scatch in it! My opinion if it has play, then the next time you take it apart, buy a new pin and spin the ring around 180 degrees which will put the pin in the reverse hole. It has way less hours than the forward one and should tighten things back up.

well maybe you should get a plate with 4 holes!