I have a 1989 Advance that I'm trying to replace the shaft seal with a new OJ dripless seal. I've taken the prop off, at which time I found that the strut bearings need to be replaced, then dropped the rudder. This job looked easy enough but then I took a look at the coupling after I removed the four bolts holding it the transmission. Looking inside the coupling I see a brass slotted nut with a cotter pin through it.
.......how in the hell is that cotter pin coming out? The pin is not bent; almost as if the nut and cotter pin were installed on the end of the shaft first and the coupling was slid up from the prop end or the shaft was pushed into the shaft log before the engine was installed. I got my strut bearings from Discount Inboard Marine web site which had good photos and a video too but none of the examples show that cotter pin inside that coupling. they show that you can use a socket and or four allthread bolts with the socket on the end of the shaft pulling back to the transmission There's no room to use pliers to remove the pin even if I were to try and bend it out. Has anyone had this problem or a solution?
