started draining gear oil from lower end and noticed i have no washers around lower or upper screws. gear oil looks fine, not milky, so should i put washers on my screws or just leave it the way i found it. motor is an 84 johnson 65 hp
Definitely need them. You may have rubber o-rings instead of washers. Look closely around the neck of the screw for the black o-ring. These need to be replaced every time. Look closely at the screw to determine if it takes o-rings or the flat plastic washers. For the o-rings, there will be an indentation in the screw right below the screw head where the o-ring would fit. I have heard that the plastic washers are re-usable. But that is debatable.
went to johnson marine store and they gave plastic washers. i didnt see any indents for rubber washers. plastic washers are kinda thick, not much thread left, about quarter inch.
Those should work. I assume the washers they gave you are about 1/16 inches thick. The screw might stick out a bit now but that should not be a problem unless you are racing and worried about the drag. :-}
