1987 OMC 1.8L Sea-Drive 140hp. Outboard. Lower unit shaft/seals. NEED HELP please

[not enough_water]

So, my water pump started to get weak from the pee hole and I got a new kit and changed it out. Also changed the lower unit oil, however, the oil was very milky. after changing out the water pump and new oil in the lower unit, I put the flusher on it and started the engine.
HOWEVER, I had the same issue, water coming out the pee hole was still weak(flow rate of pee hole is something along the lines of a public bathroom water fountain). I turned off the engine after about 10 minutes. So, now i needed to do some eliminations.
Drained lower unit oil and it was little milky, so water must have leaked in there from some seal/gasket. After this I filled up the lower unit with some compressed air (10psi) and sprayed some soapy water around the seals and gaskets, and waited for bubbles. The bubbles lead me to the CULPRIT!! Bubbles never lie. The drive shaft seal was leaking.

I am very puzzled by this because why is the pee hole still weak with new water pump kit. Even if the seal is bad and water is leaking into the gear housing, why would the impeller be effected?? Also, I noticed little bit of groves around the shaft, is this normal? or is this excessive grooving and the shaft is useless??
I am not sure if I did something wrong or what. I dont have a service manual for this engine yet, but will order one soon. I've just been basing everything off of simple logic.

Any advise or help would be highly appreciated, I have lost some sleep over this problem and I am almost at the point in which I promised myself not to do, and that is to take it to the marine shop and let them FIGURE IT OUT and charge me AN ARM AND A LEG.

Attached is picture of the shaft. w/(water impeller housing removed)

 

[racerone]

Remove 4 bolts.-----Remove driveshaft bearing housing.-----Inspect shaft where seals ride.-----Install 2 new seals.----Pressure test again.----How did the old impeller look ?----Pictures of it ?-----Test the pee stream with boat in the water and NOT on a hose !!

 

[not enough_water]

Pressure tested it again, filled up with air(10psi) and sprayed soapy water on the driveshaft bearing housing/ exhaust output area, and found another CULPRIT! it started bubbling up by the 4 bolts. So I assume that is where the water was leaking into the gear case, but still does not explain why the pee hole is still weak........with new water pump kit installed.
The only assurance I have from that pee hole is that there is barely some water going through the system to cool the engine.

The old water impeller was not the worst thing I have seen IMO.
and yes I replaced the entire pump with new metal housing/plate and new gasket w/ gasket compound and new o-rings, new bolts.

Is it plausible that there might be a clogged hose somewhere for the water output...? since the new water pump did not change the flow of the pee hole??

BTW, if I were to change out the lower unit oil every time I went on the water with new oil, how much life could I get out of such a brute force method? But I guess I would still have the same issue with the water pump pumping barely enough water to cool the engine.......

 

[racerone]

Test the pee stream with the boat in the water !!

 

[not enough_water]

I forgot to mention that part, I am located by lake michigan and its 20 degrees outside, so testing it in the water will have to wait until March.
I was hoping to getting all this taken care of and fixed before I dropped the boat in the water for salmon season in March.

 

[F_R]

What racerone said, is what I've said over and over again-----you cannot test a water pump by running on muffs. The pump is not pumping under that scenario, only allowing hose water to flow through.

The gearcase oil leak is an entirely separate issue and has nothing to do with the cooling pump.

Sorry 'bout the 20 degrees there.