It seems you find something else, when you are trying to fix another thing. I am doing a pressure test of my lower unit and it is holding fine the past few hours. While working on that, I notice the prop shaft could move a bit. It moves about .015" up and down. It can also be pushes in/pulled out1 slightly. My neighbor who was a machinest in a former life was letting me borrow his dial gauge for measuring tolerances. At first I was worried the shaft was bent, though he thinks it might bearings. Any thoughts or insights?