all this season I was having troubles with my port outboard. It run great, not start other days. looked at all cables and batteries because the trouble was acting like a low battery, not cranking over. I was at my end trying to find out what’s up with this motor. I keep my boat out on a mooring so it hard to work on it, well it hard not loosening tools and parts deep sixing them, but i worked on it making it till the seasons end. Working on it now that it's in the yard maded me think i needed a new motor. One last check, I pulled the lower unit and found that the rubber bushing had salt sand stuck in it everywhere. This had stopped the starter from spinning the motor strong enough to start, I would of never thought something like this would of happen and caused me so much trouble. My new end of season checks will included removing both lower units and cleaning and greasing up the shaft. I think I learned something and know now, that must of been put a load on my motors and used allot more fuel that needed. So when I was ready to get a new powerhead ended up 43 buck to replace a bushing, what a great break. A lesson well learned. What do you think, how often do we grease the bushing and shaft.