1998 90 HP Mercury

[Southern Style]

Hello to all, new to the forum. Purchased a 20' pontoon and rebuilt the whole deck and console. Had a 1989 40 HP Mercury that broke a rod. I put a 1998 90 HP Mercury on and it was "plug-n-play".. Rebuilt and strengthen up the transom with new wood and 1/2 inch aluminum plating.. Was so happy with the install. The only thing I had to trace down was the 2 trim wires. Replaced the prop, prop bearings and seals and it runs beautifully. When flushing it out (using ears), I noticed that there was water coming out from where I can see the shift lever (the silver rod going from the top end to the bottom end on the back side of the motor. It kinda bubbles up water.. Should there be a seal there? Is this going to cause damage to the motor if I idle through canals? Last time out, I noticed that I was not getting the HARD pee from the tell-tale as usual. I started and restarted the boat several times to free up any jellyfish or bag, and same thing, just a trickle with spits of air coming out the tell-tale. Then 2 minutes later, "POOF" and the tell take was throwing a super hard stream just like normal.. Cant find anything on replacing seals on shift lever..

Any help would be greatly appreciated.. Thanks to the Mods for the site, I am on several other forums ( Southern Airboat forum, Chevrolet/Silverado forums, Hunting and fishing forums) and these are a great help for getting information out to the average boaters!!!

Be safe, AND SEE YOU ON THE WATER....