well fellas, let me vent and tell you how i spent my weekend. i have 1997 sunbird 200cc with a 1998 johnson 150hp oceanrunner. decided (after hanging around these boards long enough) to perform as much maintenance as i could myself. got a clymer shop manual and dug in. i figured i needed to change the water pump, lower unit oil, plugs, and hit all the lubrication points.<br /><br />now the shop manual provides no part numbers. i tried the internet for awhile and could find nothing. i then hit boat us, boaters world, and west marine here in annapolis. no one could help me. they all had minimal parts on the shelves, and no computer system or catalog to tell me what water pump i needed. i then traveled 30 mintues to another boat us, that supposedly had a parts department. almost a waste. after fighting with the computer and numerous catalogs for about an hour, the guy finally figured out what kit i needed.<br /><br />being the good little mechanic, i read through my manual on dropping the lower unit, and noted that it recommends replacing the upper and lower exhaust housing adaptor seals, drive shaft grommet, and water tube seal (do i really need to do this is another question). well, the parts guy almost had a heart attack when i asked about this. of course, no help at all, couldn't even find the parts in the catalog.<br /><br />other than the above question in (), i just wanted to give my opinion on all this. it's not like working on your car, where pep boys can tell you in 30 seconds what part you need and hand it to you. probably why marine mechanics are paid so much. bottom line is i'm going to still try and do this work myself. saturday is the big day. if all goes well, i'll have a new water pump, fresh lower unit oil, new plugs, a decarbed engine, and a successful water test. have a good week-
