Well, hopefully none of you ever have this issue or have to tackle it yourself. If so though, don't worry, it's not as bad as it seems. The shaft seals are a whopping $20, however to pay a mechanic the time to take the entire engine apart (which is the only way you can access the seals) could be costly. So here is our story.
If you have oil slowly leaking from the weap hole on the lower unit and you can verify it's motor oil you may have a need for seals. We noticed this after replacing the lower unit. The most likely thing is the seals were worn to the current shaft and after replacing just didn't fit quit right.
Thank god for youtube! Thankfully this mechanic took the time to go step by step through the process and document it. It was a major help!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DesN-WCNiXc&t=1s
Here are some of the pics during the process 😯 She is still running like a top!
