Added fresh grease today and the old grease was abnormally light blue. I hit an air pocket then some water came out. I'm guessing my rear seal near the prop went out? Search function had negative results.

Bingo. Same thing was happening to mine except when I took it apart my bearing was in pieces and both seals were shot haha.

I know there was a thread on how to change them. If someone doesn't link I may have it saved.

So i take it i shouldn't run it like this....

I found that thread and bookmarked it. - thanks.

I'm guessing I should change both seals/bearings? 3 years since I bought it new. Is this the normal lifespan or did I fuck up and not grease enough? Will rope and shit getting rapped around the spot behind the prop jack things up?

Thanks.

did you happen to notice any grease coming out of the seals?

here is a post that explains a bit more on taking it apart
viewtopic.php?f=41&t=23981&p=275708&hilit=seal+kit#p275708

Last time I greased I did notice a little grease by the rear seal. It was barely anything.

Rope and string being wrapped behind the prop is the main culprit behind the seal failures.

Call GT...they'll ship you the kit to get them replaced.

Fyi...the seal cover has left-hand threads.

woops. I have a 2005 and changed the seals out last summer. Im sure they have been replaced but i trust nothing the old owner says.

I also found out i had an older style shaft, so i changed it to the newer style (your motor should have the new style)

Changing the seal on the pulley side really isnt hard just got to remove it from the housing.
If it was me, i would go ahead and order the shaft seal kit from Calen and be done with it.

And as far as rope and stuff getting tangled up behind the prop, yes, it will tear the seals if they come in contact with each other. They are very fragile and easily ripped. I wasnt paying attention when putting a new seal in and allowed it to flip and to no surprised it ripped.

Might wanna change the wear sleeve too...my seals started leaking with about 40 hours on the motor and I changed them but didn't change the wear sleeve...but it had some tiny tiny grooves where the seals rode...I just put some emory cloth on it and put it back in. Needless to say, the seals lasted 15 more hours and started leaking again. Haven't run much grass lately and I haven't gotten any rope caught up, so I think the wear sleeve is the culprit this time. I just pump it up with grease after every trip, prolly take it back down after the season...pretty easy job to change them. They're like 18$ I think for the pair.