Sorry, I wasn’t clear. Yes, the nut stays on the tube. The manual says to remove the powerhead in order to remove the components to allow gearcase removal. When you remove the powerhead, you’ll see there is a slotted nut at the top of the lower unit, that holds the driveshaft casing tube in place. I used the spade bit to remove that nut (Johnson called out a special tool for it) it holds the casing tube in place against the grease seal at the bottom end. When you remove the casing, it allows room to push the water line and it’s fitting back into the area that the tube formerly took up. Even with the driveshaft tube removed it was kind of tight. I don’t know if it’s possible to remove the gearcase without doing it. I am new to these and followed the manual steps. The gearcase bolt acts as a cross-pin and needs removed too.
Someone with more experience may chime in.
Hope this helped?
