Im not sure if this make you feel any better but here goes. I bought a boat 3 seasons ago knowing this issues and at a good price. The engine was shot, no problem at all. I wanted to rebuild it any way. So I did, a total rebuild. Everything was perfect on 2 outings, the third I had to be towed in I found out my cam gear went. Keep in mind I had a merc dealer press on the new gear to the new cam. Ok so I pulled the engine and fixed it( gear was pressed on by the same people),and again this time on the 5/6 outing it went on me Except I was 10 to 13 miles away from a port. Thank god I bought a kicker.
As Ive shown everyone, I did pull the cam out again, went back to pick up the gear and have it pressed on, so they did.
As I walked out the door, one of the techs stopped me and wanted to see the cam shaft, fine. He noticed the thrust washer was missing. Now Im fuming mad, he did add one at no charge, and a repress at no charge.
Now since I pulled the gear out with the engine in the boat, I have oil leaks to deal with.
My engine is coming back out in the fall to repair the leaks.
Thank goodness all the labour was done by me