I have a May 2004 vintage Yamaha F150 with 93 hours on it. The engine, at low speeds, is making a faint belt squeal type noise. I've read about both the drive shaft bushing issue (which you spray with some silicon spray) and also the counter balancer gears disintegrating which starts out as a squeak/squeal. Apparently, Yamaha started using a different gear material on the more recent F150s due to this problem.

Any tips on distinguishing which problem this may be? No affect on engine performance and the boat runs/idles great. Also, noise is not heard at higher speeds.

Thanks in advance for your help!

PS: If anyone has access to the Yamaha bulletin on the counter balancer issue, I would much appreciate a copy!