replacing lower unit

[cshalls]

I'm a relatively new Suzuki owner, and brand new to this forum environment. Someone please help......
I own a 2003 DF140 with 25 in shaft....there was a major failure in the lower unit and was told likely best to replace.
Why is it so difficult to find a complete lower unit replacement...and, why are the very few that I've seen so much more expensive than other brand names

[Lunchmoney]

2003 DF 140 motors are notorious for having problems, especially those that have lived the salt life. I have 2 of them and it's one problem after another. The water passages in the head are really tight and the corrosion inhibitor they used was crap so I've learned. Replace your anodes and flush the heck out of it if you're using it in saltwater. Check your oil often for milkyness and check your oil cooler often. They're good motors IF the prior owners changed the internal anodes regularly and flushed it well. That wasn't the case for mine and now I'm replacing the head on the starboard engine. Port side is probably right behind it.
As far as locating a used LU, google is your friend. Look up marine salvage yards and fire out emails. Look on thehulltruth.com in their boat parts search box as well as ebay. They're out there, just have to keep digging. I have a factory service manual in a pdf I can share with you if you want. I don't know much about the lower units but from there up I've learned a whole bunch in the last 90 days! They're easy to work on but hard to fix.