Little rust on lower unit shaft of my nearly new F70

[chartscharts]

Took the lower unit off for the very first time for the 1st 100 hour maintenance on my 2020 F70.

There's a little surface rust on the shaft. Is that normal?

rust-shaft.jpeg

[boscoe99]

Yes it is.

[robert graham]

Outboard driveshafts are made of a type of more or less stainless steel, but they can show rust some especially if run in saltwater environment. Yours has a bit of corrosion but should be no problem. When I drop my lower unit I clean any corrosion from my driveshaft and splines with a 3M Scotchbrite scrubbing pad and apply a thin coat of marine grease to the entire shaft and splines….helps keep the corrosion down….

[chartscharts]

Thanks, always appreciate the advice you take the time to give here.