RE: broken flex shaft
If it is an aluminum tube then it should be swapped with brass. I suspect that the aluminum tube itself may be the cause of the failure. If it ran dry or rusted the flex will begin to cut away at the inside an eventually jam the cable causing it to break. If thats the case, you will never get the flex shaft out of it anyway. Use a hot air gun ( hair dryer) and soften the epoxy around the hull/tube joint and it will pull right out. n Good Luck.