I think somebody there just didn't really want to work on it
One thing to watch when you buy the water outlet is it comes with the large o-ring on the housing flange, but
not with the small one needed for the metal overflow tube that is a push-in fit to the housing. The original ones disintegrated.
I had to buy an assortment of o-rings, one of which fit on the tube, then it had to be filed down to fit. I put the o-ring on a drill bit, spun it with the drill, and filed it to size with fine sandpaper.