Ask him if it's really the page count or if it's the commitment that scares people off. Because honestly a 450 page book that reads fast is way different than a 300 page slog, and skipping books just on length feels like throwing out good picks for no real reason. What happens if someone brings a 500 pager that everyone actually loves, does he still vote it down on principle?

Three loads seems quick for a seal to fail, maybe it was already on its way out. Doubt the housing itself needed replacing, most guys just do the motor and call it a day.

Could you test it by feeding it the same quiz twice but swap "never" for "always" in the right answers and see if the score flips? That would tell you if it's really just keying on one word instead of reading the whole question. Sounds like your grader is pattern matching on keywords, not actually understanding what the question is asking.