[joelmcf]

Hello fellow Mariah'ians,

I'm new to the forum but a long time Mariah owner/lover. I have a '98 Talari 226 named "No Drama". Perhaps you have seen the pics that my buddy posted in the gallery with aluminum tower, etc.

Anyways, I have an issue. I just splashed my boat yesterday in Austin, Texas to start another season of boating. I had the typical rough idle but let the boat idle at speed for 30 mins in my dock while I helped another buddy launch. I returned in horror to the sight of light smoke coming from under the dash. I quickly powered down the engine and raised the hatch. There was a strong fluid/rubber smell.

I let everything cool, took the engine cover panels off. Restarted the motor to hear a well-running engine. After running for a while, the smoking started again. The only issue that I saw was that all fluids were full EXCEPT the power steering. Additionally, there was a sling pattern in the side and top of the engine cover in the upper right side near the PS pump. I'm assuming that I have a leak in the seals or connections.

Questions:
1 - would this cause the smoking assuming it had been slung around the manifold, etc.
2 - do I use standard power steering fluid or ATF fluid as my neighbor recommends?

Thanks for helping out a club newbie.

/jm