[vkrishan]

Hello everyone... I just bought a '94 Z225 Davanti... Happy to be here... A few questions from a new boater. Would appreciate any and all replies

1. Any fellow Mariah owners on Lake Sidney Lanier? Would love to make your acquaintance in person.

2. Advice on resanding and refinishing the hull. It could looke much better, but I'm torn between doing it now versus in the off season when I have a few more dings after my first season.

3. I have a little play in my steering. Any suggestions on if the play is something I have to live with or can get fixed?

4. The throttle lever is a bit rough. Especially for someone learning the correct way of docking, a smoother forward and reverse would help. Any suggestions?

5. The powerplant is a 5.7 Merc with a Bravo 3 outdrive. IT has 330 hours on it. Other than the anual maintenence (oil, filter, impeller, tranny), what else should I be doing?

thanks in advance for the help

Vinayak

[bpfirrman]

Welcome to the club! You may want to try the Meguiars fiberglass restoration kit on your hull to see how that works out. I believe there are some other threads pertaining to hull restoration that may be of use.

[WetWilly]

Hi Vinayak,

Can't help you with #1 so I'll move on down the list...

2) The hull: Here are a few links to threads on this forum that should get you started - Click on these Link 1 Link 2 Link 3

3) Steering play: It depends on what caused the play. a little play is normal as shafts and bushings wear. Try to localize where the play is coming from, if you have tilt steering, check the coupler between the tilt unit and the steering rack. The rack its self may be loose or worn. This is where I have a little play. Lastly, you want to check the steering arm at the transom assembly, if its loose have a service center look at it right away as this may indicate more issues with the gimbal system.

4) Rough Throttle lever: Wow, this one's going to be a little lengthy, but here goes... Since there are three cables involved here you need to isolate if it's the cables or the controller itself.

I suspect it's the shifter cable and not the throttle cable or controller,but anytway, disengage the shifter by pushing in the pivot button on the throttle lever and see if the throttle lever moves smoothly forward and back. If it is smooth, the problem is in the shift cables, but if it's still rough, it's either the throttle cable or in the controller itself. Let's say it's still rough, you'll need to remove the controller from the boat to examine it for binding and check the throttle cable. If you've determined it's the shifter cables, disconnect the long cable from the lever to the exhaust bracket, at the bracket and again, if it's rough, the long cable is your problem, if it's smooth, its the short shift cable to the out drive and you're going to need to take it in for replacement because the out drive needs to come off.

5) Don't forget the belts and hoses and when was the last time the out drive was checked or serviced? If you don't know, have it done for peace of mind. This would also a good time to have the Mercathode system on your B3 checked too (had to replace mine).

Hope this sends you off in the right direction!

WetWilly

[vkrishan]

Advice much appreciated... I'm off to the boat mechanic...