[Drifter]

Hello Mariah Owners

I have just purchased a beautiful 1998 Z255 Shabah but have a few questions before I baptize her.

#1. I need to replace the sun pad as it is weighs 3X as much as it should and the plywood has folded in two. I have a disconnected Acculift MQ347 which does extend when reconnected to power on the starboard side. My question - is this the only single lifting mechanism for the entire sun pad for this model??? There does not appear to be fastening marks for another twin actuator on the port side but there does appear to be a bracket on the port side for a gas lift strut but I have no such strut anywhere in the boat. Just wondering if the gas strut on the port side was factory to avoid the sun pad from warping when raised or was it added by the owner at a later date. Also wondering if any 255 owners have ever replaced the factory power sun pad set up with two adequate gas lift struts and no power lift mechanism.

#2. I have what appears to be an external drain port on the starboard bow section. I though this was a drain for the anchor locker but the locker is totally covered inside with carpet with no sign of an internal drain site. I was wondering if the previous owner glued in the carpeting over the inside drain location and I need to cut the carpet away from the inside drain site.

#3. I have two small plastic attachments on both sides near the stern with no ideas regarding their purpose. I was guessing some rod connector to reinforce a stern section of a Bimini add on but they seem small. I will attempt to attach a photo.

#4. Lastly, my power anchor light is stuck 8 inches proud. The fuse is okay and just wondering if anybody has ever replaced the motor in one of these.

Thanks in advance for your assistance!!!

[GregT]

Welcome to the group and congrats on the purchase! I don't have the same model so I can answer some of the questions but can help with a few:
1. A few owners have a motorized lift and a gas strut to help on the sundeck. Some have added a second lift assembly also. I recently took my original motorized lifts apart, fixed and cleaned them to work again. Not difficult at all. Having the sundeck re-done is not overly difficult if you are familiar with woodworking and vinyl work. Or it may be worth it for a local upholstery shop to help out and save some headaches.
2. good chance someone covered the drain hole. look in the back corner of whichever side the exterior drain is located.
4. Those original lights are a common problem. Mine had a bad control board. Found one on ebay and pieced the two together for one working unit. Take it out carefully and you can take it apart to see if anything is broken. The light company stopped making them back in 2012 or so.

There are also two Facebook groups you should join. They get much more activity than this site so your questions will be answered faster.

[Sparks&Stripes]

I will add some info on top of what Greg said. For the power anchor light, I had to pull the wires off mine and clean up all the contacts and wire ends because of corrosion. Same for the fuse on its circuit. Once I did that it started working so it’s worth a try. For the power lift actuator, some boats had two and some like my Jubilee, only had one on one side and a gas strut on the other. I replaced mine with a progressive automations actuator off Amazon. You’ll have to figure out your length but they are fast and quiet… much better than the originals. You can get the gas struts off Amazon too just need the length and lbs of lift. Trial and error to get the right one but they are fairly cheap. Mariah’s are great boats you’re going to love it! Join the Facebook groups, not many people use this site anymore. It is worth joining and paying the fee because there is a ton of manuals you can download and print on here.