[vetteman87]

hey there everybody
i am jim and just bought a 1994 23' davanti in late july! this is my 1st boat and i love it so far. i am from upstate new york and do most of my boating at saratoga lake or lake george. i have some issues with the boat : i can not gat my dash lights or my navigation lights to work, also my shifter is stiffer then heck to go into drive or reverse,my power steering doesnt feel like it works at all either. any and all help would be great.other things i would love to know is what pitch and size prop i should be using,how fast the boat is capable of.i have the 5.7 ltr with alpha 1. it had a 14.5 by 17 pitch prop and a back up 14.5 19 pitch back up.

thanks and nice to meet you all
jim

[Hudson River Steve]

Hi Jim,

Welcome to the club.

Have you checked for power to the light switch yet? It's possible that it is simply a blown breaker.

Does the motor stall when you attempt to shift. You didn't mention it so I assume no.
Have you attempted to isolate where the stiffness is in your shifter?
I would start by disconnecting the shift cable from the shift plate on the side of the engine and then operate the shifter. If it still feels stiff then the problem is in the shifter itself or the cable going to the shift plate. There is an adjustment on the underside of the shifter that sets the amount of friction on the shifter...so it doesn't move when you hit a wave. This may be set too stiff.

If the shifter no longer feels stiff then the problem is the cable that goes from the shifter plate to the outdrive. These cables tend to go bad every five to ten years but usually cause stalling to go with the stiffness.

I assume you have checked and there is fluid in the power steering pump reservoir. There is a valve on the transom assy that applies pressure and it could be stuck. Try spraying some WD-40 on the transom assembly and operate the steering back and forth with the motor running.

Good luck.