Engine Hatch Binding
 

Has anyone with an electronic piston controlled rear hatch had the issue of the hatch binding while closing, or having to lift the hatch with your hand while pushing the "up" button (i use the stern light to push the button while guiding the hatch up the first 6 inches)??? I hope i'm not the only one with this problem because I need advice on how to fix it. At the same time, I wouldn't wish this upon anyone.. Help!

I have a similar issue... My hatch is either water logged, or just plain HEAVY. The gas assist strut on the other side was replaced when I bought the boat, but I may not have bought the correct one. I still have to manually lift that side of it while halfway on it's 2 minute journey to open.

That's about the only suggestion I have - try replacing the gas assist strut on the opposite side of the power strut. It needs to be strong enough to "assist", but not so strong that it won't close. Good luck! I've been too busy ON the boat to care about it... it'll get fixed one of these days!!!!

It freaks me out to think that the battery may die one day and I'll be stranded on the middle of the lake without access to the battery because of that hatch. I know it's supposed to lift enough to get to the pins, but mine doesn't. I've ordered remote battery jumper terminals from Summit racing and i'm going to mount them under the back seat nearest the battery. This way, if the battery dies, I can connect jumper cables to those terminals to get power to the battery. I'll give you info once it's done if you're interested.
I also thought of putting some type of smooth fabric on the very ends of the hatch so that it's not vinyl against vinyl. Might cause less friction when opening and closing the hatch.

If there's one design flaw that I'd have to mention about some Mariahs, it's the location of the battery switch. It should have been mounted outside the engine compartment on certain models. Some have it, some don't. I know mine has the switch mounted on the starboard side of the case around the engine. I believe that's why my power actuator was removed by the previous owner. I've thought about replacing it, but it sounds like much more work than it's worth.