[JRCustomCar]

I spent a lot of time (and wasted a lot<LOT> of gas) looking for a new boat to replace my recently sold Bayliner. I knew I wanted something that was of good quality, might need a little bit of work, and would fit into my budget with the possibility for a higher resale value. I feel like I struck gold when I brought home this little gem today. I feel like I paid a fair price for it, the hull is excellent, and I love all the storage and the seating layout. High quality all the way around, the fiberglass captain's chairs are like Recaro racing seats. This one has about 370 hours on it, but the motor is extremely clean. It does, however, need an entire new interior. Every seat is cracked and showing the padding. I feel like with a little investment, this boat will bring my family years of enjoyment.

The original owners never covered the boat, and after 7 years of taking on the hot Florida sun, it met its second owner. He took the canvas covers out of their original plastic and put them to use.

It amazes me that people pay so much for boats, and out of laziness and neglect they don't get taken care of. I have seen so many go to waste simply because they didn't get covered.

Anyway, even the condition of the vinyl didn't deter me from making this purchase today. I was so impressed with everything else about it, that it overcame the negative.

Well, sorry for the long-winded post, but I hope to be a Mariah owner for the long haul.

"Dear Diary" says the wife...

[SuperdaveTX]

Glad you like your boat... Did you take it for a ride?

One thing I like about it is, it is agile. It can take a hard turn fast, not like an outboard, but close enough.

[JRCustomCar]

I've had it out a few times. Handles like a Cadillac compared to the Bayliner I sold to get it. Takes chop and wake REAL smooth. Not as fast, but so much nicer. Unfortunately the power steering isn't working, and I have water in my trim pump reservoir. I'm planning a rebuild on the trim cylinders, and would really like to pinpoint the power steering issue.

I got some quotes on the interior and I'm going to spend around $1200 for all the seats to be recovered. I hope it's worth the money. I just installed a set of rear speakers, an amp and head unit this weekend. Would like to get some up front as well, maybe some sort of detachable speaker that I can sit on the bow rail for when we are outside of the boat.

[Z 202]

Welcome to the club. Gas burned in a Mariah is never "wasted"

So you've seen the light have you. I regularly get comments from people on how beautiful the interior of my 15 year old specimen is. I boat on the great lakes, so I'm very familiar with how the boat handles in big water - WELL. The huge freeboard is nice, especially if you have smaller kids. It also give you a nice sports car feel. What engine do you have? I'm surprised it's not as fast that boat that friends don't let friends buy... My 202 gets 53 -54mph top end and that's with 1/2 tank and 3 people aboard.

Just a tip: Original Mariahs came fully wired for bow speaker and aft speakers whether they were factory installed or not.

[mikeyt]

Originally Posted by Z 202

Welcome to the club. Gas burned in a Mariah is never "wasted"
.

And gas burned in a Bayliner always is.....

[JRCustomCar]

I was referring to the amount of gas I burned driving around looking at boats in my truck. I wasn't sure where the bow speakers were meant to be placed, so I ended up installing some just in front of the rear bench seat in the side panel. I would like to add 2-4 more speakers eventually, possibly a sub or 2. It's hard to hear the music when you're outside the boat or cruising.

I have the 4.3L V6, my buddy has the same setup, and he gets around 55mph top speed. I've only had this one up to 45 with 2 people, heading down river, with 1/2 tank. My buddy passes me with more people. I know the Mariah is heavier than his Rinker, but he still goes about 12 mph faster.

I think there's something I'm missing, because the motor doesn't want to rev past 4000, will rev to 4500 when the trim is up too high...and this is with the 19" Pitch prop I just put on it. Same story with the 21" pitch that was originally on it.

Any idea on how to troubleshoot whether my power steering issue is the pump or the assembly on the transom?

[Rob 8043]

I was wondering what size engine you have, I have a 202 with a 350 mag and barely can get 45mph. It could be the prop I use, which is a high five. Btw when you get 53-54 mph , what are the rpms?

Thanks

Rob

[JRCustomCar]

Update: I just got back from a 1.5 hour trip out after a few minor tweaks. I spent a couple days sourcing parts for the power steering pump (used a stock GM one rebuilt for $45 at advance auto) picked up the newer metal power steering pump ($40 at local marina) and a new Dayco belt ($32). Much frustration and a couple broken parts later, I got the pump installed. And there's still no help from the power steering system. So I just wasted 2 days worth of time and almost $150. And now there is a leak at the high pressure fitting, looks like the o-ring isn't sealing properly.

Then, I was cleaning the carb/air intake, with it running, I accidentally grounded out the solenoid that sits directly behind the air cleaner. The whole motor shut down, and there was no power throughout the boat. Well, I spent about 2 hours troubleshooting that in the dark, and finally decided to call it a night. I was reading 2.7 volts at one fuse block to all their respective wires at the helm, while the other fuse block read 13v. I traced all the power wires and poked them at irregular intervals to find where the short/loose connection might be. Ended up being some sort of diode or rectifier or something that was bolted to the starter. It appears as though the battery feeds power directly to the starter, and from there feeds power to the rest of the engine and even some of the helm controls. I don't like the way it is setup, and I may change it so that it is protected via fuse or circuit breaker.

Today I adjusted the timing very slightly, I just advanced it to the point where it raised idle to manufacturer's spec (650 rpm). This was a DRAMATIC improvement in top and low end. It came on plane SO quick with 4 people, and topped out at 50 mph around 4600rpm. I was REALLY impressed with the way it performed today, aside from the power steering. Can't wait til I get my 21 pitch prop back from the machinist and get a timing light to perfect the timing, should see 55mph!

Sorry for the long post, but I can't cut right to the good stuff after all the BS I had to endure over the past few days...