Well had the boat out this weekend for some watersport fun and, as the thread title alludes to, it was a bit challenging. First the specs:<br /><br />Merc 3000 control<br />5.7L Tb-V, s/n OL351262<br />Alpha 1 Gen 2 outdrive<br /><br />So, being pulled by the good wife and here are her complaints, and by extension, my woes.<br /><br />"The control arm is sticky, I can't keep the RPMs constaint!" This is because I'm on the wakeboard behind her screaming "keep the same speed #$%^&@!<br /><br />And, it is a bit sticky, in other words it doesn't flow very well where you can find a good RPM range easily and keep to it. (Maybe an opportunity to buy a PerfectPass cruise, but not there yet.) Any ideas or pointers on what I should do? The control looks pretty bombproof and I have already lubed the parts at the carb with no change. DIY or mechanic?<br /><br />Second and more pressing issue is a sloppy tiller. While under way, below wake speed or at WOT, there seems to be at least a quarter turn of play at the wheel. After a visit with my usual mechanic, the tiller rack was confirmed to be making the power steering rack turn immediately, so there is no doubt that the rack is intact and the cable is doing what it needs to do at the power steering attachments. So I'm thinking that puts my problem on the other side of the transom. [My trusted mechanic thought there just may be air in the power steering system so no outdrive diagnosis was done that day.] When I gently move the outdrive side-to-side [out of the water and lowered], there is about 1/2 inch of play at the far end of the drive, i.e. at the trailing edge of the cav plate. Is this more play than normal and if so, where to next. Or, do you guys have any other diagnostic tests I should perform before sending her off to my happy mechanic so I can make his boat payment as well. 
<br /><br />Thanks a bunch. jb
<br /><br />Thanks a bunch. jb