Mercury 175 voltage problems

"I have a '94 carburated 1

"I have a '94 carburated 175 merc that has a voltage problem. Last summer it was pushing about 16 volts into my batteries when I was on vacation in Bradenton. I had a regulator put on while there($200) and now I found out that it wasn't the regulator listed for that motor but a different one. The only difference externally was the old one had two red wires coming back to the solenoid and the new one has one. They spliced the wires nicely and it seemed to work OK. Now I have a problem with my stator and I wonder if it's related to this. One coil on the right side of the stator has burnt all the coating off and seems very hot(smells too) The charging system seems OK(about 14-15 volts constant under RPM) and it's not missing either. What's the deal and how close am I to an engine fire?? I hate to take it back to another shop here in town but I don't have the manuals for troubleshooting this deal. Any advise??? Thanks alot for any info, Bill([email protected])"

"Bill,

Your engine should h

"Bill,

Your engine should have two regulators. They are mounted together, one on top of the other, just like the ignition switchboxes. I'm thinking that one is malfunctioning; not delivering any DC voltage to the red wire on the solonoid at all. It may be shorted internally to ground.

Each regulator will have two wires leading to it from the stator. Disconnect these wires and check the resistance. Check for shorting to ground on all wires.

Run the engine and check the voltage across each set of leads from the stator. Set the meter on AC volts. Don't run the engine like this for very long.

You should also check the voltage to the switchboxes. You will find a blue and a red wire to each switchbox from the stator. One set will have a white stripe on each wire. You can check the voltage on each wire without disconnecting them while the engine is running. Set the voltmeter to DC and touch the red lead to each wire separately and the black lead to ground. You should read 12 volts at each terminal.

If the wires to the regulator seem normal, then reconnect one set and run the engine. Check the voltage coming out of the regulator. Disconnect this regulator and do the same for the other regulator.

This process should reveal some kind of problem. If you have only one regulator, I would guess that someone removed one at some time before you bought the engine. This is done frequently if one regulator fails. It saves the expense of buying a regulator and can work well for quite some time.

Let me know what you find out, and also see if you can come up with the model and serial numbers. That will help identify the exact components your electrical should have.

I hope this helps you find your problem.

"

" Tony, first of all, thanks f

" Tony, first of all, thanks for the info. My system does have the two regulator setup on it. One regulator was replaced last year and the boat hasn't had any significant use(8-10 hrs) since that time. I'm wondering about the voltage regulator that was put on it. It had the same two yellow wire setup going to the stator but only one charging side(vs. two on the old one)or red wire to the solenoid for recharge. Since this is the 40 amp unit could this be overloading the stator and causing the problem or will this be OK. The wires don't seem exceptionally hot on either side so I never suspected the regulator being wrong or under rated for the amps this system may be capable of producing.I never looked at the stator until the other night when I was running it before "wanting" to use it this weekend. As I said, all the paint on one coil is completely gone and it's real hot compared to the others. I talked to a couple of the local shops saturday and they all say the stator has spent itself. Also, they say it's not a suprise since it's the original stator on the motor. What concerns me is the reason for all this going bad within a short period of operation. I hate to buy a $300 stator just to be told I also need another $250 worth of regulators. I try to be a bit more frugil with my money than that(snicker)I'll go down to the boat in a few days to either take it to a shop or troubleshoot it myself. Ahhhh, the new DVM will get somoe use afterall. I didn't spend all that cash on a new Fluke for nothing huh?? Thanks again and I'll try to let you know what comes of it, Bill "