2004 40hp merc 3 cyl 2 stroke

"Found a "issue" recen

"Found a "issue" recently. My installed tach stoped working and in tracing the problem found that I had a wiring fire in the motor where the majority of the harness and power to the starter wires is all located. This happened about 2 years after any alterations/additions of instuments was done.
This happened while making a run on a river, and nothing seemed to have triggered it...like working on wiring, starting the motor, etc.
Any ideas on what may have caused it? Certainly it needs to be fixed, but I don't want it to happen again."

Sounds like some wire touched

Sounds like some wire touched a ground some where in the engine

"Unsure,

It could very well

"Unsure,

It could very well be a short as mentioned above. It could also have started if the voltage regulator burned up. That should be obvious; the regulator would be melted.

Tony"

"Shop fixed it up for me. The

"Shop fixed it up for me. They had to replace the regulator....but it wasn't burned up. They were not sure if it malfunctioned and caused the burn, or if a couple wired just managed to "rub though" and short.
I guess I just wondered if the experts had seen a trend with this situation. To me, it's only a couple years old, and this kinda thing should happen...but if it's just a freek thing like it appears, I'm ok with that.
Thanks"

make that...
this kind of thi

make that...
this kind of thing shouldn't happen...