as we who have this engine know the water cooled voltage regulator is a failure prone componet...since 1987 I have owned this engine..day one 1987 voltage regulator was defective used boat...cost for new regulator was 135.oo cheap at todays prices of 400-500....
this year my voltage regulator started to over charge with voltages about 16volts but only when cold/first starting for about 10 min until the engine was at operating temp...then it would hold at 14volts ..
I decided to therefore install a dash switch to open the positive output of the voltage regulator ..I used a 20 ft long 2 conductor power cord #16 ga. wire ...
what occured surprised me as the power cord dropped the output by 2-3volts...now with the bypass switch in the closed position I am getting 13.5-14.5volts depending on the RPM of engine ...
In the open position no charging just 12.5volts...
since I have the voltmeter on my dash not the ampmeter , my guess is the ampmeter adds resistance to the voltage regulator output ..this limits the ability of the regulator to create a huge surge in current since it is not directly connected to the battery as the voltmeter guage wiring does..
this maybe why these regulators fail ...some did have the ampmeter ..I wonder if those setups had this issue or not...
this year my voltage regulator started to over charge with voltages about 16volts but only when cold/first starting for about 10 min until the engine was at operating temp...then it would hold at 14volts ..
I decided to therefore install a dash switch to open the positive output of the voltage regulator ..I used a 20 ft long 2 conductor power cord #16 ga. wire ...
what occured surprised me as the power cord dropped the output by 2-3volts...now with the bypass switch in the closed position I am getting 13.5-14.5volts depending on the RPM of engine ...
In the open position no charging just 12.5volts...
since I have the voltmeter on my dash not the ampmeter , my guess is the ampmeter adds resistance to the voltage regulator output ..this limits the ability of the regulator to create a huge surge in current since it is not directly connected to the battery as the voltmeter guage wiring does..
this maybe why these regulators fail ...some did have the ampmeter ..I wonder if those setups had this issue or not...