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Stator leaking internally

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Georgiaboy67

Advanced Contributor
I'm still new at outboards, but my shop called me and said that my stator is leaking internally. What does this even mean? He said he couldn't tell if this was recent or if it's been like that for a long time... What effects would a leaking stator have on an outboard? I'm looking all over google but can't seem to find anything specifically for that.. any helpful comments are welcome.
 
The stator does 2 things.-------It charges the battery using one set of coils.-----------It provides a voltage pulse for the ignition system as well.------------So if it has a short to ground it will not work properly.-------If it has an internall short coil to coil it will not work properly.-----Sometimes the insulation will melt off and drip all over the block and can be seen.
 
Okay, it's been passed down to me,my great grandpas boat. Blew up on my uncle and now it's mine for a project boat. My uncle has always had a hard time starting it... Especially if it isn't trimmed at least 3/4 down. not sure if that has anything to do with it or not. We've rebuilt carbs and fuel lines before and new plugs and still the same problem..
 
There are two possible definitions of "leaking" here. Insulation leaking, as in goo dripping out of it, and/or electrical leakage as in from one wire to an adjacent wire (or loop of the coil). Whatever, either will cause starting or running problems.
 
Probably electrical if I had to guess, there's so many electrical problems with the boat it wouldn't surprise me a bit. I've already had to fix a broken pig tail to the cranking battery that controlled the power trim, the front lights don't work anymore, not sure if it's the switch or the wire, none of the gauges work except the trim gauge. RPM gauge is frozen at 2000 rpms, none even move one bit when the motor cranks.
 
Tachometer at 2000 RPM when turned off is somewhat normal. When motor runs, a signal from the alternator tells it what the actual RPM is. You have been told you have a bad stator----that includes the alternator windings. Just saying the tach itself might be ok.
 
Note that this problem also takes place in the smaller ampere stators.

(Stator "35amp" Melt Down)
(J. Reeves)

The usual characteristic or sympton pertaining to an engine that has a stator melting down is that it will have spark when cold, but will have weak or no spark when hot. Many engines will run fine at first, but after being shut down, then attempting to restart 30 minutes or so later will not start. However, after sitting and cooling down, the engine may once more start and run. Eventually the stator will fail altogether resulting in no ignition/spark even when fully cooled.

This pertains mainly to the 35amp charging stator BUT this problem has also affected other smaller ampere stators. Make a note that the stator on engines manufactured in and after 1973 are two fold components. There are a series of smaller coils which deliver AC voltage to the rectifier, the rectifier converts that voltage to DC voltage to charge the battery. There are larger coils that deliver AC voltage to the powerpack capacitor in order to energize the ignition.

The 35 ampere stator has two (2) large black coils located (usually) at the rear of the stator. This 35 amp stator runs extremely hot and even though the water cooled voltage regulator/rectifier may be in perfect working order, this type stator will in time have what is called a "Melt Down". This is when those two large black coils start to drip a sticky substance down upon the timer base and the powerhead. The result is that the outgoing AC voltage to the powerpack capacitor drops, and this in turn results in weak ignition and eventually no ignition.

If a rectifier on any horsepower engine has failed (keeping it simple), this results in having the voltage back up at the stator causing the stator to overheat, which in turn causes a stator melt down.

Thousands of parts in my remaining stock. Not able to list them all. Let me know what you need and I'll look it up for you. Visit my eBay auction at:

http://shop.ebay.com/Joe_OMC32/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1
 
I am definitely hoping it's the stator causing the gauges to not work, I found out yesterday the speedometer doesn't work because of that switch in the back of the boat is flipped up instead of down. (face palm) but the tach doesn't work period, whether I'm running at 700 rpms or 5000 rpms that needle doesn't budge one bit.
 
(Testing Tachometer With Water Cooled Regulator/Rectifier)
(J. Reeves)

A quick check is to simply plug in a another new tachometer as a piece of test equipment. If the new tach works properly and the old tach didn't, obviously the old tach is faulty.... but usually boaters don't carry around a spare tach (see below).

A faulty rectifier wouldn't damage the tachometer, the tachometer simply wouldn't work. This is due to the fact that the tachometer operates off of the charging system and the rectifier converts AC voltage to DC voltage, enabling the charging system. A faulty rectifier disables the charging system, and the tachometer simply doesn't register.

However.... those water cooled regulator/rectifiers that are used on the 35 ampere charging systems (and some others) bring into play a different type problem, and as you've probably found out, they are really a pain to troubleshoot via the proper procedure. There's an easier way.

The tachometer sending/receiving setup operates off of the gray wire at the tachometer. That same gray wire exists at the engine wiring harness which is connected to the engine electrical terminal strip. You'll see that there is a gray wire leading from the regulator/rectifier to that terminal strip, and that there is another gray wire attached to it. That other gray wire is the wire leading to the tachometer which is the one you're looking for.

NOTE: For the later models that DO NOT incorporate a wiring terminal strip, splicing into the "Yellow Wire" mentioned will be necessary.


Normally the Gray wire leading from the tachometer is attached at the terminal strip to another Gray wire which leads from the water cooled voltage regulator/rectifier...... remove the gray wire that leads to the tachometer. Now, find the two (2) yellow wires leading from the stator to that terminal strip. Hopefully one of them is either yellow/gray or is connected to a yellow/gray wire at the terminal strip. If so, connect the gray wire you removed previously to that yellow/gray terminal. Start the engine and check the tachometers operation, and if the tachometer operates as it should, then the regulator/rectifier is faulty and will require replacing. If the tachometer is still faulty, replace the tachometer.

If neither of the yellow wires from the stator is yellow/gray, and neither is attached to a yellow/gray wire, then attach that gray tachometer wire to either yellow stator wire, then the other yellow wire, checking the tachometer operation on both connections.

I've found this method to be a quick and efficient way of finding out which component is faulty.... the tachometer or the regulator/rectifier. It sounds drawn out but really only takes a very short time to run through. If the water cooled regulator/rectifier proves to be faulty, don't put off replacing it as they have been known to catch on fire with disastrous consequences.

Thousands of parts in my remaining stock. Not able to list them all. Let me know what you need and I'll look it up for you. Visit my eBay auction at:

http://shop.ebay.com/Joe_OMC32/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1
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