Mercury Help

[Guest]

Gang, I have a 1995 2.5L 175 XRI that is not charging. Does anybody know if this is a simple repair or should I take it to the dealer?
Thanks.

[perchjerker]

have you checked all your fuses?

[Guest]

Thanks PJ. No, where would they be on the motor? The dash is all breakers and there ok.

[Warrior1]

More than likely, the stator is bad. That will require removal of the flywheel. Best to take it in so that all of the electrical components can be checked. A dealer can do that fairly quickly and determine what the problem is.

[Guest]

Thanks. My buddy said check the rectifier/regulator first. Sound correct?

[Warrior1]

Yes sir. That is the starting point. Should have mentioned that. Could be either, rectifier or stator.

[slip_bobber]

YES, Check the rectifier/regulator first. Is the tach working? If not, this is a tell tail sign the rectifier/regulator is bad. Very common. Check the yellow wires, if they show signs of being hot make sure test the battery and that it has good connections.

[Guest]

Thanks again. I think I can do the rectifier by myself, the stater I think I would take it in for. I'll double check the tach.

[Johnboy]

My 150 Opti had a fuseable link that had to be replaced. It was pretty expensive.

[TomP.]

Johboy your Opti has an altenator not a rectifier.

[Johnboy]

I know it has a alternator. I have owned and repaired outboard motors for 40 years. A fuseable link is in the wireing harness it serves the same purpose as a fuse. It is a short lenth of wire that actully melts when the circuit is overloaded. Hooking up a starting battery to a Mercury OptiMax with the polarity reversed is one way to melt it in a split second.

[TomP.]

I know it has a alternator. I have owned and repaired outboard motors for 40 years. A fuseable link is in the wireing harness it serves the same purpose as a fuse. It is a short lenth of wire that actully melts when the circuit is overloaded. Hooking up a starting battery to a Mercury OptiMax with the polarity reversed is one way to melt it in a split second.


Just could not understand the correlation betwen an Opti and his motor considering they are different charging sytems.

I would expect someone with 40 years experience would know if his outboard haveing a rectifier charging system had a fuseable link.

[Johnboy]

I was merely suggesting that he look for a fuseable link. They can be difficult to locate. There is a good chance there is none in his charging system.