175 Black Max voltage regulator hookup

[fofiveoh]

Hi all,<br /><br />I have finished repairing the damage my "mechanic" did to my '88 175 Black Max. (I had brought it to him because the oil injection alarm stayed on after the motor started. He said it was just the alarm module, and it burned two pistons while test running it in his shop after some carb and elecrical "maintenance". It turns out that the alarm was OK, the crankshaft gear was stripped.)<br /><br />During his other "maintenance", he removed a few elecrical boxes he said I didn't need. I think the voltage regulator was one of them. I asked him about this and he said mine didn't work anyway (I actually believe him here, as I had noticed my fish finder shutting down a few times due to voltage overload.)<br /><br />A talked to a couple folks and they said I would fry my battery without it. Well, when I installed the powerhead and fired it up, I put a meter on the battery while running and it is reading about 16V at idle, not sure what is it when the motor revs up.<br /><br />I know there was at least one "box", possibly two, on top of my motor right behind the flywheel. Was this the regulator? I know the rectifier is still there, its located on the ignition plate next to the starter solenoid. <br /><br />I have no idea how to hook a new regulator back up. And is there any way to avoid the $130 and up price of a new one?<br /><br />There is also a pink wire that extends from the harness, and seems to be the length that reaches the top of the motor. I am guessing it plugged into the regulator or possibly something else that was mounted up there.<br /><br />BTW, my serial number is OB349499.<br /><br />Thanks everyone. this site has helped me out tremendously during my first outboard rebuild.<br /><br />Rich

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: 175 Black Max voltage regulator hookup

Unless someone added one, you don't have a regulator on that engine. The boxes he removed are probably the high speed spark advance module and the idle stablizer. Some people remove them and some don't. IMOHO the engineers built that engine with them for a reason. No pink wires. Could it be a faded red wire with a while trace?

 

[dingbat]

Re: 175 Black Max voltage regulator hookup

The VR on mine is mounted in the battery compartment and is connected to the rectifier by a red 10 gage wire.

 

[KCLOST]

Re: 175 Black Max voltage regulator hookup

The voltage regulator on that engine mounts at the top of the block behind the flywheel. There is another larger box up there, but I can't for the life of me remember what it's for, I'll have to check that out and get back with you, I do remember that it has three wires going to it. <br /><br />Anyway back to the vr, it has two studs for which a red and yellow wire will go to the rectifier. The rectifier has three connections.. The red wire goes on the rectifier far left connection, yellow goes on far right connection...<br /><br />The pink wire as you say (mine's a hot pink color) comes from the main wiring harness. My engine has the wire going to what appears to be a small inline fuse of some kind, where the wire changes to a tan color and goes to the alarm module on the port side of the engine..

 

[ronmold]

Re: 175 Black Max voltage regulator hookup

Don't buy a Merc regulator, the design is poor. Get replacement rec/reg #CDI 194-5279 from seilermarine.com This will replace the regulator AND the rectifier and work much better.<br />You must find a place to mount it where it can bolt to the block for heat transfer. The pink wire went to the oil alarm box and gets 12v+ w/ the key on. The other 3 wire box behind the flywheel is the idle stabilizer. Not required but sure smooths out the idle speed. Also, get a different mechanic, I gave up on the Yellow Pages and found a better (and cheaper) one in the mirror.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: 175 Black Max voltage regulator hookup

I'm not sure about your motor [I have a pr of '95 150's] and they each have have TWO 20 A VR's mounted below a plate on the aft end of the engine. The old design VR's weren't too hot, but the current design is fine [you can't buy the old number, unless a dealer has old stock]. A parts list and/or shop manual for your motor should tell the whole story.

 

[fofiveoh]

Re: 175 Black Max voltage regulator hookup

Originally posted by WildeOne:<br /> I'm not sure about your motor [I have a pr of '95 150's] and they each have have TWO 20 A VR's mounted below a plate on the aft end of the engine. The old design VR's weren't too hot, but the current design is fine [you can't buy the old number, unless a dealer has old stock]. A parts list and/or shop manual for your motor should tell the whole story.

 

[fofiveoh]

Re: 175 Black Max voltage regulator hookup

Originally posted by DasBoot:<br /> Don't buy a Merc regulator, the design is poor. Get replacement rec/reg #CDI 194-5279 from seilermarine.com This will replace the regulator AND the rectifier and work much better.<br />You must find a place to mount it where it can bolt to the block for heat transfer. The pink wire went to the oil alarm box and gets 12v+ w/ the key on. The other 3 wire box behind the flywheel is the idle stabilizer. Not required but sure smooths out the idle speed. Also, get a different mechanic, I gave up on the Yellow Pages and found a better (and cheaper) one in the mirror.

Thanks guys for the help. If I replace it I will get the seilermarine one. The truth is I have test run it a couple times now, and I think the voltage is going to be fine as it is. Its a fishing boat and doesn't get run for too awful long at a time.<br /><br />I normally do all of my own wrenching, I just happened to use this guy this one time, and it ended up causing me to have to learn how to rebuild a powerhead. <br /><br />Rich