1986 evinrude 175 hp charging problem

[sweetmarie]

Hello, I own a 1986 175 hp Evinrude since 1997. I'm sure that the charging unit hasn't worked since I bought it. I thought at first that the battery was faulty, bought a new one. To make a long story short, this summer I had the voltage/regulator changed as the omc mechanic told me it was faulty. Still the battery will not change voltage while I'm running. He's telling me that this motor in particular has a 35 amp charging system and it's normal not to pick up the voltage while testing the battery while it's running at, let's say 35 mph. I say he's full of @&*?. In other words, when it's running, the voltage will other stay the same or decrease if I'm using an accesory (trim,lights,etc). Every month I have to remove the battery to charge it, and no, I don't have a sound system, I would never be able to support it as it is now. Any help would be greatly appreciated, and yes, I did search this topic. Otherwise the motor runs great except the tach doesn't work, that may be a key?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: 1986 evinrude 175 hp charging problem

If the tach doesn't work, the voltage regulator/rectifier is likely bad as it gets its signal from it.

 

[Seasport]

Re: 1986 evinrude 175 hp charging problem

You should be able to read at least 13 - 13.5V at your battery when running (at say more than 2000rpm) if the alternator & charging circuit is working. As upinsmoke says, your tach is driven from your rectifier/regulator but you've already replaced this. It could be that your stator windings are either open circuit or shorted to ground. Then your rectifier/regulator won't have anything to rectify & regulate (& your tach won't work).<br /><br />To test the stator, disconnect the rectifier/regulator and use an ohmmeter to measure the resistance between the two wires going from the rectifier to the stator. This should read just a few ohms. There should not be any connection (i.e. infinite ohms) between either of these wires and the engine earth.

 

[sweetmarie]

Re: 1986 evinrude 175 hp charging problem

Thanks for the reply guys, I'll work in that direction. Do I need to disconnect the wires before testing for resistance? In other words, the two yellow wires from the rectifier are each connected to two yellow wires from the stator, on a terminal strip. Thanks