3.7 mercruiser weak spark?

[ericcarr2000]

Ok, the "tech" from the marina just called me and told me that the reason my motor was runnin poorly, sluggish with a strong odor of gas was because my stator on the inside of the alternator was bad. The alternator is only 10 hours old. My experience with automobile engines is that the darn alternator does NOT have anything to do with spark. CORRECT me if Im wrong, but, isnt that what the distributor was for? I can understand that the thing is getting poor spark and everything, but come on.....THE ALTERNATOR......
Is he correct, oh yeah, and then he told me it was gonna be almost $1200.00 to fix...
Please correct me if im wrong in this assumption...

 

[TiredoleBoy]

Re: 3.7 mercruiser weak spark?

Ok, the "tech" from the marina just called me and told me that the reason my motor was runnin poorly, sluggish with a strong odor of gas was because my stator on the inside of the alternator was bad. The alternator is only 10 hours old. My experience with automobile engines is that the darn alternator does NOT have anything to do with spark. CORRECT me if Im wrong, but, isnt that what the distributor was for? I can understand that the thing is getting poor spark and everything, but come on.....THE ALTERNATOR......
Is he correct, oh yeah, and then he told me it was gonna be almost $1200.00 to fix...
Please correct me if im wrong in this assumption...

If the boat starts and has a charge at the battery the alt is doing its job. BUT.. If the alternator was not working correctly it could cause for a weak electrical system and there fore cause poor sparking when running. But you would notice it typically by watching your gauges.
Yep it could cost that much for the parts. The regulator is probably the old water cooled system on the side of the engine with the stator on the front crank pulley. I was quoted 600 bucks for a new regulator. I opted to install a conversion kit myself for a fraction of that cost. Problem with replacing the older style parts are they seem to fizzle out every few years or so and require replacement again.

 

[ericcarr2000]

Re: 3.7 mercruiser weak spark?

But the bottom line is that the darn alternator has absolutely nothing to do with weak spark when the engine turns over just fine...

 

[TiredoleBoy]

Re: 3.7 mercruiser weak spark?

But the bottom line is that the darn alternator has absolutely nothing to do with weak spark when the engine turns over just fine...

As I stated if it turns over fine then NO.
You are correct.

 

[ericcarr2000]

Re: 3.7 mercruiser weak spark?

If the boat starts and has a charge at the battery the alt is doing its job. BUT.. If the alternator was not working correctly it could cause for a weak electrical system and there fore cause poor sparking when running. But you would notice it typically by watching your gauges.
Yep it could cost that much for the parts. The regulator is probably the old water cooled system on the side of the engine with the stator on the front crank pulley. I was quoted 600 bucks for a new regulator. I opted to install a conversion kit myself for a fraction of that cost. Problem with replacing the older style parts are they seem to fizzle out every few years or so and require replacement again.

This is on a alternator kit I purchased which only has 10 hours on it, so there is no water cooled regulator, nor the stator on the inside of the balancer..

 

[TiredoleBoy]

Re: 3.7 mercruiser weak spark?

This is on a alternator kit I purchased which only has 10 hours on it, so there is no water cooled regulator, nor the stator on the inside of the balancer..

Then get some vaseline, cause you are being screwed.

 

[ericcarr2000]

Re: 3.7 mercruiser weak spark?

The he-- I am, im pulling it out tomorrow....