88 mercury 80hp 3 cylinder not charging

[WahooJeff]

Hello all. New forum member. Just picked up an 88 Wahoo 16 dual console from a friend. Had the motor running yesterday and sounds like it runs great. I checked for charging voltage while running and only got 11.6. Tried revving the motor a bit, no change.
Waiting for manuals from previous owner to start digging into to see whether it could be a stator issue or rectifier. The motor serial number is b372970.
My question is, are these motors prone to stator failure? When googling the issue, on another forum someone said the stators are a weak point in these motors? But I only saw that said once. Is that true? Hoping for the rectifier to be the issue as a rectifier is quite a bit cheaper, but whatever it is, it is.
My other question is, I see in the parts diagram, there’s a pickup coil under the stator. I assume the stator is just for charging and the pickup coil is for spark, and tach?
Thanks all for any advice.

 

[racerone]

No the stator also provides input for ignition.-----Do an ohm test on stator battery charging windings , the yellow wires I believe.

 

[WahooJeff]

Thanks for the reply. Looks like across the two yellow wires should be around .3 of an ohm. And no continuity to ground as it would be shorted to ground. Might be a little busy the next couple days, but I’ll try to get to testing it and I’ll post back.
Is there any other common issues with these motors? Are they decent motors? It seems the 80 isn’t as common as the 70 and 90.
Thank you again

 

[Chris1956]

Gee, you can always disconnect the stator rom the rectifier and start the engine and put a voltmeter on the stator wires. Look for ac voltage.

Stators were always tougher than rectifiers. in my experience.

 

[racerone]

??----It was the same parts for many years.----Only a few years with the 80 HP decal.-----Marketing 101 in my opinion.

 

[WahooJeff]

??----It was the same parts for many years.----Only a few years with the 80 HP decal.-----Marketing 101 in my opinion.

So were the 70, 80, and 90 horse models all the same? Different displacements at least? Or changes to the carbs and ignition tuning to get different hp ratings?

 

[racerone]

Same parts as clearly stated.----Same displacement.-----Minor changes and decals !

 

[saltchuckmatt]

Thanks for the reply. Looks like across the two yellow wires should be around .3 of an ohm. And no continuity to ground as it would be shorted to ground. Might be a little busy the next couple days, but I’ll try to get to testing it and I’ll post back.
Is there any other common issues with these motors? Are they decent motors? It seems the 80 isn’t as common as the 70 and 90.
Thank you again

Rectifier is quicker and easier to test. I would start there.

 

[QBhoy]

Hi. Did you take the reading using a meter from a dash gauge ? Or across the battery or from engine output ? The first option might not be too trustworthy perhaps.
Don’t suppose anyone has tried to jump start her, using jumper cables attached to a running car or similar ? That usually doesn’t end well.

 

[saltchuckmatt]

Hello all. New forum member. Just picked up an 88 Wahoo 16 dual console from a friend. Had the motor running yesterday and sounds like it runs great. I checked for charging voltage while running and only got 11.6. Tried revving the motor a bit, no change.
Waiting for manuals from previous owner to start digging into to see whether it could be a stator issue or rectifier. The motor serial number is b372970.
My question is, are these motors prone to stator failure? When googling the issue, on another forum someone said the stators are a weak point in these motors? But I only saw that said once. Is that true? Hoping for the rectifier to be the issue as a rectifier is quite a bit cheaper, but whatever it is, it is.
My other question is, I see in the parts diagram, there’s a pickup coil under the stator. I assume the stator is just for charging and the pickup coil is for spark, and tach?
Thanks all for any advice.

I think I had that same boat. The drainage holes between the seats is ridiculous.

If you got water in it it took forever to get it out.

Is yours like that?

 

[WahooJeff]

Hi. Did you take the reading using a meter from a dash gauge ? Or across the battery or from engine output ? The first option might not be too trustworthy perhaps.
Don’t suppose anyone has tried to jump start her, using jumper cables attached to a running car or similar ? That usually doesn’t end well.

No the boat doesn’t have a voltmeter gauge, but there is an open gauge spot, so I’m planning to add one. I took the reading across the battery. I didn’t have my better meter with me at the time though, so I am going to retest with my better fluke meter, but I expect it to still read under 12. As for jump starting, I guess it’s possible. I did not, but I’m sure it’s coulda happened at some point in its life.

 

[WahooJeff]

I think I had that same boat. The drainage holes between the seats is ridiculous.

If you got water in it it took forever to get it out.

Is yours like that?

I really only got it a couple days ago, and have not had it on the water yet. But I could see what you mean. I have one drainage hole up at the front, there might be one at the base of the back seat hump and one at the back bin just the before the outboard channel. And I’ve really only just started looking inside all the hull hatches, found a bilge pump inside the hull below the motor channel area that looks like it’s laying on its side and can’t tell if it’s actually works. I’ve also read quite a few posts about fuel tanks going on these, but I don’t smell any fuel inside the hatches and at the back of the bilge looks fairly clean dry. I guess it could still start leaking in the future but for now, I’m pretty confident it’s not.

 

[saltchuckmatt]

I really only got it a couple days ago, and have not had it on the water yet. But I could see what you mean. I have one drainage hole up at the front, there might be one at the base of the back seat hump and one at the back bin just the before the outboard channel. And I’ve really only just started looking inside all the hull hatches, found a bilge pump inside the hull below the motor channel area that looks like it’s laying on its side and can’t tell if it’s actually works. I’ve also read quite a few posts about fuel tanks going on these, but I don’t smell any fuel inside the hatches and at the back of the bilge looks fairly clean dry. I guess it could still start leaking in the future but for now, I’m pretty confident it’s not.

That drain hole is like smaller than your finger so if you get a lot of rain or take water over the bow it fills up pretty fast. Definitely a poor design. Mine was plugged with sand.

Yes, it all trailed back to a pump in the back.

I think I heard whaler bought them and discontinued the line.

 

[WahooJeff]

That drain hole is like smaller than your finger so if you get a lot of rain or take water over the bow it fills up pretty fast. Definitely a poor design. Mine was plugged with sand.

Yes, it all trailed back to a pump in the back.

I think I heard whaler bought them and discontinued the line.

I guess I’ll find out how it does once I’m out there.
Yea I had that they were bought by the company that owned whaler and then discontinued them as well.

 

[WahooJeff]

Just ending this thread with my results. Ohmed out the stator at 0.5, no continuity to ground. Did a check of the regulator, which proved to be defective. Replaced the regulator, all is well now, charging at 13.5-13.8
Thanks all for the help.

 

[BWR1953]

Just ending this thread with my results. Ohmed out the stator at 0.5, no continuity to ground. Did a check of the regulator, which proved to be defective. Replaced the regulator, all is well now, charging at 13.5-13.8
Thanks all for the help.

Good stuff!

Now all ya have to do is put on a new sticker and magically gain an additional 10 horsepower!