Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

[steverino]

I have a 2001 Mercury 9.9 four-stroke manual start that comes from the factory with a 6 amp alternator. I would like to hook up the alternator to my deep-cycle battery, so that it will charge it up. Mercury sells a wire for about $ 30, but I would prefer to use my own wire for free. How do I hook it up? Under the cowling there are four wires; two green wires and two green wires with white stripes. What are these four wires used for? Thank you for your help.

 

[steverino]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

Are there any Mercury mechanics that can answer my question? Thank you.

 

[JB]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

HiHo, Steverino. <br /><br />Sorry, I don't have a book on your Merc, but I think you should. If you want to use your own wire, free, try using your library's Merc manual, free.<br /><br />Meanwhile , one of our Mercsperts should show up here sooner or later.<br /><br />Good luck.<br /><br />Red sky at night. . .<br />JB

 

[steverino]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

J.B. I have the most recent Clymer manual but there is no mention of the wiring on my exact motor. I must have a new wiring system that just came out.

 

[ehenry]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

Hail ODDD1 or Schematic ! ! I bet between them they'll know what they are used for.

 

[ODDD1]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

Ya hey I just got here...we got SNOW this weekend, so me an my Artic Cat have been out flattening as much of it as possible!<br /> green wires are AC wires,you need to hook these to a rectifier to make DC to put in your battery....I dont think your motor comes with a rectifier either....

 

[steverino]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

Thanks ODD1. I was led to believe that this motor doesn't need a rectifier. That the rectifier is part of the control box where the wires come out of. Correct? This motor has a powerhead made by Yamaha in Japan. So, do I hook one of the green wires to the positive terminal on my deep-cycle battery? What about the negative terminal of the battery? Is that grounded to the engine block? Any idea what the green wires with white stripes are used for? I can't believe that Mercury doesn't include this information with a new motor. Their customer service over the phone always tells you the same thing; Take your motor to an authorized Mercury dealership. That isn't my definition of customer service. Why should I have to pay big money for something that I can do myself. Only problem is that Mercury won't give any information.

 

[DJ]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

steverino,<br /><br />I think what folks are politely trying to tell you is to pry that $30.00 out of your wallet and buy the wire. Obviously, there is something special about it.

 

[ODDD1]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

Steverino, careful where you toss your jabs...I am "an Authorized Mercury Dealership" and I have spent alot of time, money and effort to be the BEST technitian I can be....your dealership serves a valueable function in the sceme of things, and you should avail yourself of its services...which of course come with a fee...nothin good is cheap....

 

[steverino]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

Say ODDD1. I didn't mean to offend you. I have nothing against Authorized Mercury Marine Dealerships. I did make one mistake however; I got a good price on this motor from West Marine, so I bought it there. Of course West Marine doesn't have a service department, so that may prove to be an expensive mistake. And the West Marine sales clerks don't seem to know the answer to the simplest outboard question. Anyway, the part that I need to buy is Part Number 856558A2. I called three different marine dealerships to get comparative prices and guess what? Each and every dealership quoted me a price of $ 28.35. I thought independently owned and operated dealerships were supposed to set there own prices in the free trade US of A. Do you think that this is price fixing on the part of Mercury Marine?

 

[DJ]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

Nope, I would suggest that price is "Manufacturers Suggested Retail"-a government mandate. <br /><br />Did you notice that the engine you bought is the same price in every West Marine Store-is that price fixing?

 

[steverino]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

Hi djohns19. There is one slight difference. Mercury Marine is a "manufacturer". West Marine is a "retailer". If you check the price of a quart of Quaker State 10W30 at Wall Mart, K-mart and Shopko the price will be different at all three stores. In other works, Quaker State does not set a retail price.

 

[petryshyn]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

Holy Moly!<br /><br />Gotta go With ODDD1 on this one. Green and green/white are the lighting coil (a/c) leads in the Yamaha manual for 2002. The green is singled out for the tach. Run the engine and check for a/c voltage from lead to lead to verify this.<br />The harness you get probably has four small diodes within its jacket(just guessing). <br /><br />I've never seen your engine, so I'm only guessing.....

 

[steverino]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

Thanks schematic. I never considered the old four small diodes in the jacket trick. Well, that answers my question. And, explains the higher price for the "extension cord". $ 28.35 seemed a little high for a small exstension cord, but hey, if there are four small diode in there that would explain it. I'm glad I didn't try to fabricate something on my own and end up frying the electronics. But really, you pay $ 2,000 for an outboard motor, you think Mercury Marine would include the extension cord to hook it up to your battery. Say, I saw on another site that the head of Mercury Marine hates Yamaha and that since OMC's demise that Yamaha is Mercury's next target. So, dah, why do Mercury four-strokes use Yamaha powerheads?

 

[petryshyn]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

I would still meter it out just to be sure...<br />Does your user manual list the cable and separate rectifier as accessories? If so, the diode in jacket trick may be turfed...

 

[steverino]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

Hi schematic. First off the owner's manual say nothing about the charging system for this motor. Probably because it is a manual start. Through my extensive research, I finally found the part number that I needed as previously listed. Apparently, no separate rectifier is needed for this engine. Now I know that the alternator under the flywheel makes AC electricity. And AC electricity is converted to DC electricity with either a rectifier or diode. So the rectifier or diode must already be on the motor or built into the extension cord. Gee, why does this have to be so mysterious. It's like working at Los Alamos.

 

[petryshyn]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

The lighting coils are a cheap way of giving you a source of power for night lighting. The rectifier is an added cost and is not required on most small HP applications. I know it seems like alot of coin for a cord, but it most likely uses watertight connectors which are expensive. Years ago, when I'd complain to my superviser that parts were too expensive, he'd always say..."try making one and you'll change your mind".........he was usually right!!

 

[beast of burden]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

After reading your original post I purchased one of the charging cords you were talking about. my local dealer didn't know they made such an item and ordered extras to sell. however it is just a $30 piece of wire! It has a waterproof connector and hookups for the battery and hot wire but nothing that couldn't be homemade for much less. If you have not already bought one i can give details on which motor wire to hook up to, thats the secret.

 

[steverino]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

Hi beast of burden. I sure would appreciate the hook up information. Or a scan of the information sheet that came with the wire. Thank you so much.

 

[beast of burden]

Re: Mercury 9.9 four-stroke alternator

on the same side of the motor as the shift lever there is a large bundle of wires connections zip tied together. the tie will have to be removed, there is one RED wire end with nothing attached to it (it has the female connecting end already on it). this is the positive feed to your battery, the negative can be attached to any grounding point on the motor (i used the mounting holes for the starter, metric threads). the wires can be routed thru a rubber crommet located right below the fuel hooup (it already has some wires going thru it) and connected to your battery. the factory set up has a nice water proof connector in the line as it comes out of the housing but it serves no purpose. only had my boat out once since installing so not sure how good it works, the battery seemed as strong when i left as when i got there. good luck. and by the way, boat dealers are just like car dealers, you don't get anything from them for free.