I have a 1989, Merc. 3.0, 4 cyl I/O that I lent to a friend to use for
the day. He brought it back shot, and since I wasn't there I
unfortunately can't give any more info. than he relayed/what I
observed. When the battery was hooked-up it got hot at the terminals,
but he took it out/ran it anyway. While running it the alernator frame
(mando) came apart, and the bolts holding it together slipped out,
sheering off the fins as it spun. The boat died so he was towed. I had
the alernator re-built, put in a new battery, and reinstalled the
alternator. All the wires are hooked up properly, as are the battery
connections. Now, when I start the boat and run it, the alternator
starts smelling, and the terminals start getting hot. I was very
careful to only do this for a few seconds, as I wanted to test
everything out, and make sure I wasn't toasting the alternator. I
checked the wiring, and everything appeared ok, but there was a loose
wire in the key switch, which I re-tighted (it's a bolt-on). It's
curious becuase it only does it when it's running/cranking, not when I
just have the key clicked on in the first position. To top it all off,
the shaft from the engine that turns the belt for the alternator/water
pump isn't spinning when the engine is running now, and it looks like
there's oil in the bilge - could he have blown the engine and/or drive
shaft too? I used the boat a few times earlier this season myself, and
didn't have any problems... Any help/ideas are greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks.