75 merc melted wires

[bowhunternw]

Looking for some advice. I have a early 2000 75 merc, and while fishing yesterday the motor began running rough and then stalled. Some smoke was coming from the engine, under the hood. There is 2 yellow wires that run from the stator to the voltage regular, and right at the splice they were apparently extremely hot because they melted and screwed up a bunch of other wires that were bunched together with them. I hope I have all the terminology right. So what went wrong? How do I diagnose the issue.

[RebelSS]

I'd say your voltage regulator failed for some reason....Unless you're really good with that engine and it's electrical system, this is one of the few things I'd take it to an experienced dealer for.  There was a Mercury warranty recall for voltage regulators in the 2000 early years range, for just such that problem. Might want to check with your Mercury dealer...

[fivebucks]

I had to replace the voltage regulator in my early 90's Mariner.  It failed due to my battery being low which I guess is a common way for it to fail.  I replaced it myself but then took it to my neighbor who has been my boat fixer guy and had him run diagnostics on my work to make sure it was all that was wrong.

[bowhunternw]

It does sound like the voltage regulator failed, which shouldn't be hard to replace. The hard part is going to be fixing the wires and tracking the yellow wires all the way back to the stator just to make sure that they only melted at the splice

[leech~~]

Wire shorts-burns is one thing I just wouldn't mess with. I would bring it to a dealer and have them track it down and test it. The next fire could be a complete melt down!

[Jmnhunter]

voltage regulator, same thing happened to my 2003 40hp. My mechanic said it was a common problem in that year range Merc's, said during his training, his instructor would tell the students that those merc's can start the water on fire!