1993 Johnson 150 Silverstar tach failure

[dlidyard]

I am looking for some advise. I have a 1993 Johnson 150 Silverstar outboard and the tach has quit working. The cranking battery is three years old, and probably needs to be replaced. But it seems to be taking a charge, and according to the guages, there seems to be constant 12 to 14 amps being generated when the motor is running.<br /><br />I have been told this is probably the voltage regulator. Are there other possiblities? Is this something that someone with reasonable tech skills can diagnose and correct?

 

[jegervais]

Re: 1993 Johnson 150 Silverstar tach failure

The charging system includes the stator (under the flywheel), the rectifier/regulator, the battery and associated wiring. The tach is fed from the voltage regulator, by its own seperate feed wire - gray in color. Using a digital multi-meter, try a few simple tests. Check battery voltage engine not running and engine running. Should be 12.something and 13.something. Check to see if the tach is getting voltage between purple and black wires (key on engine off) should see battery voltage. Also check for voltage between gray and black - should be 0. Start the engine and recheck for voltage between gray and black, you should see something - the correct voltmeter to use is a peak reading voltmeter, which would show about 8 volts on that last test, I don't know what the average voltmeter will read. If you have voltage between the gray and black terminals, that may indicate the tach has gone bad.<br /><br />-John

 

[dlidyard]

Re: 1993 Johnson 150 Silverstar tach failure

Thanks for the information. I have already begun diagnosing the problem. Hoping its just the tach.