My trusted and trouble-free 15-year old Mercury 115 HP 2-stroke packed up on me for the first time. After a great day at sea, and a long rest on a sunny sand reef, there was just no way to re-start the engine. Not the slightest pop. At first, I thought I had flooded it (this can happen rather easily on a 2-stroke carburetor engine that spent an afternoon tilted up in the sun), but no, it wasn't flooded. I practically exhausted the battery, and finally opted for a tow home.
Next day, with a fresh battery, the thing still wouldn't start. I checked for spark, and unfortunately, the ignition was dead as a doornail, on all four cylinders. I pulled the boat out of the water, and hoped for a frayed wire somewhere, but feared a more substantial issue under the flywheel. Not having a flywheel puller, I brought the boat to the shop (first time in my life!). They diagnosed a dead stator, and as I write, I'm waiting for the new part to arrive (and losing a few wonderful sunny days, but obviously boats never conk out in the dead of winter).
My question is: how did the stator fry? I would have thought that these things were kinda resistant and trouble-free for the life of the engine. Thinking it over however, I remember that a couple of years ago, my boat would go dead while running, with no more action at the key. Shake a few wires here and there, and it would start up again. I then found that there were some loose grounds. I re-tightened them, and everything returned to normal. However, I always feared that by running with an open circuit, even if it was only a matter of a few seconds while the engine bogged down, may have fried my stator windings (or some diodes which may happen to be in there somewhere).
Could that be the explanation to my woes? Anybody experienced a similar problem?
Next day, with a fresh battery, the thing still wouldn't start. I checked for spark, and unfortunately, the ignition was dead as a doornail, on all four cylinders. I pulled the boat out of the water, and hoped for a frayed wire somewhere, but feared a more substantial issue under the flywheel. Not having a flywheel puller, I brought the boat to the shop (first time in my life!). They diagnosed a dead stator, and as I write, I'm waiting for the new part to arrive (and losing a few wonderful sunny days, but obviously boats never conk out in the dead of winter).
My question is: how did the stator fry? I would have thought that these things were kinda resistant and trouble-free for the life of the engine. Thinking it over however, I remember that a couple of years ago, my boat would go dead while running, with no more action at the key. Shake a few wires here and there, and it would start up again. I then found that there were some loose grounds. I re-tightened them, and everything returned to normal. However, I always feared that by running with an open circuit, even if it was only a matter of a few seconds while the engine bogged down, may have fried my stator windings (or some diodes which may happen to be in there somewhere).
Could that be the explanation to my woes? Anybody experienced a similar problem?