Electrical problems

I recently replaced the starter on my 96 Mercruiser 5.7. The first time I tried to start it I got a click... and then nothing. I presumed I must have mis-wired so I changed what I thought was wrong and the engine fired right up. Except I noticed that the volt meter which normally reads about 14 was now reading less than 12 and when I rev the engine the gauge goes down instead of up. Also, the choke is not opening up the way it used to. It opens a little initially and then slowly closes until the engine chokes out. When I run 12 volts directly to the choke lead it opens just fine.

Everything was fine before I changed the starter so I presume that's where my problem started. Anyone have any ideas what I did wrong?

Re: Electrical problems

You wired it wrong. The choke is fed off the starter. Do a search here for wire diagrams for a 5.7. Saw one yesterday. Your click might be another problem.

Re: Electrical problems

Found a diagram for a 87 350. Looks similar to mine. Shows ORANGE wire running directly to alternator. Thats the one I had wrong when I first wired it. Had that wire connected to the same lead as the REDs. Now that I see the diagram I suspect that may not have been a good thing. What's the damage?

Re: Electrical problems

Don't remember an orange wire. Run it and see if its ok. You'll find out then.

Re: Electrical problems

I have run it since I re-wired. As I said, it starts right up and runs for a few minutes but the voltmeter reads less than 12 at idle and moves down when I rev the engine. Eventually the choke slowly closes and chokes out the engine. I have attached the wiring diagram of the 86 350 that looks very similar to mine. This shows the ORANGE wire direct to the alternator. I initially attached that wire to the same terminal that the RED wires are attached to. That's when I got only a click. When I moved the ORANGE wire to the other large terminal the engine started right up but then I had the problems with the volt meter and the choke. Did I damage the alternator? If so could it be just a diode that I can replace or do I have to replace the entire alternator?