Hello...
My alternator died on my 86 Mercruiser 4.3L 205. I picked up a mando from my local boat shop. I'm not completely familiar with the battery/starter/alternator wiring, and the guy that sold me the alternator wasnt positive either (he has an electrician that wasn't there). So the mando has a post marked B at 1 o'clock, post E at 5 o'clock, S at 5:30, EXC at 6:30, L2 at 9 o'clock and P at 11 o'clock. We deduced the B was alternator out, E was ground, S was sensor, EXC was exciter, L2 was the warning light, and I'm not really sure what P is (although its covered by a cap).
My old alternator was a mercruiser 4 wire setup, but didnt have markings. So I have a large gauge orange wire, black, purple, and red/purple line.
I hooked the orange up to B, the black up to E, the purple to EXC and the red/purple up to S. The engine started, and after a minute or so, smoke started coming out of the alternator grille. I immediately cut the engine and the alternator was extremely hot to touch.
Did I have the wiring correct? Would that cause the alternator to smoke? I'm positive the smoke was coming from the inside of the alternator and not the belt, so its not that. Is it possible that the alternator had a problem to begin with (it was a used alternator, pulled from a boat with a cracked engine block)? I cant find a diagram of a Mando alternator anywhere, so I'm really looking for confirmation that the wiring is correct, and if so, what else that could have been. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!
My alternator died on my 86 Mercruiser 4.3L 205. I picked up a mando from my local boat shop. I'm not completely familiar with the battery/starter/alternator wiring, and the guy that sold me the alternator wasnt positive either (he has an electrician that wasn't there). So the mando has a post marked B at 1 o'clock, post E at 5 o'clock, S at 5:30, EXC at 6:30, L2 at 9 o'clock and P at 11 o'clock. We deduced the B was alternator out, E was ground, S was sensor, EXC was exciter, L2 was the warning light, and I'm not really sure what P is (although its covered by a cap).
My old alternator was a mercruiser 4 wire setup, but didnt have markings. So I have a large gauge orange wire, black, purple, and red/purple line.
I hooked the orange up to B, the black up to E, the purple to EXC and the red/purple up to S. The engine started, and after a minute or so, smoke started coming out of the alternator grille. I immediately cut the engine and the alternator was extremely hot to touch.
Did I have the wiring correct? Would that cause the alternator to smoke? I'm positive the smoke was coming from the inside of the alternator and not the belt, so its not that. Is it possible that the alternator had a problem to begin with (it was a used alternator, pulled from a boat with a cracked engine block)? I cant find a diagram of a Mando alternator anywhere, so I'm really looking for confirmation that the wiring is correct, and if so, what else that could have been. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!
