Alternator advice - '85 Mercruiser 170

[Jbreen07]

I highly recommend putting a dial indicator on the new pulley, if it is not as close to perfect as you can get it time will take a toll on the mounting brackets from bad vibrations! A friend of mine learned that the hard way haha

[smokeonthewater]

Make sure and seal up that cut deck w some epoxy too

[scook]

I saw the ones that came with a pulley that you add on and have to set up with a dial gauge - the one I got runs the belt off the existing harmonic balancer. I wasn't looking forward to laying on the deck, messing with the pulley - I would have done it but really liked the simple installation of the Breezeworks kit.

Thanks Smoke - good catch. That had slipped past me - I'll do it.

[cfelton]

Hey scook,
My 170 was converted over to an external alternator before I got it. It has worked fine till yesterday when the adjusting bracket broke and the alternator fell off damaging the alt. fan. Gotta fab up a new bracket. Mine mounts on top of the front engine mount with a adjustment bracket that mounts to the motor water pump. I think years of a little vibration and metal fatigue finally broke my bracket. I bought a new marine 105 amp alternator years ago from Rare Electric out of Cherokee N.C. for 67.00 about eight years ago and its done great!

[scook]

Hey Bro' Felton,

Sorry to hear about the busted bracket - hopefully you're like me and enjoy little fab projects like that. I wonder if there's a way to work a rubber grommet in the mix somewhere to dampen the vibration? Anyway, I hope you get the old girl going soon - this is the season. Also, very happy to hear about improvements on the home front - that's the really important stuff

[cfelton]

Thanks Scook! Made up a new bracket and fixed the alternator fan. Got it back out on the river with my baby, and all ran great. Did your conversion kit work out ok?

[scook]

The conversion is working great. Haven't got many hours on it - kind of screwed up my back pulling my anchor the hard way and am taking a while to heal up. The boat's in better shape than I am right now but I'm getting better.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Originally Posted by scook

The conversion is working great. Haven't got many hours on it - kind of screwed up my back pulling my anchor the hard way and am taking a while to heal up. The boat's in better shape than I am right now but I'm getting better.

Sounds like you need an anchor ball. No need to pull the anchor, let the boat do it for you.

[scook]

Well Ferm, thank you very much for bringing up the subject

That's the REALLY stupid part of it - I have an anchor ball. We were moving a little way to the side to get to a slightly different depth (under any given conditions, the fish tend to swim more or less single file up the river). In my pea brain, I thought I'd just pull it by hand and get it done. We use anchors that have pretty long tines and it was buried in the sand real solid - so much for being smarter because you're older. It's hard to remember that I'm not 23 any more.