MCM 5.0 Litre Alternator
 

Hello all, My alternator got fried this weekend, due to some of my stupidity. I ordered a brand new Mercruiser alternator P/N 12449. As I was taking the old one off I noticed that the two small wires from the voltage regulator- the purple and red wires were taped up with electrical tape. ???? I bought this boat used, as it orginally came with a 4.3. Everything else works fine, and has worked fine, but the only thing I have not checked was the electric choke.
Any Ideas why these 2 wires were not connected? If I reconnect them, will it cause any damage to other componets? This has me mystified, since these tell the alternator when to charge and when not to charge, and run the gauges and choke, from what I can tell from the wiring diagrams I have.
Thanks again for the help!
wesleyh

Someone probably upgraded to a one wire alt in the past. If you ordereed a merc unit you will have to connect these and grond the new one.

Thanks Kennyo, that may be the case. The alternator I am replacing has the same Mercury part number as the one I am replacing. Still got me kinda confused. They are identical, same wire connections, the purple and red wires and the Orange and Black.

Thanks Guys, I installed the alternator this afternoon, and went ahead and connected these two wires. No problems, and the electric choke works now! I am thinking that someone may have disconnected these in the past to disconnect the electric choke.
Thanks for your help, kennyo!