This is about fitting a replacement stator on a 2004 Mercury 90 3cylinder 2stroke. The factory manual indicates the stator should be oriented as shown but the stator as fitted was rotated one position clockwise. According to the manual the slim and large rim stators were used (1994-96 75/90hp) and this orientation would be correct for the "slim" stator with the smaller bulge underneath where the loom exits but the photo shows the failed unit looks like the "large rim" stator so should be fitted as shown in the manual.
As the manual doesn't refer to more recent years it's confusing.
Mercury/Mariner were notorious for stator failures and I suspect the engines/stators were more recently made to be more robust and standardized in shape. Otherwise this one appears to have been fitted "wrong" at the factory. There are no marks on any other set of fitting holes and the stator looks slightly different to even the Large Rim stator as depicted in the manual. So fitting the replacement in exactly the same way as the failed one seems the right thing to do and what anyone would do if the manual wasn't there to confuse things!
The stator shown shorted because the battery disconnected while running but as the manual cautions of interference with the engine block causing premature stator failure I'm looking for advice on when the new stator arrives on the correct orientation?
