Hi all - I snuck away in September when I went overseas on business, but
here I come crawling back.
I have an early '79 that I bought in June. I've put about 4500 miles on
it since then, and am really enjoying it.
However, when I tried to start it one day last week, the battery was too
low to get her going. I put the battery on charge for the day. I took
it off the cahrger that night but didn't get back to the car until this
afternoon. I put a voltmeter on the battery, and the results were
ambiguous. The voltage seemed slightly higher when the engine was
running, but didn't seem to get above 13.5.
The little red light on the dash labeled "ignition" hasn't worked since
I've owned the car. This is one of those thing I figure I'd get around
to. I assume it is really a charging circuit light. While looking for
a charging circuit problem, I found a broken wire going into the
alternater (the one closest to the engine - the one with the smallest
spade connector). I soldered it up, thinking this was my whole problem,
but the voltage doesn't seem to change with the engine running.
However, now the little red light comes on when I turn the key on, and
goes out (fades, doesn't cut off) shortly after I start the car. What
is this light really? If this light comes on with the key and goes out
shortly after the engine starts, what does this mean? I tend to trust
the voltmeter, but I'd like to know what's going on.
Thanks in advance,
mark Gardner
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