You've gotten a lot of good and accurate advice...
However there's one thing I don't think I've seen mentioned....
It could also simply be that the battery that was in the TR originally is low
on charge, having been run down due to some poor connections and your attempts
to start the car with it. It dropped to the point where it could no longer
turn over the starter, through a less than ideal connection.
With all your fiddling you've improved the various connections, and that plus
the use of a well-charged battery from your other car, everything now works
fine.
I'd next check the level of the acid in the TR battery and top it up with
distilled water if necessary. There's usually a "full" line on the side of the
battery... but if not the fluid in each cell should at least cover the plates
you can see peering down inside with a flashlight... Be careful, fumes coming
from the battery can be flammable... and the acid is, well, acid!
Once the TR battery is topped up, put it on a trickle charger for a while, to
see if it will come back up to power and hold a charge. If you don't have a
trickle charger, well they aren't very expensive. I recommend one that has low
(2 amp?) ,medium (6 to 8 amp?) and high/momentary quick start (75 amp?) output
modes and automatically controls the output, plus has a gauge on it to show
the state of charge.
After charging, check the electrolyte level again and top up if necessary.
You'll soon know if the TR battery can be saved. If so, you're all set. If
not, now you know exactly what you need to replace.
Alan Myers
San Jose, California
amfoto1@aol.com
'62 TR4 CT17602L
www.triumphowners.com/640
-----Original Message-----
> Both batteries show 12V, which suggests to me that the TR's battery is not
> faulty. This leads me to start thinking that wherever the bad connection
> is, corrected itself a couple of times, coincidentally when I fitted the
> Volvo battery.
A battery can read 12V with no load on it and still be faulty. Meaning that
it
can't provide enough current when needed to power the load.
Or you connections might be intermittant like you state. But I would try a
new
battery or get the old one load-tested.
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