Stuart,
1. Which direction did the ampmeter go whe it went off scale??
2. do the emergency flashers work?
3. does the cubby(glove box) lamp come on?
4. did the horn honk?
5. did the courtesy lamps get dimmer as you added loads? Here I mean with
door open one lamp comes on, then open the glove box, do the lamps get
dimmer?
6. Did you notice the "$600.00" smell, that oh so nice smell of hot wires?
if the answer to 2,3& 4 above is yes but nothing else works inspect the
brown wire running from the ampmeter to the starter motor. If the meter is
off scale to the discharge side (I suspect that's where it is) disconnect
the brown/red wire from the alternator (should be a plug and it's the real
heavy wire).
I doubt it's the ignition switch because the head lamps are not fed through
the switch. THe ampmeter is possible but again not real likly because the
connection in the meter approximates a large lump of copper. The meter is
really a sensitive meter(low current) that reads the voltage drop across an
internal shunt.
To elininate the meter go to your local hardware store and get a
couple(probably a pack of 5) crimpon, male yellow spade connectors. crimp a
short piece of 14 gauge (12 is better/bigger)wire (house wire is OK) and pop
the ammeter out of the dash. pull off the two push on connectors and attach
them to the jumper you made. If the meter is bad the car should come to
life.
another place to look is the cable from the negative terminal to the
frame/block. A bad ground would let the low current lamps work but not the
higher current (head lamps, ignition etc) work.
Hope this helps a bit,
As an aside I found EVERY one of my bullet splices bad when I had my 72
apart last year, They are cheap and easy to replace
Steve
tr6@kc4sw.com
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-6pack@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-6pack@autox.team.net]On
Behalf Of Janewrite@aol.com
Sent: Monday, April 28, 2003 7:28 PM
To: 6pack@autox.team.net
Subject: Electrical problem
I'm having a few problems getting my TR6 going this spring. Tried to start
it
as per normal after storing it for the winter and after putting the battery
back in I turned the key and nothing. No lights came on the dash, no click
from the starter solenoid, nothing. I also noticed that the headlights did
not work either. In fact the only things that do work are the courtesy
lights. I tried jump starting it and still nothing. The only other thing I
noticed is that the needle on the ammeter is way off the dial. So far off I
can't even see it. Not sure when it happened or even if that would cause any
of the symptoms mentioned or not.
I double checked the battery and it's fully charged. I used Dan's electrical
manual to check the starter which turns over fine. Following his
instructions
it seems something is wrong with the power distribution and the main culprit
is probably either the ignition switch or the ammeter. I've ordered an
ignition switch which I will attempt to install once it arrives.
Unfortunately the car is stored several miles away so it's not easy to get
to
work on it. Hence I thought I'd ask the list for any other checks (and how
best to perform them) or suggestions to enable me to diagnose this as
quickly
and efficiently as possible. Bear in mind I'm no electrical expert.
Stuart Bailey
1972 TR6
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