Kendall:
Sounds to me like you are doing a bang up job of tracking this
down. 290mA is
too much, so I would say your alternator has a problem. Pull it from the
car and
take it to an auto electric shop for testing. Tell them what you found.
Testing is
free at every auto electric shop I have ever been to.
You can have them rebuild it, or get them to sell you a
replacement.
Cheers,
Vance
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-6pack@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-6pack@autox.team.net] On
Behalf Of Kendall Larsen
Sent: August 21, 2005 2:34 PM
To: 6pack List
Subject: Trickle Discharger
Hey Team,
I'm trying to track down an electrical gremlin, maybe one of you can
help me
out. The battery goes dead on my 1974 1/2 TR6 if I don't drive it
everyday.
I measured the current at the negative battery post with the ignition
switch
off and I saw 320mA. (That's 4 Watts yikes!)
Ok, so the current is flowing somewhere, I pulled all the fuses at the
fuse
block and still saw 320mA of current flowing with the key off. Took a
look at
whats connected directly to the battery, looks like starter, headlights
switch,
and alternator.
I disconnected the alternator plugs. And the current draw with the key
off
dropped to 6mA. I reconnected the plug with the large brown wire and the
small
brown/yellow. And the current bumped up to 9mA. There is another brown
wire
that is smaller that has it's own connection -- when I connect this
smaller
brown wire by itself the current jumps back up to around 290mA!
When the key is turned to the "on" position the "IGN" light glows
brightly.
When the car starts up, the light goes out as expected. Running voltage
is
14.0V
Is this smaller wire that goes into the alternator by itself the
"sensing"
input for the regulator? Possibly a damaged regulator in the alt?
Everything
seems to be running normally, except for the discharge current with the
battery
off.
I left my headlights on all day at work recently, and had to jump start
the car
to get home. Maybe I messed something up recharging the dead battery
from the
alternator?
Any other tests to suggest?
Kendall
San Clemente, CA
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