On Fri, 3 Sep 1993, Pat Vilbrandt wrote:
> Yes, car batteries do occasionally suffer from internal shorts ...
> ... But this usually
> only affects one cell, and the symptom is usually just an almost dead
> battery...
> It usually doesn't affect the running of the engine
Dear Pat,
This is what has kept me wondering about this. While trying to figure the
problem out, I am pretty sure I disconnected the positive lead from the
battery while the car was running, and it kept running. So an open
circuit in the battery would not stall the car if it was running when the
open circuit occurred. I did not try it, for fear of frying something,
but I assume removing the positive lead from the battery and shorting it
to ground would stop the engine. Tentatively, I figure the equivalent
happened inside the battery. But I cannot figure out why it happened
once, and then when jumped, the car would start and run. My purpose in
asking the group was to be reassured I really have the demon exorcised or
to learn if I should keep praying and burning incense, or whatever one
does.
I like cars to be either interesting and repairable, or if uninteresting,
absolutely reliable. The H**** is interesting enough, but too complex for
me to fix anything that's not obvious. Probably also too complicated for
the dealer to fix anything that is not obvious. If it acts up once or
twice more, it will be replaced, by either a new Corolla wagon (applicance
car) or perhaps by a light grey MGBGT with red upholstery like one I saw
in Westminster VT a couple of years ago.
Thanks, Ray.
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