At 06:41 PM 9/8/01 -0300, Betti Ann & Preston Smith wrote:
>
>Hi!!
>
>My battery would not start my car - it grunted a couple of times and
>died. I slow charged it - all was well and the car started. Next day, as
>it had previously, the battery gave a couple of grunts and would not start
>the engine. I removed the two caps - each of which covers three
>cells. One cell was dry so i added distilled water and slow charged it
>again. I have nothing to check the specific gravity but my digital meter
>shows 13.08 v across the posts.
>
>Does this reading signify a good battery (or bad) battery?
Preston,
You don't say what kind of car it is.
1. If it is a late model car, with the small high speed reduction gear starter
and the attached solenoid, it could be the solenoid. I've worked on many
cars, that when you try to start them, you just get a click as the solenoid
engages, but the starter doesn't spin.
a. So turn on you head lights and try to honk you horn. If the lights
don't go out, the battery is good an the problem is most likely you
solenoid.
b. There are several ways of fixing this:
i. Take it to a shop - they will usually tell you you need a new
starter.
The repair will normally cost around $350. You get a new solenoid
with the new starter.
ii. Purchase an aftermarket starter /w solenoid and do it yourself.
Typically this will run about $100.
iii. Talk the solenoid off the car and look at the contacts. You will
probably see one is burned so deeply that when the contact trys
to close between the contacts, it can touch the burned contact.
Some car vendors sell contact kits, if your car maker doesn't pull
the contacts out and take them to a local auto electric shop. They
stock all kinds of contacts and can usually match them.
Typically this repair takes about 1 to 2 hours and costs between
$10 and $25.
2. You mentioned putting you volt meter on the battery. The battery should
have about 12 - 12.5V without the engine running. Put the voltmeter
across the battery and let the reading stabilize. Then have someone try
and start the car. While they are doing that, watch the reading on the
meter. If it drops below 10V, the car usually will NOT start and this
is an indication of weak battery. Either because the battery is dying
or it is not being charged.
Once the car starts, check the meter again. The meter should read between
13.5 and 14.5V if the charging system is working. If not, then the problem
is either with the regulator or the alt/generator.
3. After the above tests, it's time to look at the wires, etc. memtioned
by others.
4. Talk to your local auto parts stores. Most offer a free chargin system
check. They can tell you if the battery or alt/gen. or reg. is good or
bad.
Hope this helps.
John
John T. Blair WA4OHZ email: jblair@exis.net
Va. Beach, Va Phone: (757) 495-8229
48 TR1800 48 #4 Midget 65 Morgan 4/4 Series V
75 Bricklin SV1 77 Spitfire 71 Saab Sonett III
65 Rambler Classic
Morgan: www.team.net/www/morgan
Bricklin: www.bricklin.org
///
/// shop-talk@autox.team.net mailing list
/// To unsubscribe send a plain text message to majordomo@autox.team.net
/// with nothing in it but
///
/// unsubscribe shop-talk
///
///
|