Phil -
I don't remember what year Midget you have, but I'd bet you have an
alternator, rather than a generator. An alternator will not charge a flat
battery unless you drive for many hours at a continuous high speed. An
alternator is great for KEEPING a battery from going dead flat, but not so
good at recharging one that already is.
You can figure out how old the battery is by checking the date code. It's
cast into the top of the battery, and it will be a letter-number
combination, where the number is the last digit of the year, and the letter
represents the month (A=Jan., B=Feb, and so on, skipping "I" because it can
be confused with "1"). There's a description of how to read date codes for
most brands of batteries at
http://www.interstatebatteries.com/products/date_code.htm
You're probably going to want to get a battery charger eventually anyway,
but if money is a constraint right now, find a good auto parts or auto
electric shop (maybe even an Interstate Battery place). They generally
will test a battery for you, and if it's merely flat, charge it for a small
fee. If it is the battery, you've already got it there to exchange for a
new one. If not, you can get it charged, or buy a charger, while you're
there. Most will test a charging system for free as well, on the off
chance that there's something wrong with the alternator.
Buying a new battery, then buying a charger if the new battery dies, is not
a good idea. Running a battery dead flat tends to damage it (unless it's
specially built to take that kind of treatment). Many battery warranties
are void if you ever run the battery dead flat.
Hey, a place that sells Interstate batteries may even honor the warranty,
despite the fact that the dates aren't punched out. If you do want to go
to an Interstate dealer, there's a dealer locator on their web page:
http://www.interstatebatteries.com/ BTW, I have no connection with
Interstate, (I don't even have one of their batteries). I just like their
attitude, and they have a really helpful web page.
Anyway, I wouldn't rule anything out yet (except the starter)<grin>. Get
the battery and alternator tested. That way you can spend the money where
it will do the most good.
Chris Kotting
ckotting@iwaynet.net
On Wednesday, June 03, 1998 11:49 PM, Philip Hubbard
[SMTP:phubbard@carroll.com] wrote:
> Listers,
>
> Again, you have saved my bacon. I finally got the opportunity to try to
> jump start my Midget with the supposedly bad starter (my diagnosis).
> Hooked it up to our Honda Civic and she zoomed to life on the first turn
of
> the key. Starter yelling out, "Told ya it t'weren't me!" at the top of
its
> lungs.
>
> So this brings up a second issue. I've got another problem somewhere. I
> drove this car for about 2 hours straight on the highway last Saturday
and
> I still have no juice in the battery. This means:
>
> A. The alternator isn't working correctly to charge the battery.
> B. The battery is bad.
> C. Something I don't know about.
>
> Chances are that its C, but here's what I know.
>
> No corrosion of battery terminals
> Electrolyte =levels= are good (but maybe weak - don't know)
> Good connection to battery terminals and to ground on car
> Drive belt seems ok
>
> Now I know I could try to charge it with a battery charger to see if it
> will hold a charge, but I don't own one or have any neighbors with one.
My
> neighbors are not the fix it yourself types. I'd hate to buy a charger
to
> test it when I could put the money toward a new battery. If that ran
down
> I could plunk for a charger.
>
> I have no idea of the age of the battery - none of the little date
thingies
> are punched out. I do know that it is an Interstate brand.
>
> Any further suggestions? You've all already saved me the cost of a
starter
> so far and much thanks for that!
>
> Philip
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