Hi David :
> Well, last night my son-in-law and I confirmed that the wiring under the
> bonnet was all in the right places, and we ran through the
> procedures that
> you outlined. Based on the numbers, the VR is shot.
Bummer.
> I also crawled under the dash, and found that I completely messed-up the
> wiring between the ignition and the light switch (the new one is still on
> back-order from Moss - ugh). So, I made the corrections and since I was
> there, I put in an in-line fuse. After putting the quick
> disconnect back on
> the neg batt term, the fuse line got hot and the fuse casing got
> VERY hot,
> but the fuse didn't "blow". I assumed I had a wire gauge problem, and
> removed the in-line fuse and made correct connections to the light switch
> and the ignition.
Sounds more like either a bad connection in or near the fuse holder
(possibly between the holder and the fuse itself), or else the fuse is much
larger than the holder is designed for.
> We then held the multi-meter to the batt while
> I tried to
> start the car, and the courtesy lights went dim, and Pat (son-in-law)
> actually watched the volts dive from 12+ to about nine in a matter of
> seconds. (BTW, car didn't start.)
If you measured this directly on top of the battery posts, then either the
battery is run down, the battery is bad, or the starter is. I had a similar
problem a few years back, turned out my starter was internally shorted (one
of the brush leads was tangled in the armature). In my case, it actually
melted the insulation on the battery lead !
> He also told me that the
> "field" term on the VR got very hot.
This is likely more of "the VR is shot", although it's possible it's
mis-wired or has a bad connection. Normally there is only a very small
amount of current through the field terminal when the engine is not running.
> PS: I'm going to take an automotive electronics course at our community
> college this fall.
Don't be surprised if none of it seems very applicable to LBCs !
<g>
Good Luck
Randall
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