[6pack] Battery or Starter

[Navarrette, Vance]

	Bob:

	I think a more reasonable question is "New battery or new
alternator?" The symptoms are very much in line with a weak battery, but
you don't know WHY it is weak. Did your IGN light illuminate, even
dimly?
	Make sure your alternator is plugged in tightly to your wiring
harness (Mine wasn't and my battery died. When I plugged it in, it
turned out the alternator had died from being run with no load. Arrgh.)
	Take the battery out and have it tested at an auto electric shop
(usually done for free). If it is bad, then you can replace it. But I
think the starter is lowest on your list of suspects at this time. I
vote for alternator or battery at this point.

	Vance

      Vance Navarrette
    	Cogito Ergo Zoom
    	I think, therefore I go fast

-----Original Message-----
From: 6pack-bounces+vance.navarrette=intel.com at autox.team.net
[mailto:6pack-bounces+vance.navarrette=intel.com at autox.team.net] On
Behalf Of Bob Danielson
Sent: Monday, June 02, 2008 2:09 PM
To: triumphs at autox.team.net; '6pack'
Subject: [6pack] Battery or Starter

After 10+ years of driving I was finally "stranded" today.......though I
did
manage to avoid getting put on the tow truck hook. I had just filled up
with
gas and when I went to start the car all I got was a "click click". No
attempt by the starter to turn the engine over. No amount of rocking the
car
in gear changed anything. Just click click.....sometimes fast and
sometimes
slow. My wife arrived with the nylon tow straps and give me a short pull
at
which point I dropped the clutch and it fired right up. This is when I
noticed that I had lost all of my radio stations and that the horn
sounded
very weak. I looked at the battery and noticed that the label was coming
off
and it was wet-ish on top. The battery is about 8 years old. The starter
is
2 years old. I got the car home with no problem but noticed that the
volt
gauge hovered around 13 instead of it's normal 14+ range during the
drive.
My multi-meter on the battery shows 12.72 volts with the car shut off.
Right
now it's completely dead when I turn the key. No click click even. I
tried
to jump it with my wife's car and got nothing. Checking the battery
while
turning the key has no impact on the battery reading. The alternator
also
seemed very hot to the touch but it's a pretty warm day and it was very
hot
under the hood.

Next steps? Suggestions? New battery? New starter?

Thanks
Bob