• The Roadster Factory Recovery Fund - Friends, as you may have heard, The Roadster Factory, a respected British Car Parts business in PA, suffered a total loss in a fire on Christmas Day. Read about it, discuss or ask questions >> HERE. The Triumph Register of America is sponsoring a fund raiser to help TRF get back on their feet. If you can help, vist >> their GoFundMe page.
  • Hey there Guest!
    If you enjoy BCF and find our forum a useful resource, if you appreciate not having ads pop up all over the place and you want to ensure we can stay online - Please consider supporting with an "optional" low-cost annual subscription.
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this UGLY banner)
Tips
Tips

Dead battery or Genny gone south?

vping

Yoda
Bronze
Country flag
Offline
Took my '63 out for a run today. It's cold and raining but I needed to do some test runs to make sure she's roadworthy for a 70 mile one way trip. I'd previously had the tank out for cleaning but have not driven the car much. It's heading up to the body shop for a makeover.

Drove about 40 miles with 2 stops and all was well. She started each time without issue. I get home, pull it into the driveway and forgot to turn off the lights. I only ran in to take a leak, and change coats. Could not have been more than two minutes. I go out, see the lights on and try to give her a start. Nothing. Dead.

Could it be that I killed the new battery in this two minutes or should I suspect the genny is just not putting out? The 40 mile drive was with lights, wipers and heater on the whole time. I'll do some diagnostics and look into it further but I thought this was odd.

Any thoughts.
 

Steve_S

Yoda
Offline
Either is equally possible. Battery could be worn out, or the charging system not working. Do either of these, as they are equally easy...

1. Charge the battery or have it tested.

2. Test the charging system's output.
 

tony barnhill

Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
Offline
Have the battery tested first.....then have the generator tested to se if it is charging the battery.
 

DrEntropy

Great Pumpkin
Platinum
Country flag
Offline
Is "nothing" like no spin, no "click" of the solenoid? That'd be REALLY odd in the short run for the house 'n back... were the lights dimmer than usual?

Normally if the generator is goin' limp the indicator light comes on. I assume all the connections are fairly new so that's out.

I'm for charging the battery first and seein' if that makes a difference. Put a meter on the terminals and rev the engine to just over 2K and ya should see 13-ish volts if the genny is in any kind of working condition. You've a three coil regulator on there too to suspect. :wink:
 

Sebring222

Senior Member
Country flag
Offline
If you did not notice the red "not charging" light on, and the generator belt didn't have a slight "squeal' from working harder temporarily to catch up, I would suspect the ground strap from the battery being loose first. It's also possible that your warning light is burned out. What is your voltmeter reading for the generator? I would suspect the generator last.

Jim D
 

David_DuBois

Jedi Warrior
Offline
Vince - If the battery is old and has at for some time without being driven, it was probably weak to start with, then driving with lights, heated and wipers on, it was not getting much of a charge compared to the drain that was being placed on it. Our TD got that way when the battery was about 7 years old. I got a battery minder and attach it whenever the car is parked in the garage - it is ten years old now and we have not had any more problems with it. Charge the battery up, then start the car and with it at a fast idle, you should read about 14.5 volts at the battery. If you read that, the generator is good. Let the battery sit for several hours to overnight and read the voltage across it with the engine off. A reading of 12.7 to 13 volts says the battery is good.
Cheers,
 
OP
vping

vping

Yoda
Bronze
Country flag
Offline
I'm going to take care of this stuff today but curious, how do you test a regulator? The one in the car was from a parts lot I had so I put it in. Prior to this the car was running on a homemade system that was a wiring mess. It's now back up to stock 1963 specs.
 

DrEntropy

Great Pumpkin
Platinum
Country flag
Offline
Vince, the first "booklet" here in the upper left.
 
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
Busted knuckles TR2/3/3A Lead sled, spiral shank nails and dead battery box’s. Triumph 13
2billydavies TR2/3/3A dead battery, generator, belt Triumph 13
2billydavies TR2/3/3A dead battery... until i disconnect the wire from coil to distributor Triumph 10
NardisCNC DEAD Battery Question...... Spridgets 12
G DEAD BATTERY Austin Healey 4
D Car seems to have a dead battery [I no it's good] Spridgets 13
DanNagy Spitfire Jumping a dead battery on a Spit MK1 Triumph 7
Z Charging/Dead Battery Problem Spridgets 8
zimmy new,....dead battery Latest Spridgets 1
zimmy new dead battery? Spridgets 11
DerekJ Batteries Going Dead Austin Healey 9
K TR2/3/3A The Dead Pedal Triumph 3
T MGB MGB Dead Short? MG 8
petnatcar Dead Pedal Austin Healey 12
S WANTED: Healey BN1 "Smiths" Fuel Gauge (Dead or Alive) Austin Healey Classifieds 3
R How old is "dead" FORUM Navigation Questions 5
FlyingCat Spitfire Dead Starter? Triumph 18
Sopwith_Camel dead at the finish line Spridgets 10
6 Dead Circuit ARRGH! Spridgets 13
L TR6 need help on long dead TR6 Triumph 16
petnatcar DEAD PEDAL for a BT7 Austin Healey 25
T TR4/4A Flat/dead spot on the starter? Triumph 5
K TR2/3/3A Dead Petronix and rough running..... Triumph 10
M TR2/3/3A Finding top dead center Triumph 6
GTP1960 TR2/3/3A Fuel pump inertia switch vs. dead engine switch? Triumph 14
JPSmit Truck diagnostic advice needed [I suspect it is dead!]] Other Cars 7
sim Dead spark plugs ? Spridgets 52
JPSmit Sometimes I am surprised I am not dead Spridgets 15
P Turning to Top Dead Center Austin Healey 11
R dead pedal for '74 midget? Spridgets 4
RickB All 4 parking lights dead, fuses all good? Spridgets 6
dklawson Alex Moulton Dead at 92. - 12/10/12 British Motor Corp 1
D Dead Boot -- What do you know about this ? Jaguar 6
M Top Dead Center Triumph 48
L I see dead cars... Austin Healey 9
G GRRRR -- Dead in the water again!! MG 6
S Wedge TR8 starter dead spot? Triumph 26
G Gauges dead after wash Spridgets 6
davester The Prince of Darkness strikes! Dead starter MG 15
HealeyPassion Dead pedal and pedal positioning project paper Austin Healey 3
HealeyPassion Dead pedal for 5 speeds Austin Healey 5
KVH Triumph Activity Dead on Ebay Triumph 8
JPSmit Top Dead Centre Question Spridgets 24
C Dead Again... Triumph 25
T Crypt car driving in the dead of night Triumph 10
2wrench Number 1 cylinder, top dead center Triumph 51
Shealey OT: Boyd Coddington Dead at 63 Spridgets 10
beaulieu TR6 TR6 project with one dead cylinder ? Triumph 10
Nunyas Dead in the water... MG 22
B MGB MGB Cuts out, Tach goes dead..... MG 18

Similar threads

Top