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Re: TR6

To: COSTICH_ALAN/HPATC1_01@i3125ent.atl.hp.com, british-cars@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: TR6
From: "TeriAnn Wakeman" <twakeman@apple.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Nov 93 14:06:03 -0800
In message <"d08r+YD000000000*"@MHS>  writes:
> In lbcd#990, Ned Corcoran ewcorco@erenj.com writes
> "...limited compared to what I see with the rest of the
> group in that I don't have an infinite supply of $$$...
> access to a complete automotive shop."
>

Ned its not infinite $$$, its a highly lopsided sense of priorities, and being 
on the wrong side of a sigma curve or two.  I dump $$$ into the rebulds because 
I can not stand doing something half way (otherwise why bother).  In doing so, 
my meals tend to be a bit cheap & I live in a house that has slightly less space
then a single wide 60 foot mobile home, and dress mainly in Free Apple project 
shirts.  Automotive shop?  You mean sandy dirt, no roof, an old hay trailer to 
put things on & hide a compressor under?  Standing in the house during a rain & 
watching the rain pelt the tarp over the project car?  That fully equiped shop??

I have parts for the rebuilds and film for the 4X5 camera & not a whole lot 
else. Its a matter of how balanced your priorities are.  Mine arn't and I've 
never been accused of being mainstream.


> Ned, where DO you get these impressions? Teri Ann works
> outside under a tree, just to site one example. I am in
> a cramped, ancient garage that's about to fall down. I
> don't have any more $$$$ than anyone else. I do have,
> however, seven team.net points coming from Scott#1.
> 
> The red "IGN" light... the light on my TR4A is usually
> dimly lit at night when there is a substaintial draw on
> the altenator. The IGN light on the B seems to have a
> mind of its own(maybe it is just winking back at me `cause
> it knows that I am enoying my ride.)

No one's really gone after this problem so I'll give it a try.  This is where a 
voltmeter which is by net consencous the least useful guage comes in handy.  But
lacking one, I would say that your charging system is not up to snuff and/or you
have some high resistance connections in your charging circuit.  That light 
comes on when your battery is discharging.  If the discharge current is low the 
light bearly glows.  This means you are drawing more current with your lights & 
who knows what else turned on that your alternator is putting out.  Possible 
causes:  Alternator not putting out enough current;  Voltage regulator not 
working correctly;  Loose fan belt; high resistance short causing a high drain 
on your power source.  The cheap clean way to diagnose the problem is to go to a
shop that advertizes free charging system & battery checks.

If you decide not to do that and not having meters, check all the connections in
your charging system to make sure that they are clean and tight. If that dosn't 
cure the problem, bite the $$$ and swap out the alternator & voltage regulator 
(I like to do them both together because oftern a fault in one destroys the 
other). If that dosn't solve our problem its probably a high resistance short.  
Its time to go over the wiring harness, starting with the head lamp subsystem , 
and look at insulation and all connections (clean & tight).

Me, I'd let someone with the right diagnostic tools check the health of your 
charging system first. 

TeriAnn


TeriAnn Wakeman             One of these days, I'll be old enough that
twakeman@apple.com          people will stop calling me crazy and start
LINK: TWAKEMAN              calling me eccentric.
408-974-2344        TR3A - TS75519L, MGBGT - GHD4U149572G, 109 - 164000561



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  • TR6, ewcorco
    • Re: TR6, Mike Burdick
    • Re: TR6, Philip J Ethier
    • TR6, COSTICH_ALAN/HPATC1_01
    • TR6, Scott W. Paisley 303-497-7691
    • Re: TR6, Lee Daniels, Texas A&M University
    • Re: TR6, TeriAnn Wakeman <=
    • TR6, ewcorco
    • Re: TR6, Philip J Ethier