Philip Hubbard 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!
You will really have to pop a voltmeter across the battery terminals when the
engine is
running at fast idle. If you see 14.something volts then you are charging OK,
so suspect
the battery or connections. You really need to voltage test these as well if
you haven't
already. Finally, even if you do find a fault with the alternator and/or
connections
you may still have a faulty battery as Nory implies.
Good luck,
PaulH.
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