A lot of description about a little problem...
I'm wondering if anybody has experinced what my Spit is doing right now. I
just got done with a clutch job tackled from inside the car(which is a whole
other story - and not a short one) and went to fire the ol' girl up for a
test spin - and nothing. A single click from the solenoid was it. Then the
green and red lights on my dash became considerably less vivid. Further key
turns wouldn't even result in a click. As background, I know the car would
anxiously come to life less than 2 weeks ago. So, I checked the battery -
charged. I removed and cleaned all power cables from the battery to the
solenoid, to the starter, and the ground off the battery. Also, I removed
and cleaned under the solenoid to insure proper grounding. Then my friend
and I got out his voltage meter and we started testing, and the results are
quite strange. First of all, we found no resistance to speak of anywhere in
the circuitry. Normal. The ground from the battery was doing just that -
correctly. The hot lead was hot at the starter, and when the solenoid was
bypassed, current went all the way to the starter. And it too proved to
have an adequate ground.
I discovered that if I loaded down the system by turning the headlamps on
after the dash indicators were already dim, then turned the ingnition all
the way off, then turned it back on, the dash lights then - and only then -
would be bright. The reading off the positive lead from the battery to the
solenoid would be just over 12V. Then I could always turn the key and get
one click from the solenoid. When that click occured, the voltage dropped
instantly, and consistently, to 9V. Then I'd turn on the headlamps again
and the voltage would drop way down. Interestingly, when I then turned the
lamps off, the voltage would be about 9.5V. At that point, I could turn the
ignition off, then back on and the cycle would start over - I'd be at 12V
again. Now, if I didn't cycle the headlamps, the voltage would remain at
9V.
During the clutch job, the only way the electrical system was touched (as
far as I know) was the disconnection of the battery, the "sliding out" and
replacement of the starter, and the 2 wires that connect to the switch that
turns on the reverse lamps. I checked the later, and they came on fine.
Starter? No - that wouldn't explain the quirky voltage readings. Solenoid?
Nope - tried bypassing it, to no avain. Any ideas? I'm out.
-Tustin
'67 Spit (FD2045L)
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