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!
Philip
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