Hi again.
The TR-4 has been running very, very well this year, but I just ran into a
problem yesterday. Actually the problem may have been around for a while,
but it manifested itself just now.
Anyway.... my red ignition light has always been on, so I've ignored it.
Saturday night, I took the wife out for a late dinner, all the electrics
were working great. As an aside, after dinner we fired up the '4' and about
20 16-years swarmed around us - a young lady said, 'he mister, what kinda
car izzat?' When I replied, "A Triumph", she just stared at me like I had
said a 'Hupmobile'. Man did I feel old. Felt better when another young
lady said "Your car RULES, man!" Well, I had just shined it up that
afternoon.
But I digress. So I go to drive to work on Wednesday, the next time I
start the TR-4, and the battery is stone dead. I jump start, and drive to
work without incident, accept that after about 20 miles the engine misses a
bit on strong acceleration. Wednesday afternoon, as I attempt to leave
work, the battery is dead again. A push start and I'm off, but as I
approach home the missing is a lot worse and I just get it into the garage
before it kills. Battery is still dead after the drive home.
So, what are the steps in diagnosing the problem? I'm not sure how to test
a maintenance free battery. How does one test a generator? My ammeter
appears to be working, at least it deflects to negative amps when headlights
are on. I never have seen it go positive. I'm guessing at this point that
the generator has been putting out just barely enough juice to keep the
engine running, but that it has now been slipping below that level, and
draining the battery to run the engine.
Any clues for the clueless? This is my first encounter with Mr. Lucas.
Tom
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