>> Now remove the wire from the 'F' terminal at the control box, and
>> temporarily connect it to the 'D' terminal. (BTW, a set of 'clip leads'
>> from Radio Shack is real handy for this sort of thing, I also recommend a
>> few of them to carry around with the meter.) Start the engine,
>> let it idle
>> (don't rev it up) and see if the red light goes out.
>
> Does not.
>
>> If it does, the
>> problem is very likely the control box (although the generator could
>> possibly still be bad). If it doesn't, then try mashing the
>> cutout contacts
>> closed as you did before and observing the ammeter and red light.
>
> The light goes out and the ammeter goes completely negative. No
> charge, but
> complete discharge?
Yes, the discharge is through the generator. At this point, it's 95%
certain your generator is bad. One last test, remove the wire from the F
terminal at the generator, and connect a temporary jumper from the F
terminal to the D terminal at the generator. Then repeat the steps above
(start engine, mash cutout closed). If you get the same results, the
generator is definitely the problem. Of course, as I said before, the
control box could also be defective.
> BTW when the car was charging properly the horn was always weak
> leading me to
> believe the horns had a problem. With a full overnite charge they are
> powerful and loud. Is this a clue?
That would seem to indicate the battery was not getting fully charged
before. That's one of the disadvantages of an ammeter instead of a
voltmeter, while it tells you the generator is working, it doesn't tell you
as much about the battery's state of charge. Before this failure, were you
driving the car long enough for the ammeter to quit showing a heavy charge
at cruise ? And were the horns still weak at that point ?
Randall
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