Howdy everyone,
I've been enjoying the beautiful weather: haven't put my top up on my TR4 in
days.
At lunch yesterday though, I sat at a stop light for a while and when I
pulled away I was alarmed by the distinct smell of something electrical
burning.
After glancing at my neighbors in traffic I looked at the ammeter and saw
that it was pegged towards the positive side . . 30+ amps (if you believe
the gauge)
In very short order it flickered back down to zero and did its usual
twitching job.
I kept an eye on it for the rest of the day and it is still misbehaving in
my opinion.
I had the same sort of problem in the cold of winter and ended up screwing
with the control box for what seemed like an eternity.
Symptoms:
I sit at idle and the ammeter dips down to negative 5 to 7 amps.
As I motor off, the ammeter swings WAY up into the positive side of the
meter . . if I get above 2500 rpm, it will exceed 30 amps.
In short order (a could of seconds) it will start flickering back down and
hover around the zero mark.
Until this week . .. as I motored off from an extended period idling, the
needle would only swing up to maybe +10 amps and then over the next 10
seconds or so, would gradually come back to zero.
I don't like seeing my ammeter pegged at 30+ amps on a regular basis . . .
I REALLY don't like the smell of wires and insulation melting. (I still
haven't found the damaged areas)
Anyone got any helpful hints for me?
Maybe I should just bite the bullet and make a switch over to negative
ground and an alternator.
Your comments are greatly appreciated.
Scott Tilton
1963 TR4 everyday
Leesburg, VA
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