> I owned a 1958 TR 3 from 1968 to 1971. I don't ever remember it running hot
> except when the coolant slushed up from lack of antifreeze. Nor do I
> remember the battery discharging in the winter when heater fan, lights and
> maybe wipers were on. Is the difference only that my car was only 10-13
> years old at the time?
Probably explains why it didn't overheat. But I made measurements on a 1959
TR3A in about 1975, so it wasn't much older than yours at the time. And I
measured the sum of the ignition, heater fan, wipers, and lights at about 22
amps. Since the original generator was only rated at 19 amps, it couldn't keep
up (let alone recharge the battery from having to crank a TRactor motor in cold
weather). It all made sense then, why I kept having dead batteries when I drove
the car to work/school in the winter, and burning up generators after turning
the control box up enough to charge just a bit under full load ... so I
converted to an alternator and never looked back.
Another piece of the puzzle might be the headlamp bulbs ... my TR3A owner's
manual shows 36 watts for RHD headlights, while I'm pretty sure US-standard seal
beam headlights (required by law at the time) draw more like 55 watts even on
low beam. That's not much difference, but it's some.
Somewhere, I've even read that with the control box properly adjusted, the
ammeter should run just slightly left (discharge) with the lights on, and just
slightly right (charge) with them off. There is also advice in the owner's
manual to externally charge the battery after a winter run, so I would guess
that the factory was fully aware of the problem.
Randall
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