> I haven't had any time to work on the TR4 lately, so I've been doing
> theoretical work, trying to understand what I've been seeing with the
> charging system. A question I have now--if your alternator/generator
> was not charging at all, and you left home with a fully charged
> battery, how far would you get?
As others have said, it depends a great deal on conditions. If the battery were
somehow still fully charged when you left home (ie hadn't been used to crank the
engine or had been recharged after that), you could reasonably expect to drive
as much as 10 hours with no lights, heater, stereo, etc.
> I'm wondering this, since in 3 weeks (if all goes well) we are moving
> to a new house about 40 miles away. I'd prefer to drive the TR4 if
> possible, and am trying to figure out if my chances are good of
> making it if I give the battery a good, full charge.
If it starts easy and you do it in the daytime, I'd say your chances are
excellent. I've gone for weeks at a time with a bum generator/alternator, by
charging the battery at night then using the car to commute to work. Two starts
and two trips of about 30 minutes each (time is more important than distance).
Only gets dodgy if I don't manage to get home before dark !
Oh yeah, might also depend on whether you're using points or electronic
ignition. The Allison module I got on my Stag did not like low voltage at all,
and started cutting out when the voltmeter got down to 10 volts. I've run
points on as little as 6v.
Randall
=== This list supported in part by The Vintage Triumph Register
=== http://www.vtr.org
|