battery woes
 

New battery won't hold a charge? I susspect a draw on the battery - don't know how to isolate that??!! After a short drive, with the ammeter showing a charge; battery was dead after sitting for two hours. Also - after a full charge in the evening, the battery was dead the next morning!
Have trouble shot the ignition system, and have 6-plus volts thoughout. Yet the starter won't turn the engine over??? HELP PLEASE
Thanks,
Scotty :confused:

Re: battery woes
 

Try charging the battery with the cables removed, then check to see if it holds a charge.

A bad connection can show voltage ---until there is a load on the circuit.

Check the voltage at the starter ---then engage the switch, compare that voltage to the voltage at the battery treminals (put the probe on the top of the battery post, not the terminal)

Are the bolts , nuts,and washers for the wire connections new or rusty.

Are you using good soldered terminal heavy gauge battery wires, or the cheap 12v light gauge wires with the steel ends (test with magnet)

Re: battery woes
 

Sounds like ignition is always on, resulting in a constant drain. Check your ignition switch/pop out.

Re: battery woes
 

First put a charger on the battery to bring it back to full charge. It's very hard on a battery to run it low or leave it low on charge. A 3 to 6 amp charger will be best. You don't want a fast high charge.

You need to remove and touch the power wire to each circuit to isolate the drain. First remove the light/horn wire from the cutout and see if it sparks. A drain that's enough to kill the battery in 2 hours should make a good spark. It that sparks, then remove the horn cover and remove the power wire to see if it sparks at the horn terminal. You can also remove the power wire at the coil to see if it sparks. Some of the repro brake light switches are known to short to ground, and this will make a considerable draw. Do you have a fuse? This much draw should blow the fuse.

Are you using an alternator?

Re: battery woes
 

Bad battery?
Otherwise, that's a major short...be very careful where you park it! With the battery draining that fast, I can't believe something isn't smoking.

Re: battery woes
 

Take it back and get another one, or at least have them check it. JMO
Paul in CT

Re: battery woes
 

The car is nearing finnished restoration so all wiring (harness and connections) are new as well as battery. I've brought the battery back to full charge and have disconnected the main light switch harness as I suspect a draw there. The horn, cowl lights are not wired and those wires are isolated with elect. tape. The starter is fused. There is no sparking at red coil wire . I will see if battery has ability to start the car in a couple of hrs. Also I understand I might have a defective cutout ,is there a test for that?

Re: battery woes
 

Does the ammeter show a discharge when everything is shut off ?? If it does, just start unhooking things until you find the draw.. Or, unhook a battery terminal and check the draw across/between the battery post and cable,, unhook stuff until the draw stops.. When the draw stops, thats the circuit with the problem..

Re: battery woes
 

I used a disconnect switch on my car ..if nothing else for safety..but i had an amp meter going to ground,,

Re: battery woes
 

Are you sure the battery is being discharged/ I just went through this on my coupe, and the problem wasn't a bad battery, it was a bad ground for the battery. It acted like it was dead, but when I cleaned up my ground connection, things worked fine. You say you're nearing your finished restoration; did you scrape some paint off the frame where the battery grounds to the crossmember?

Re: battery woes
 

Re: battery woes
 

I saw a battery charged with the polarity reversed at an upholstery shop. It never held a charge well after that. They bought a new battery.

Re: battery woes
 

O K five hours later starts like a champ one time then five min. later nothing. It seems like one workout for the battery and then squat!! I''ve sanded the frame clean for the ground strap and added a ground to the trans housing as I know ground is very important for 6 volt. Battery reads 6.5 no load ,drops to 2.0 with load??

Re: battery woes
 

WTF! Go get a new battery. The load test klinches it

Re: battery woes
 

Damn Bill, you really are an old car mechanic. I thought I was the only one:rolleyes:.

Re: battery woes
 

I'd like to think it's the battery but, this is the 2nd one in one month . Heck I drove a 1964 VW (6 volt) for 14 years and never had battery problems that were not generator or ground related. Thanks for all your responses guys, I'm still digging.

Re: battery woes
 

What was the load?

If it was the starter, maybe the starter is bad. Two bad batteries in a month would be very unlikely. I've seen where the battery cables go bad where the wire is inserted into the lead end.

Re: battery woes
 

You mentioned the starter is fused. Explain Tony

Re: battery woes
 

I was thinking bad starter but don't know how to check for that. As for the fuse, it's between the starter and the terminal block, Thanks Steamboat

Re: battery woes
 

You need to lay an inductive ammeter on the starter cable to check the draw. It should be about 100 amps for a stock engine and 6 volt battery. Do you hear any strange noises coming from the starter, like the armature dragging on the field pole shoes, due to a worn bushing?

What is the battery voltage while the starter is cranking the engine? Key off for this check.

Re: battery woes
 

Tom, inductive ammeter? Remember your talking to a novice at best here. My testing has been as such...no load 6.5 volts ,with load i.e. starter trying it's best , drops to between .095 to 1.95 , these measurements are from the posts of the battery.

Re: battery woes
 

Well, youcertainly have a bad battery or something is really drawing a lot of amps to lower the voltage that much.

An inductive ammeter is a small, usually round, meter that you lay on the wire. When current flows the magnetic field generated will deflect the needle to indicate the amps flowing through the wire.

Does the starter cable or starter switch get hot while cranking? How about the battery terminals?

Re: battery woes
 

I haven't touched the cables to feel if there warm or hot but, that would be resistance ... what I'm looking for?

Re: battery woes
 

Resistance creates heat-thats what makes a toaster work!,but it will pull a battery down fast,If you have the clamp-on type of terminals on the cables,get rid of them as they are only a band-aid fix & are prone to get corrosion under them.If you lift the cable off the battery & there is a spark,then you have a current draw somewhere.If grounds are good,then I think the battery is shot.

Re: battery woes
 

Take the fan belt off and see if the generator turns like a motor.

Re: battery woes
 

I had a short in my alternator. Would drain battery down over night.

Re: battery woes
 

Theo's post regarding generator and discharge has got me to thinking about polarizatoin as my generator has been sitting for some 20 years or so. I'm out to try it and see. regarding removing the fan belt, that test tells me what?

Re: battery woes
 

I would suggest you read MIKE'S post again and I am sure you understand

Re: battery woes
 

When you charge your battery, how do know its charged? Do you use a hydrometer to test? It should read 1275sg on all cells to be fully charged.
Otherwise you have little evidence on your batteries condition.

Re: battery woes
 

Is your cable from the battery to the starter new. Had a friend that the cable corroded on the inside of the fabric. Looked good, but it wouldn't start the car.

Re: battery woes
 

O K it's a new day and ..........removed the fan belt and generator not spinning. As far as battery charging goes I don't know exactly how much charge I am obtaining as I don't yet have a hydrometer. I have been giving a 4 amp charge for up to 12hrs. I have disconnected the lighting harness from the cutout to eleminate a draw form there,Still the battery drain problem. After running the engine for a 15 min. drive around the neighborhood (ammeter @10+ ) I notice after shutting down , key off , ammeter goes to -10 or shows discharge so I bump the starter and ammeter returns to zero? So do I have a sticky starter switch,should the ammeter always return to zero only or is a drop into neg. normal? Still working.

Re: battery woes
 

A 10 amp draw with the key off could be a bad cutout and sending power into the generator. Have you disconnected the generator wire?

I have seen burn spots on the side of a starter switch caused by the thick insulator on the sides of the contact strap going bad.

Yes, the ammeter should always return to 0 with everything off.

Re: battery woes
 

Tom, it's my understanding that a bad cutout will cause generator to spin wihen the fanbelt is removed? Which is why I tried that and I saw no indication of such. As far as the ammeter always returning to zero, mine does not , thanks for pointing that out. After breifly "bumping " the starter though it does. perhap I have a starter swich problem? Patrick L. , you wrote about my problem yesterday and it went in one ear and out the other. Starting tomorrow I'll start unhooking stuff.

Re: battery woes
 

Next time you have a 10 amp discharge with key off,unhook battery & see if ammeter stays at -10.If so replace the meter.

Re: battery woes
 

O K Tom ,I couldn't wait till tomorrow so I started the car, then shut it off and got my -10 draw , so I unhook generator and draw stops! Bad cutout ? can I remove the cutout and do further testing or repair? Do I just replace? Also after reconnecting the generator wire the draw does not reappear. Thanks guys for helping to get this through my thick head:)

Re: battery woes
 

Since the generator didn't spin, I'd say you need to repair that, as well as repair or replace the cutout.

Re: battery woes
 

O K ....started the the car today , then shut it off and got my -10 discharge , so I went foward and loosened the generator to slacken the fan belt and low and behold the generator starts spinning. Thanks again for everyone for helping me through my issues , would have been a long road without the help.

Re: battery woes
 

It ain't fixed yet. If that generator is spinning, voltage is flowing backwards through that generator from the battery. Better replace that cutout relay or you'll be sorry:(,

Re: battery woes
 

I'm thinking about going with the diode type as the one I have now is a" NEW " repop wound type , any opinions?

Re: battery woes
 

lubber ...................
Using screws that are too long, on your cutout, that bottom out, can give you fits too.
Are you using original screws or something from the hardware store ?
MIKE :)