[joeypoconos]

Headed for the garage this morning for another round of trouble shooting.

I now realize that some of the stuff I’ve been trying is probably meaningless and confusing to most of you. Imagine what it’s doing to me. In any event, if some of the things (tests) I’ve documented below have no bearing on trouble shooting this problem just come out and say “Hey dummy, how many times must I tell………………”
No offence will be taken!

Oh well, here we go.

1 - Starting at the battery, disconnected pos/neg and cleaned the terminals, wire contacts, grounds etal. Moved on to the starter, fuse holder, generator, junction box, coil contacts, behind dash, brake switch – cleaned and tightened everything.
What did I find? Battery ground cable to cross member bolt was loose.

2 - Next, with fuse installed and car off, I probed everything with my continuity tester. All okay. Turned on cowl, dims, brights – all worked. B
Horn, brake and taillights work.
What did I find? When testing the generator for continuity I touched the probe end to the wire connector on the cutout. The probe slipped and touched the connector and cutout body at the same time resulting in a spark. Is this normal??

3- Next, checked voltage with fuse installed and car off. Readings at all points 6 1/2 volts. Started car and ran at idle. Voltage now just over 7. Cutout putting out just over 7 volts. Increased to fast idle and voltage increased a bit over 8.
What did I find? Generator now making a noticeable squealing sound.

4- Next, turned off car and left fuse in place. Tried lights – nothing. Horn – nothing. Tried starting car – it cranked over as normal but would not start. Checked continuity – ok from starter to fuse (both sides). Nothing from condenser connection (the one the wires attach to) to anywhere else in system.

5- Next, took a deep breadth, headed into the house for a cold one, counted to ten, several times.

6- Next, back to the garage. With car off and fuse inserted tried lights – they work, horn - works. Car starts, lights work, horn works. Ran car at normal idle, high idle, revved motor all had no affect on lights (did not get bright or burn out). Generator still making a squealing sound.

7. Next, went through several iterations of the above with the same results. Continuity, no continuity. Lights work, lights don't work. Car starts, car does not start etc. etc. etc.

8- Next, took a deep breadth, headed into the house. This time I turned to something a little bit stronger then a cold one, counted to one hundred, several times. I’ll tell you what; this Mayan calendar thing can’t come soon enough for me!