At 11:43 AM 1/31/96 -0500, Will wrote:
>Thanks to you both for your comments and to others who have responded. I'm
>sarting to think that there is some inadequacy in my
>charging/battery/starter system as, again, in the case of my particular car
>I have grave doubts as to its ability to start in very cold conditions,
>chocked or not. NOT TO SAY that I wouldn't trust a properly setup MG;
>that's just the point. As with most of us on the list, the B is only driven
>in the "warm" months and I can get by without an optimally performing system.
>Will Zehring
>
I would suspect one of the batteries is bad, leaving it up to the other to
carry the load (this has happened to me a few times over the past two
decades of MG driving).
The 17HF batteries overall are strong and long lasting. I have found them to
easily last five or six years. But they can be hard to find as well as
expensive. I just replaced both of mine three years ago at a cost of about
$40 each although I have seen them as high as $75 each.
Another solution if you really want some cranking power is to use the 6 volt
batteries used in the old Volkwagon Bugs. I believe it is the 19L - one of
which will run one of those "death boxes" as I used to call them. In this
case, you are using two with double the cranking power. The 19L batteries
used to be cheaper and easier to find than the 17HF. The one disadvantage is
that they fit nice and snug in the battery boxes which is a problem when it
comes time to remove them. They come out but it takes some maneuvering.
Either way, I have found nothing that beats the cranking power of two 6
volts together.
But then, as light as the MG is, who needs batteries and a starter when you
can push start it? Unless its uphill - but that is another story....
What is a "warm" month anyway?
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David Councill
dcouncil@imt.net
http://www.imt.net/~dcouncil/home.html
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