Following question showed up in my mailbox, general enough to
repost the the list:
>next question - battery has been draining and it should be just 15Mo old
>according to PO. The headlight switch not only pulls out to 1 - park, 2-
>headlights, but turns left and right, like for interior lighs (which aren't
>there). which direction would be "off"? clockwise seems to be "one
>position" while left seems to have more play, like a dimmer. Any other
>"phantom" switches that might be draining battery (with key off) come to
>mind?
The '68-'70 original headlight swtiches also controlled the fog lights.
That rotation to the right/left is the fog light switch.
If you run fog lights I recommend adding an extra relay and fuse to
help protect the headlight switch & fusebox (68 model).
>Battery recharges within 30 minutes and then starts and keeps lights strong
>at low idle.
If you find the same problem AFTER leaving the battery cable off,
it is a matter of the battery self draining.
I finally got tired of the 'dead battery after sitting a few weeks'.
Batteries love to be used on a daily basis, but with the infrequent
use on the roadster I usually get two years out of a GOOD Battery.
Finally bought an OPTIMA (sold by Interstate). Looks like a "six pack"
as you can see the battery cells. Nice thing is the batter does NOT
self discharge (like the common lead acid). $125 is steep for a battery,
but is is ever nice to have a battery that will last a long time for
the roadster.
Excide is also reselling the OPTIMA batteries.
Disclaimer: I like their batteries, and have 24 of them in my electric
vehicle. Nothing like $10K for the truck, and $5K for the batteries
(Good for a laugh Christmas morning when you discover how many items
require batteries).
Cheers,
Tom Walter '67 2000
Austin, TX '68 2000
P.S. TECH TIP: Remember my 'trouble shooting dual filament bulb?"
write up? Well, with everything off disconnect the battery... hook
up the bulb in series with the battery. The bulb should NOT glow
unless there is a current drain. Took a while, but I found an
intermittant drain of 1 Amp... a bad alternator diode! Sometimes
it leaked 1 Amp (draining the battery over night), other times
worked fine! Took a while to find the problem.
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