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Re: [Healeys] voltage drop was intermittent OD part 4

To: Richard Ewald <richard.ewald@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Healeys] voltage drop was intermittent OD part 4
From: Jody Kerr <jodyfkerr@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:04:05 -0700
Rick,

That's a fantastic writeup. It should be preserved online somewhere.

I'd like to add something to what you wrote. I just acquired a TR8 and
it also has the battery in back with the really long battery cable.
The issue in this case was that the battery wasn't holding a charge.

In doing all the testing, every component came out in a passable state
when the car was cold. But the battery was still running flat. I
finally was so frustrated that I opted to do the testing while the car
was still hot (to reach the starter you have you shove your arm
through the middle of the exhaust manifold, not fun when the car is
hot).

What I found was that while everything was passable when the car was
cold, when the car heated up the heat based resistivity in the wire
was enough to tip the scales and cause the circuit to fail. So, with
the hot tests I very rapidly found my bad wiring (happened to be from
alternator to starter), and was able to replace it.

So, if everything looks kosher when the car's cold, and you still have
issues, try a secondary diagnostic when the car's hot.

Jody


-- 
http://www.theymightberacing.com/
1953 Studebaker Champion
1960 Austin Healey 3000 (BT7L/5479)
1974 Jensen Healey MKII (14291)
1974 Jensen Healey MKII (18854)
1978 Triumph Spitfire (Mum's)
1981 Triumph TR8

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