[Yes, this is an old message, held up for manual intervention. mjb]
Hello folks:
Sorry I haven't been more active lately (new job=less time) but I was just
outside starting up the '74 (as I do periodically throughout the Winter) and
discovered that the battery was dead. Okay... it's only six months old, but
perhaps these old cars have minor voltage drains that cause this every so
often (yeah, right!)
I hooked up jumper cables to a running car, and tried to start. The starter
only turned grudgingly, and not enough at first to get the car started.
Then, while making further cranking attempts, I started hearing a buzzing
sound coming from the location of the solenoid. I suppose that the solenoid
could be failing, but I never heard of one buzzing loudly. The sound could
also have been coming from the starter motor, but it was hard to tell since
I was sitting in the driver's seat.
I waited 5-10 minutes or so, to see if the cranking speed would improve, and
sure enough it did, and the car started right up. I let it idle for a few
moments, and then it stalled. But virtually no charge had accumulated in
the battery, even enough to make the fuel pump click.
What is the likely problem? Could there be an internal wiring problem in
the starter? If so, that would explain the difficult cranking, but not the
fact that the battery isn't holding a charge.
Is the alternator not producing current? It seems to be working, since the
panel lights flicker when the RPMs get too low, and the ignition warning
light is behaving properly.
Could the solenoid be bad? The buzzing sound notwithstanding, there don't
seem to be any other anomalies.
Do I have a bad grounding strap? I don't think so. I tried hooking up
another jumper cable between the block and the negative battery terminal,
and the car didn't change its behavior.
Awww.... who am I kidding? I'm sure that the answer is all of the above,
and that my car needs most of the grounding points cleaned, as well as
rebuilt starter and alternator. But hey, if anyone has ideas about a simple
solution to make starting easier without spending a bundle on replacement
parts, I'd love to hear it.
Regards,
Charles
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