Thanks Doc, and to everyone who responded to my plea. I ran this by my dad
last night, who is a retired electronics technician who worked for the Army for
33 years. He shared much of the same that everyone here did. "Process of
elimination" he said. I am going to start with the regulator and alternator. I
noticed last night that the volt meter is reading only 12 volts when the battery
is clearly low. My sense is it ain't charging as it should. I do not think I
have a drain on the battery. I have been disconnecting the battery too and
putting a trickle charge on it so I don't destroy the battery.
Funny how this happens after all the talk about these crummy Motorola
alternators!
Charlie
In a message dated 6/23/2006 6:06:53 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
AMC74HORNET@xxxxxxxxx writes:
Charlie at night in the dark with the car shut off check to see if
the
Alt. light is slightly glowing. Since you say you have a Motorola
Alt
the diode trio might be going bad. The Alt. with this condition
will
still show it is charging properly on a meter. Had that problem with
my
orange Hornet before I swapped in a Delco. Also you need to have
the
battery tested with a meter that puts a load on it to make sure it
is
good. Without a load on the battery even a bad battery may show
12
volts. Next disconnect the clock and put an amp meter between
the
positive terminal on the battery and to the battery cable itself.
This
should tell you if there is a draw some where in the system. As
for
finding it good luck. I hate electrical problems. Having TSM with
the
wiring diagrams would also help. One last thing to check is if you
have
a glove box light. Make sure it does not stay on 24/7. My father
had
that problem with his bosses car back in the late 60's. After it sat
for
a week the battery was stone dead. On my Hornet before I changed alt's
I
would disconnect the battery when I parked it. More as a
theft
preventative I wired in the main wire off the starter solenoid a
fusible
link to a 35 amp toggle switch on the dash that kills the electric
to
the whole car when it is parked. Happy
hunting.
"Doc"
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