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battery and points connection?

Started by xs29bb1, August 29, 2014, 10:20:53 AM

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xs29bb1

Hey guys - I hadn't gotten around to swapping my Mopar battery out (to just use if for shows), but it hasn't been in there very long.  Anyway, car had been running fine - went to get gas and when I tried to leave, the battery was dead.  Out of the blue. 

So I get a jump, and start driving her home and within less than a mile the car starts shaking like crazy at any higher RPM.  A minute or two later she starts backfiring.  I nursed it home for the remaining 2 miles.

I guess the points and/or condenser is shot (although that's pretty new too), but it's really odd that it happened just a couple minutes after the battery died out of nowhere.

Any ideas what may have gone wrong.  Should I just swap out the points/condenser and change the battery?

mhinders

Start with putting in a fresh battery and check that the charging is working.
Martin
Dodge Charger 1967, 512 cui, E85, MegaSquirt MS3X sequential ignition and injection

xs29bb1

Thanks.  I think I'm good.  The more I thought about it, it was just too coincidental.  I swapped the battery and everything is fine.  I guess the battery went completely to zero all of a sudden and didn't get enough voltage to the coil.

I ran the car around town, got the revs up a bit and she's running smoothly.

Now I'm going to just make sure I'm getting the right voltage w/ the car running to make sure the alternator is doing its job.  Other than that, I think it's fine.

Thanks again.

xs29bb1

OK, well my battery reads only 12.5 volts w/ the car running, but the alternator reading is way above that (looks like over 30V w/ an AC component).

I guess my regulator is shot?

xs29bb1

swapped the regulator - no change.

I read 12.5V at the battery w/ the car running, even when I rev the engine.  So I'm now figuring it must be the alternator, but isn't a reading of 30V just insanely high?  How the heck can it read that?

rt green

13.5 minimum at battery when running.
third string oil changer

xs29bb1

Quote from: rt green on August 30, 2014, 05:02:26 PM
13.5 minimum at battery when running.

Yeah thanks, I'm clearly not getting enough voltage at the battery.  But when an alternator goes, is it possible to read a voltage of 30V at the alternator?

A383Wing

no.....but what's happening is that there is a break or bad connection between alternator & battery.

The battery is not being charged....now that you have thrown parts at it and not fixed the problem, I would suggest getting a voltmeter out and start checking wires & connections starting at alternator and working towards the battery

Charger RT

probably connection at firewall has burned. many threads on this connection. If the alternator has been swapped to larger output it melts the connection faster.
Tim

rt green

if one of the field wires is grounded the alt will go "full field" and keep  building voltage. pretty much taking the regulator out of the picture and turning the alt on full blast. I'm guessing that's how you got 30 volts.
third string oil changer

A383Wing

but he's not getting it to the battery....there is a break somewhere in that wire from alt to battery...the regulator does not see a charge being made, so it keeps upping the alt output.....he's gonna burn something up if he doesn't find the problem.

Or he can just run a wire from alt to battery and see if it stops charging high volts

rt green

youre right. I must not have read the post close enough. sorry
third string oil changer