Yesterday morning I decided to take a ride over to a buddy's house to show him the car. Maybe 10 miles round trip. I've had the Sterling on a charger since the last time I drove it, and she started right up in the garage. At his house I shut it off, then when I went to restart it to take him for a ride, she started REAL slowly...hmmm...not good. After his short ride around the neighborhood, I didn't want to risk shutting it off and not starting again, so I left it running. Unfortunately that thought wasn't recorded to my brain's short term memory because when I got to within about 1/2 mile of home, I decided "I should try running the speedometer calibration loop again" - which requires a shut down and restart (while holding the odometer button). Yep, you guessed it - she wouldn't restart in the parking lot I had pulled over in. Barely even tried to crank... Thankfully I was close to home, so I called my wife to bring the jumper cables.
While she was on her way, I contemplated my next steps: I'm sitting in the car with a fairly dead battery and my canopy is electrically powered. Once the canopy is up, I cannot open the hood to access my battery to jump start it since the canopy/hood overlap. Do I have enough battery left to open the canopy, get out, then close the canopy? Hmmm...best not to risk it. Time to summon my Inner Duke Boy and crawl out the window! I have to say, that went WAY EASIER than expected! lol I scooted my butt over to the passenger seat, then moved my legs over to the driver's seat, then head & shoulders out the window, followed by the rest of me until I was sitting on the window ledge. THen I just pulled one leg out and stood up! yay! (of course, there is NO WAY I could have done this 6 months ago before I started going for acupuncture for my back!!!) After that it was a straightforward jumpstart and drive home.
Now, WHY isn't the battery holding a charge? The Braille AGM battery is just over 3 years old (the 3 year warranty expired in August! ugh!) and the Alternator is...wow...built sometime between 1986 and 1999 based on my internet sleuthing. It's a one-wire GM CS-type alternator. I have the LAMP wire connected to my dash, but it still has a v-belt. And I don't remember if it came with the car when I bought it in 2006, or if I "upgraded" to something newer that was in my Dad's "shop shelf inventory" (which could have been sitting there since the 1980's!!). That might be the best place for me to start - replace the at-least-20-year-old alternator! lol
And while I'm looking, it appears that there are special "low rpm" alternators (Tuff Stuff) for better charging at "idle speeds". Why is this important to me? Well, with my Jackshaft System, I don't have the typcial "big crankshaft pulley". In fact, my chain drive from crank to jackshaft is only a 18-tooth to 16-tooth setup (all that will fit in the jackshaft casting). so that's only a 12.5% overdrive instead of the GM "standard" of 250% to 300% overdrive. Damn...that could be the problem right there! My alternator may not even be TRYING to charge unless I'm up at 3000 rpm! Which isn't often...
Time to pull the old alternator and verify case measurements before buying a new alternator...
) the cooling fan to run with the ignition. I'm not sure the thermostatic switch is closing correctly, so I pulled the ground trigger wire off the switch and connected it directly to a ground lead (same ground lead that grounds the radiator, so I know the thermostatic switch is seeing a Good Ground - and not just thru the coolant). Now when I start the car I have a "cold defrost" wind blowing up from under the hood, below the canopy, and into my eyes! lol And now my guage temps are much better!