First car show for us this year

After the show on Saturday evening there is the Cruise where thousand of people line the streets and participants from the car show cruise on Main St and Mountain Rd. This is always a great time and it gives the chance for many folks to see many of the cars.

By the time I got home the headlights were very dim. I stopped the car and realized that I left the windows down, so I tried to start the car to roll the windows up, but it wouldn't start.

Bu this time I was very tired and it was late so I just left the car with the windows down for the night. The forecast was for a clear night, so all was good.

In the morning the first thing I did was connect the car to the battery charger. About 1/2 hour later I was ready to head out for day two of the show so I jumped in and it started without issues.

Day 2.jpg

Day two was great, but I took my booster cables with me just in case and of course when it was time to leave the car would not start. Of of the other participant drove around to give me a boost and that is when I noticed this:

359675681_936914567535672_621901235677773622_n.jpg

There was no belt on the alternator! It must have come off last night during the cruise. Fortunately the gentlemen that was giving me the boost had tools and a belt the was just the right length. About 45 minutes later the belt was replaced and we were both on our way.
 
It is a good thing we have modern cars to get us about, for if we had to rely on these, we would be out of work, and pretty frustrated.
Well, hopefully one more thing not to worry about for the next several seasons.
 
I noticed the corrosion under the insulation of the cables. I would also replace the cables because the corrosion will cause high resistance in the system. Also, your car should have 2 batteries and a dual battery switch, so you can run on one battery in a parade and then have the other fully charged battery to start the car. The battery switch will have battery 1, battery 2, and both batteries, along with an off position. The switch was manufactured by Cole Hersee Company in Boston MA
 
Paul Steinberg said:
I noticed the corrosion under the insulation of the cables. I would also replace the cables because the corrosion will cause high resistance in the system. Also, your car should have 2 batteries and a dual battery switch, so you can run on one battery in a parade and then have the other fully charged battery to start the car. The battery switch will have battery 1, battery 2, and both batteries, along with an off position. The switch was manufactured by Cole Hersee Company in Boston MA
Click to expand...
Replacing the cables is on my to-do list. They all need to be replaced as some are cracked and as you mentioned there is some corrosion at the connections.

I always run the car in the 2-battery position. Not for any reason, always done it that way even at work.

Shouldn't there be an "Alternator" warning light in the instrument cluster? If there is it is definitively not working. Will have to look at that too.
 
No warning light on a pro car. One would need to put in a amp meter gage. The duel belts were a safety factor. As were the duel batteries. Most people think you need them both on to run the warning equipment. But the truth is that power all comes off the alternator. Its all part of the shake down cruse. The joy of a old car. Once you get the bugs worked out the fun stops and it just another car.
 
John ED Renstrom said:
No warning light on a pro car. One would need to put in a amp meter gage. The duel belts were a safety factor.
Click to expand...
There is an Amp meter gauge on the console below the siren, but it does not work....it's on the list.

There is a dual belt pulley on the alternator, but nowhere else. All of the other pulleys are single belts......so much for that safety feature lol!
 
Most likely the amp meter is working, but just doesn't move very much. With the engine stopped, and the key in the on position, pull out the headlamp switch and note is there is movement in the amp meter. It should move slightly.
 
Good chance that someone that didn't understand how the amp meter works just put the two wires together on one terminal in the back of the meter.
I would replace it with a battery condition gauge that measures volts in the battery.

batery condition gauge.jpg
 
If it was working it would take a big - dip when you hit the starter and a big + swing win the car fired. Most likely been disconected. But as your running a 150 amp ault it's not big enough to regester the out put anyway. You need to check a few other ambulances for the proper routing of the belts. Should be a double set of pulleys that line up with the ault. It is possible the some one changed the power steering to a single pulley one. But then there would be a empty on the water pump and crank. Or the power steering had its own belt. Seen so many set up different i can't say.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top