driv'n through hades and back (vapor lock)

[scott]

well i just ripped apart, cleaned & reasembled the weber. my quarters smell like a garage now. tomorrow i put it back in as well as the battery that's on a long 2 amp charger. i'll check all my grounds and see what happens. i do stupid stuff like this a lot. now if it works i won't know if it was electrical or carburtor. the carb suggestion came from the mechanic down at the base auto hobby shop. i'm thinking vapor lock might not be the issue as i haven't been able to get it to run even in the cool (80 degree) mornings. i'm leaning towards thinking it was electrical. does heat have an ill affect on battery performance? like i mention earlier i've a 7 y/o optima

[greenmeanie]

Heat will eventually kill a battery. The conventional lead acid design has a life expectancy in Phoenix of 2 years with maintenance. The Optimas are supposed to be better as they are gel cell and not wet although I can't say I've had huge success with them. The life of your Optima depends on a few things like type red/yellow top, whether it has been allowed to go flat, the condition of your charge system and the loads applied to it etc. I found that for whatever reason my truck did not like the red tops and would kill one in about 1 year.

I would suggest doing a drop test on it to determine condition. Also, having completetly charged it check the voltage across the terminals. IIRC they suggest putting the lights on for a minute or so to remove any surface charge. It should be about 12.5V. Anything less than 11V and the starter won't turn. Whilst your at it you may as well check the alternator. Run the engine at approx 2000rpm and check the voltage across the terminals. If everything is good you should see about 14.5V.

Have fun with your electrical system.

Cheers
Gregor

[scott]

pd is running again. but like i said i don't know if it was a complete carb tear down and cleaning or the slow charge on the optima. as soon as i can get a hold of a volt meter i'll check for volt drop. what would cause this? bad battery? loose grounds? bad altenator? i've a lucas 43 amp. i think the po swaped the generator and voltage regulator for an alt out of a tr7. when autozone check there computer i suggested the look at what a '80 tr7 called for and it was a 43 amp and the picture look just like the alt i was holding. i think i sould build a new bracket tht'll fit what the early 70s heeps are using and get a 60 amp ac/delco

[greenmeanie]

Things that kill Optimas usually involve one of the spiral gel cell thingies breaking down. If its a red top they don't respond too well to deep discharging due to leaving the lights on. (A rather too common occurance in my case). I also have my suspiscions that they are rather sensitive to power quality. My truck has an old GM mechincal regulator external to a Delco (Unknown type) alternator and I think the poor power quality this gives kills the Optimas. That, of course, is just my opinion and I don't have the info to back it up yet.

A dead cell is easy to pick up as you charge the battery to capacity,run the lights to remove a surface charge and then check the voltage. Generally a bad cell shows as something less than 11V. Ultimately the heat out here just cooks everything. You won'y ever have to think about rust but the sun and heat eats rubber, canvas and oil seals.

A good site about alternators and fitting one to work properly is www.madelectrical.com. THey have a lot of info on Delco 10SI and 12SI conversions.

Cheers
Gregor

[Jim-ME]

Scott,
FWIW Pangolin sells a really nice looking set of brackets which allows a really clean installation of any Delco alt. You might want to check it out.
Jim

[luangwablondes]

Its possibly the diaphram on the mechanical fuel pump that's giving you grief. Went through that in Namibia once. Everyday, at the same time of day, when the temps were the highest- yeah what was I doing out then- the engine would die. I took it in to an old landy hand in the middle of nowhere Rundu and he knew immediatedly what the problem was.

[scott]

just got back from rov'n. a little in town a little hwy. all seems well. before hand i hooked up a bat/alt tester. at an idle it was reading 12.1 to 12.2 volts and 2 to 6 amps. turn on the lights, radio and turn signal and it read 12.1 to 12.2 v and 16 amps. rev it up to what i imagined to be cruis'n rpms and got 12.6 v 20 to 24 amps. and it is freak'n hot our here, i'd guess 110

jim-me

that $80 bracket look like something badvibes built from scraps laying around his garage but he added a rear piece to cut down on all vibration/wobble. the one i made for the lucas alt is 2 pieces of tube seperated by a piece of flat stock such that 1 tube fit insde the generator bracket and one between the front and rear tabs of the lucas(po used 2 adjustible flat pieces only on the front and it failed me at a most inopportune moment)

http://www.roversnorth.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=318&stc=1&d=1189289870[/URL]
A fits between the lucas tabs and B fits insde the generator bracket and i use an adjustible (slotted flat stock to hold the top). all i need to do is replace the A tube with one cut to fit between the front & rear tabs of a delco alt.