Had to get jump start from my son last night

[mrmustang]

So at 7:30pm decide to head out to the local ice cream shop with my wife (celebrating our 25th next month) for some much needed internal cooling. Hop in to 188 and she fires right up, settles to idle and we back her out and head out. Temps had dropped to 79 degrees from a high of 96 so it feels good to ride the twisty back roads to the ice cream shop. Pull in and grab the first spot (some times it's all about timing ), get inside and get waited on immediately (usually a ten minute wait/line), grab our stuff and head on out to the benches, relax and devour our ice cream with gleeful abandon.....Watch the sun starting to set and get back in the car for the ride home, turn the key, and I get one revolution on the starter then click, click, click as I listen to the electric fuel pump in the trunk sound like it's dying as well......Now I'm thinking, I just replaced the Red Top battery this spring, can't be that, could it be the alternator, quick call to my son and 20 minutes later he arrives with the jumper cables and a car load of his friends for supervision of this process. Hook up the cables and allow the mighty Subaru (his words not mine) to add a little juice to the battery for an attempt to start the car. ....5 minutes and $30.00 in additional ice cream later (they came down, who was I not to buy them something for the inconvieance in their evening plans) we fire up 188 without a problem, I start checking the basics, no turn signals,no electric fan, heck, I'm running on the alternator only. Now I'm thinking, NO LIGHTS for the ride home, better be a quick ride home before it really gets dark........So we bid adieu to the ice cream shop and head on down back to the house. Get it into the garage, disconnect the battery and put it on the bench with a 2amp trickle charger (full charge this morning) and head off to the comfort of the back deck to forget about my embarrassment and enjoy some additional cool liquid refreshments.....Wake up at 5am this morning (every day without and alarm clock, I do not know what it is like to actually sleep in late) and start checking the electrical system out, all contacts are good, grounds clean and in place, I know that the alternator was working since I drove home without the battery charged (it was completely dead by the time we got home).......So, I grab a new solid state (generic from the local auto parts dealer in NJ, $9.99 and with a receipt dated 8/12/2005, not sure what I had originally bought it for but it will work for now) voltage regulator out of the cabinet (when you have a bunch of old Fords, you always have tune up parts and such sitting in a cabinet) and install that. Reinstall the battery, roll the car outside the garage (hey it is 6:58am we do not want to wake the rest of the family just yet) and fire it right up, damn, look at that,hit the electric fan switch and the amp gauge now works (best way to check, start up the car, let it idle, and throw a high draw item on and see if the amp gauge moves at all which I noticed on the trip down to the ice cream shop last night it did not move at all which in the back of my mind thought was a little strange).....Will take the battery down to the shop tomorrow and check to make sure I do not have a bad cell, will also check the alternator again, but I believe it was the voltage regulator based on process of elimination on the charging loop. Wish there was a way to test the old voltage regulator so I could be sure, but will not lose sleep over it.............


Anyone else experience a similar occurrence with their Cobra(s)? Originally I was embarrassed that I had to call for assistance, but I guess sooner or later it happens to all of us......


Yours In Fords,

Bill S.

PS: Now it's time to wake the wife and head out to breakfast, maybe we'll take the cobra and see if it is happy again

[mr bruce]

http://www.carparts.com/autoparts/Pr...022566/c-10618

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by mr bruce

http://www.carparts.com/autoparts/Pr...022566/c-10618

Have a similar one at the house, unfortunately, someone (IE: she who must be obeyed) left the built in light on and forgot to plug it back in to recharge it when she was done using it in the shed . Thankfully I had a set of jumper cables(flares, spare belts, fix a flat, etc) in the back of Josh's car......




Bill S.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by mrmustang

Wish there was a way to test the old voltage regulator so I could be sure, but will not lose sleep over it.............

With your "new" solid state VR you're probably running a system voltage of around 14.6 volts or so. Shut the car off, plug the old VR back in, fire her up and measure the system voltage again. If it's significantly lower (say, 13 volts) then throw it away and look no further.

[strictlypersonl]

Bill,

Check the two top connections at the passenger-side fuse box. On the early cars, they've been known to corrode and overheat.

Have you checked whether there's power at the red wires at the voltage regulator?

Jumping between the red and brown wires at the regulator will bypass the regulator, giving maximum voltage out of the alternator. Do it, and revving the engine slightly should show a charge at the ammeter. No reaction: alternator kaput.

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by strictlypersonl

Bill,

Check the two top connections at the passenger-side fuse box. On the early cars, they've been known to corrode and overheat.

Have you checked whether there's power at the red wires at the voltage regulator?

Jumping between the red and brown wires at the regulator will bypass the regulator, giving maximum voltage out of the alternator. Do it, and revving the engine slightly should show a charge at the ammeter. No reaction: alternator kaput.

Will have to try the bypass, but I fired the car up this AM using the jumper box first and disconnected it, motor continued to run on alternator alone so unless the alternator is flaking out intermittently, I believe I diagnosed it correctly. Top connectors look fine (I took each one apart and cleaned them over the winter,just removed all the fuses and sprayed them down with contact cleaner as well, but sent you a PM about replacing both of the fuse blocks with new ones just to play it safe).....I prefer to be pro-active than wait for things to fail when I can.......


Bill S.

[Rick Parker]

If the original VR was the old type, check the contacts for corrosion and dress them with a "Point File" (those without gray hair are asking what that is aren't you). Anyway often the contacts stick and will drain the battery OR when they close they wont conduct the electrical charge to maintain the battery.

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by Rick Parker

(those without gray hair are asking what that is aren't you)..

Haven't you looked closely at my AVATAR


I replaced the old unit (also a generic, non period correct looking VR) with a new "solid state" (looks the same from the outside), I may paint it black and add the appropriate gold decal one day when I truly want to get anal about what it looks like ........



Bill S.

[mrmustang]

While updating computer software on our home network I decide to pull the case apart on the old voltage regulator (solid state no less). As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.



I now believe I made the right choice, but will be following up on the other items later tomorrow.


Bill S.

[computerworks]

Originally Posted by mrmustang

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

?...so, where's the problem? Nothing looks toasted

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by computerworks

?...so, where's the problem? Nothing looks toasted

You really need to get a set of glasses and stop squinting at that 48" computer screen

[computerworks]

I see rust or flux or sumptin'... but no scorch or craters?

Gawd.. I hope I don't need a bigger monitor...this is like a drive-in movie now.

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by computerworks

I see rust or flux or sumptin'... but no scorch or craters?

Gawd.. I hope I don't need a bigger monitor...this is like a drive-in movie now.

Are you using a plasma or LCD screen, I'm tempted to do that some days but it is a real pain in the rear to hook up.

As for the regulator, the lower right hand is held together strictly from the corrosion, if I touch it, it will break off completely. Of course now I'm going through all of the electrical connections in and around the car just to play it safe.......After all, the car is 23+ years old, best that I check everything now than worry about it down the road.........


Bill S.

[Rick Parker]

Gawd.. I hope I don't need a bigger monitor...this is like a drive-in movie now.

Now THAT'S one of the best in a long while.

Bill: The Gray hair comment was aimed at others, not you.

We should post a picture of a "Point File".

We had an elderly woman bring her '67 Nova into the shop recently for her semi annual "Tune up", with the current group of techs; nobody knew how to set the points.

[mrmustang]

$2.47 from KD tools........

[kobrabytes]

Ah, I don't worry about it anymore. I'm just glad I still have friends that will show up to help...

I lost an alternator about a month ago. With the fuel injection and the higher pressure fuel pump I draw a lot of current from that little battery in the trunk. Fortunately it was a cool day and I could get by with out the fan running, plus the trip home was mostly down hill.

I made it about halfway home when the engine died. I was about 15 miles out of the city. Called a few friends until I found one to come up and charge my battery. After 30 minutes I had enough "juice" to make it home. I run the highest current alternator that I could find that fits the FE, 65 amp.

When I bought a replacement I kept the core and took it the old one down to an alternator shop. The wires to the rectifiers had fried. I had it rebuilt with 50 amp diodes that should do better, I hope...

It was funny, while I was waiting for a jump a neighbor road by on a bicycle. Small world.... If I would have known that I was going to be out longer than anticipated I would have put on sun screen...

[Ronbo]

Originally Posted by mrmustang

$2.47 from KD tools........

Actually the correct tool would be a relay contact burnisher:

http://www.stanleysupplyservices.com...172&pn=125-206

Yea, I got a couple grey hairs, most of them fell out though.