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Topic starter
24/06/2019 8:17 pm
Just spent 4 days on the Tour de Bretagne in the 289, and very enjoyable it was too. No problems at all until I was driving off the tunnel train in Folkestone - got to the top of the ramp at the terminal and the engine just died, clean and quick cut-off as if I'd switched off. IIRC, all systems were dead, no ign warning light etc. Switched off, then turned on again and moved key to start - everything worked fine, fired up OK and off we went. A few minutes later it did it again on the M20 - but I'm sure this time the ignition warning light came on. Again I turned off and on again and drove into the services right next to me. Had a look round but couldn't spot anything obviously amiss. The king lead on the coil wasn't a great fit and might have slid out a bit, not sure. I pulled it out and refitted it, making sure it was in properly. Started up and drove home, 120 miles with no problems. The only thing that concerns me is that since this happened my ammeter is showing 15A discharge at idle (800rpm), and 15A charge at anything over about 1200rpm - which it continued to show for 2.5hrs as we did those 120 miles.
The engine has a Pertronix module with the correct Pertronix coil. The 'dynamo' is a Dynator alternator, and the battery is an Exide AGM, not lead-acid flooded. Any thoughts on whether the battery might be shot, or the alternator damaged? I don't see how either of these possibilities could have been caused by the HT lead slipping loose in the coil, and I tend not to believe in the coincidence of two electrical problems appearing at exactly the same time. I'll try connecting up an old lead-acid battery tomorrow to see if the ammeter behaves differently.
The Cobra Register - Historian
Several old bangers, which used to include a 289
fbhvc.co.uk
thesahb.com
25/06/2019 6:25 am
That does sound like a battery fault to me, but I don't know how the Exide's behave when they break down. Did you get a smell of rotting eggs? that is normally a sign that the alternator/dynamo is over charging!!!
27/06/2019 6:12 am
The smell would presumably come from gases being given off by the acid in the battery, but as Roger has said that he doesn’t have a lead-acid battery I would have thought that unlikely.
Paul
The Cobra Register - CEO
Topic starter
27/06/2019 1:16 pm
The smell would presumably come from gases being given off by the acid in the battery, but as Roger has said that he doesn’t have a lead-acid battery I would have thought that unlikely.
Paul
It's usually a sign of sulphated plates, hence the H2S aroma. Not, as you say, in an AGM.
The Cobra Register - Historian
Several old bangers, which used to include a 289
fbhvc.co.uk
thesahb.com
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