1st Trip out with my wife and dog in the T25

[Ruralman]

Well today I took my wife and Tilly (the dog) out in Sergy (my new 1982 T25).
We had a nice run out to Belhaven beach
Had a walk on the beach, lovely
Tilly was wandering backwards and forwards when traveling in Sergy, how do you guys and gals restrict your pets movements?
So we're back in Sergy ready to go.....
and of course he refused to start, the battery was running down!
Oh No! I was trying to impress my wife with the new holiday opportunities !
Sergy wouldn't start.... My wife phones her youngest daughter to come and rescue us.... I remember the jump starter in the cupboard hurrah!
Connected the jump starter and away we go!
Step daughter duly phoned and we're on the road again, hopefully the next trip will be more successful
Sergy certainly starts better when cold

[jrt]

Evening, sounds like a good day out.
As we've got two small dogs[Jack Russells] they tend to sit on the back seat-front seat if no-one else is in the van or behind me on the top of the sink with their heads out of the window. It's only been a problem once when Pepper was a puppy and she jumped over my shoulder and out of the window when I was parking up in a car park at Howarth ! They both wear harnesses and so can be clipped by them to an anchor point I put at the base of the units if required.
Do a load test on the battery to see if it will hold a charge/ stick a meter on the battery to see if the alternator is charging it properly .Info in the Wiki at the top of the page,
David

[kevtherev]

A battery at rest after being fully charged at 14.2 volts will settle down and remain at around 12.6 volts (disconnected)
If it drops below that its no use to you

[Ruralman]

Thanks David, I'll get a harness for Tilly, when I first got Sergy in the week before last, I charged the battery up and it was working fine, drove it home on Tuesday, left it till Friday then drove to work and back 50 mile round trip.
Sergy does start better when he's cold.

[kevtherev]

Are you following the hot start procedure?
Full throttle..crank...foot off?

If it still struggles to start then you may have an air leak on the fuel line or the pump, this lets the fuel run back to the tank.
Or even an air leak causing a weak mixture when the choke comes off.
Or the choke is not coming off fully and causing an over rich mixture.
The choke is off fully after six-eight mins of driving.

[Ruralman]

Thanks Kev, I'll try that routine next time.

[a1winchester]

Another thing to watch out for is inadvertantly leaving the parking lights on in the daytime.
If you turn off the ignition with the indicator switch on right or left, the side (parking) lights come on on that side. Not always easy to notice in the daylight, especially if you walk away on the unlit side.

[Ruralman]

I'll try another trip to work tomorrow and see if the battery holds up

[kevtherev]

test the battery voltage BEFORE you turn the key in the morning!