oh man, serious power drain..

[bugarit]

helloo, we've recently aquired a non-running 1.6 Aircooled 1980 t3,
we thought we could handle it as the engine was turning over, although slowly & weakly but we didn't think it would be too difficult a job,
but,
we started off looking at plugs & electricaly bits as it wasn't firing,.
the coil was sparking well but the plugs were inconsistant & weak,.
it's got the electri ignition & we're wondering if one of those little boxes
is dodgy?..
now we're having to look at the battery drain, we can't locate the fault,
we've tried the thing where you take the fuses out one by one & it doesn't make a difference, there's a constant power drain, even with the ignition off, & when we turned the key to turn the engine the voltage went down to pretty much 3 before i shut it off, my man's cleaned up the starter connection as it was pretty frayed,
we then tried something we saw on here about bridging the solenoid, we got a few clunks & clicks & then it died, now when we turn the key we get nothing just a click,

Do you think we've killed the solenoid, & can a non working component such as that still draw off the battery?

we don't know where to look now has anybody else had a similar experience?

many thanks,

[Fritz]

I'd be checking the voltage regulator to see if it is at fault, this will be an external unit if your motor is fitted with a dynamo. (similar to one fitted to a beetle)

Unless your van is fitted with all sorts of add-on electrical items such as cigar lighters etc which can short out for no aparent reason and cause similar electrical faults.

Regards

Fritz,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Therunner]

hey, just a quickie,.

just checking me alternator bushes but no where can i find any info'
as to how long they 'should' be, can anyone tell me or if i post a pic can anyone advise me as to wether or not they look f*cked?

thanks

[tonytech]

From the Haynes book (refitting is bloody near impossible, so why did you start)

New brushes are 13mm, buggered are 5mm.

T

[bugarit]

why?
because i've tried everything bl**dy thing else!!!!