Got my Trabant put back together today. 3rd and 4th gear are now working fine but I ran into an electrical problem which could pertain to any car.
The car has a 6V charging system.
Just like my 68 Ford, 87 Yugo this car is hard to start in the summer because it's carburated. Maybe?
So I'm at my parents house and try to crank it over. Eventually the starter motor just quits spinning all of a sudden and I have no power. None at the headlights, horn, interior light. No battery light in the speedometer either.
I start checking connections and can't really find anything out of the ordinary.
My battery voltage is 6.21 volts. You would think this would be enough to at least cause the interior light to glow dim.
So I hook a battery charger to the battery set at 6 volts. Now I have power but still the starter refuses to spin over. So I tried another one.
What's weird is the needle on both battery chargers I have tried reads 0 amps as if the battery is fully charged. And I can't hear either of them "HUMMM".
So I tested the voltage directly from my Sears charger. It produces 8.3 volts. Yet when it's connected to the battery it reads the same as if it was not even connected (6.1 volts).
I've checked some of the connections. I have not ruled out the ignition switch but some circuits don't go through the ignition switch like the interior light.
Negative battery cables checks out OK as well as power at the starter.
I'm wondering if the battery has shorted out. It will be 3 years old sometime this year and just has a 12 month warranty on it.
Almost sounds to me like the battery has shorted out and is sucking the juice while trying to recharge the battery with a charger?
The car has a 6V charging system.
Just like my 68 Ford, 87 Yugo this car is hard to start in the summer because it's carburated. Maybe?
So I'm at my parents house and try to crank it over. Eventually the starter motor just quits spinning all of a sudden and I have no power. None at the headlights, horn, interior light. No battery light in the speedometer either.
I start checking connections and can't really find anything out of the ordinary.
My battery voltage is 6.21 volts. You would think this would be enough to at least cause the interior light to glow dim.
So I hook a battery charger to the battery set at 6 volts. Now I have power but still the starter refuses to spin over. So I tried another one.
What's weird is the needle on both battery chargers I have tried reads 0 amps as if the battery is fully charged. And I can't hear either of them "HUMMM".
So I tested the voltage directly from my Sears charger. It produces 8.3 volts. Yet when it's connected to the battery it reads the same as if it was not even connected (6.1 volts).
I've checked some of the connections. I have not ruled out the ignition switch but some circuits don't go through the ignition switch like the interior light.
Negative battery cables checks out OK as well as power at the starter.
I'm wondering if the battery has shorted out. It will be 3 years old sometime this year and just has a 12 month warranty on it.
Almost sounds to me like the battery has shorted out and is sucking the juice while trying to recharge the battery with a charger?