It's been awhile!

Hi guys,

Just thought I'd stop in, say hi, and see what's new around here. I've been busy moving (again) to a place in south Bellevue the past several weeks, and luckily have a garage. It's nice to finally be settling in new place and catching up with things/people. I don't plan to be doing much with the Falcon in the near future as I'm short on funds, but at least it's inside and out of the weather. I probably will be going to a few events at the XXX in Issaquah as the show season gets underway since it's a short drive from here.

I'd like to be doing more for/with the club, as well as my Falcon, but am going to be continuing to focus on other things - esp. school/getting back to work as well as physical therapy for some ongoing knee problems. Without work, I won't have the falcon for long ;)

I look forward to seeing you guys and gals at some events this summer, and will continue to check in here/come to meetings as I'm able. See you around!

Thor,

Well... you're just over the 520 brindge from the BurgerMaster -- so I hope to see you there at a few meetings.

FWIW, you offer a great deal of insight on the Falcon and so we hope you can keep the car and see it to fruition some day. Don't be afraid to ask for help on it too.

Also, hope you figured out if it was the battery or the starter...

Thanks, Roger - sorry I didn't make the meeting but I can only make so many trips to Seattle a week. If we have a meeting at the Kirkland Burgermaster or XXX, I'll be sure to be there.

I hope I get to keep it too, although factoring the unknowns about the Fastback into the equation it's anybody's guess. What it really needs is the head pulled to extract the broken manifold bolts, and probably a head rebuild. I need to find out if the bottom end is good before doing that in case I need a full rebuild - neither are really in my budget for now though.

I may however do some front end work on it this summer - I have new coils to put in, and probably need to replace the upper a-arms. we'll see. As for the starting issue, I haven't had much time to work on it but did charge the battery again this past week and left the cables disconnected until yesterday. It started right up so I took it for a drive. I pulled the cables off again afterwards, and will try starting it in a few days. If it starts, I will drive it again and then leave the cables connected and see what happens.

Thor,
Do your horns work?.. My ranchero doesn;t have the horns and recently we started noticing a clicking noise.. I traced the noise down to the horn relay tripping.. maybe the relay is causing the drain in your falcon?

Just an Idea..

Nathan

I have always disconnected the battery cable and used a 12 volt test light between the "now removed" battery cable and the "now vacant" battery post. If there is a trickle draw somewhere, the test light will glow. The brighter it is, the higher the draw. You can then start disconnecting things, like fuses, and when the light goes out, you have at least located the area to probe deeper.

You would have to disconnect constant draw items like a clock or a modern radio.

Hi guys,

I somehow missed your responses in my inbox - too many meetup group e-mails! I did try and start it the other day, and it barely started. I haven't time to do anything more (brother's been in the hospital and other stuff) so will probably throw the charger on it again, and then wait a week or two and see if the battery holds a charge. I'm better at mechanics than this electrical stuff - why can't my carb leak or something? ;)

Jeff - so you're saying you put one end of a lead on the battery, and one on the cable? Isn't that just extending the cable, or am I missing something? I don't have a clock or stereo with one - just one simple tape deck from 1985.

Nathan - a horn? What's that? :ROTFLMAO: I need to buy a new steering wheel adapter as mine's bunged up and the wires gone....

Well, I guess that's what it looks like. Basically you are using the test light as a cheap Amp Meter. You are breaking the circuit by removing the battery clamp and then inserting the 12 volt test light in series (between the battery post and the battery cable clamp). You can use a regular Volt Ohm Meter (VOM) set on amps if you like. I have always used the light since it is easier to see from 5 feet away when you are under the dash pulling fuses. If there is even a slight draw, the test lamp will glow. The brighter the glow, the bigger the short (draw). You won't be able to start the car or run any of the accessories until you hook the battery cable back up to the terminal. It is only used for troubleshooting.

A test light is also great for checking fuses. Better than holding them up to the light and you don't have to fiddle with trying to remove them. Hook up the ground end of the light and touch both ends of the fuse with the other while it's still in the holder. If only one end lights the fuse is toast.

Best diagnostics tool under $10 you can have. I also timed my motorcycle with one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jeff W

I have always disconnected the battery cable and used a 12 volt test light between the "now removed" battery cable and the "now vacant" battery post. If there is a trickle draw somewhere, the test light will glow. The brighter it is, the higher the draw. You can then start disconnecting things, like fuses, and when the light goes out, you have at least located the area to probe deeper.

You would have to disconnect constant draw items like a clock or a modern radio.

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I've done the same thing only using a seat belt buzzer, that way you don't even need to look up from what you're doing as you pull fuses.

Great idea! Seat belt buzzer!

BTW: a good percentage of the "shorts" I have found over the years were related to cigar lighter issues.

I wish I'd read this a week ago before my dad took is old Bimmer to the shop for electrical problems, and found a bunch of almost bad fuses. I charged the battery last week and then left the cables unplugged;it was dead the next day. I don't quite understand how it can from sitting for three months (with one or two charges out of the car) and firing up the car no problem to this so quickly - it's less than a year old. I'll go get a new battery probably tomorrow and see what happens.

Jeff - I need to find my shorts, but haven't unpacked them yet from my move :D (whatever happened to the animated laughing smiley?)

Didn't see this post continuing on... What Jeff was suggesting is really the only cheap and easy way to find shorts -- apart from looking in your dresser drawers. :ROTFLMAO: Ha Ha...anyway... The only problem I'd see with a buzzer is that some things are not drawing enough current to drive a buzzer.

I use a amp meter (ammeter) to first determine there is a short (disconnect the negative terminal and connect the ammeter between the neg terminal and the neg post). It should be less than 3 or so milliamps (IIRC). I had one of those new amps in my car fail and was drawing almost a amp all the time -- drove me nuts finding it. If it's a short suspected, then I made a corded light I could run into the car using lamp zip cord with a small lamp on the end -- something like an 1895 or similar. Then the fuse pulled that makes the light go out is at least the circuit -- finding the short is the harder part often times... but you gotta start somewhere.

Thankfully, things seem to be okay now. I went to exchange the battery for a new one a few weeks back, and the former B&B in Redmond (now Car Quest) told me it was bad, but they didn't have another battery. I went to the Bellevue Car Quest and they said the battery was low, but checked out "okay". They kept it for a day and put it on a slow charge, and it's been fine ever since. I've gone a week or two between start ups with no problem. Go figure...

BTW, the guy at car quest (who didn't seem to be a hard salesman) told me that they get their batteries from a different manufacturer than the rest of the parts stores, which is used as a factory battery for many new cars (can't remember the name though) and is much better. However, it doesn't have the ridge on the end for the Mustang/Falcon battery clamp, and apparently this has caused some problems over at Bel-Kirk Mustang. I'm surprised the battery hasn't recognized the market for this product and modified the casing.

Same thing with Optima batteries. You pretty much have to rig up your own clamping system with those too. Anyway, good to hear it's going now. [thumb]