WarrenW

Hi Everyone,

My 65 coupe with L6 has been running fine. Then yesterday afternoon the car cut off at the low idle. I thought nothing of it and cranked back up. Turned out I needed to keep it reving to keep from cutting off the rest of the day. Now this morning it hardly turned over once and now won't crank - dead battery. Nothing was left on either.

Could a low battery cause the car to cut off if it was not putting enough out for the ignition to keep going? I would imagine the alternator is fine but if that was bad too, then would it cut off like that at low idle? Anyone have this? I'm just trying to see if the two are connected together where if I fix the electrical issue it will no longer cut off. Gotta go put the charger on the battery which is only a few months old.

Thanks,

Warren

zmetalmilitia

Usually, once the car is running the alternator will keep it running and charge a dead or near dead battery. Sounds like it could be the alternator and the electrical is running off the battery which causes it to die.

WarrenW

Sounds convincing but once the car does start, it will stay running with a higher rpm. Once it cuts off, thats it now. I had the battery on the charger for a while and just tried to crank it which it did. But then cut off and the battery was dead again. The starter will not engage fully now.

Starfury

I'm shooting for bad battery. These older alternators don't charge very well, if at all, at low rpm's. that means you're running on battery power until you get moving again, and if the battery is weak, the car won't want to keep running. Yank the battery and alternator and take both in to your nearest chain parts store to get them tested.

WarrenW

I'm gonna pickup a new battery when my wife gets home with the luxury minivan!

I tried charging it again and it was the same with no charge. I think I will still have the alternator checked out. Even if a store tells me the alternator is working fine, is there a way to tell if it is charging the battery? In otherwords, check the rest of the electrical to make sure it is getting back to the battery for charging?

Thanks

Warren

Starfury

Yes, but you need a voltmeter.

WarrenW

I have a volt meter. Where do I check it at? On the battery terminals themselves?

Starfury

Yes. Voltage with the car off should be 12.4-12.8V. Voltage with the engine running at 1500rpm should be 13-14V. That's a really simple test, but it'll show any obvious problems. If you're getting more than 14V, your voltage regulator is bad. If you're getting battery voltage, the system isn't charging.

WarrenW

Thanks! I'll give that a try tomorrow. Just put a new battery in it and cranked right up without a problem! And it didn't want to cut off at low rmp's either which made sense.

Warren

wumarshall82

I am definetly interested in seeing what your meter reads.

My car is not cutting off when cranked but once I let it sit for a couple of days the battery dies. I need to get a voltage meter and check to make sure nothing is draining it and I also need to get the battery/alternator checked as well. It seems there is a lot of these problems lately...