Triumph Repair: tr6 not charging, light bulb burns, english cars

Question
hey jim,
i have a 74 tr6 and i cant seem to get it to keep a charge on the battery. i have a new alternator put in and even had it cheched out at auto advance and they said its fine.plus a new battery.i have the petronics ignition system in it and a flame thrower coil to match.but for some reason it would stay charged or maybe not getting charged .any ideas? txs bern

Answer
Bernie,

When you turn on the ignition, does the ignition light come on?

The alternator works by have an "input" lead and the power output to the battery.  Most english cars are wired with the "input" lead wired through the igntion light.  If the light bulb burns out, the system won't charge.

If that's not the issue, it's time to break out the voltmeter and wiring diagram and start chasing connections.  You might have something drawing power when the ignition is off that's draining the battery.  Or something is mis-wired in the charging system.

Cheers,


Jim