So, after dropping a wad of money on the Vette - including a new battery - I went out Friday for a quick trip to Horrible Fright and the freakin' baddry was deader'n a hammer.

Expletives were uttered. Spent an hour investigating, at first I thought it was a loose positive cable. Well, yes, but...the battery was showing 12v but not holding it. Plus I was seeing sparks as I wiggled the cable with EVERYTHING off. Some sort of load on it that shouldn't be there. Also could hear something clicking like a relay or solenoid. Uttered more expletives and took the RAV to town.

One thing I'm slightly more likely to do in my old age is avoid working on stuff when I'm pissed off at it. That never ends well. Ignored it Friday other than putting a charger on the battery which I'd removed, stayed busy doing other things Saturday and this morning felt composed enough to investigate further.

Hooked my remote start button (which is what I went to town for Friday, for working on the 8N) between the battery and the positive cable and looked around for what was clicking. Turns out the motors for the flip-up headlights are getting power all the time, even with the key and the headlight switch off. Oddly, they are NOT trying to flip the headlights, just clicking when the battery is hooked up.

I have the full shop manuals so I'll figure out why later, but for now I just unhooked them. Don't drive it after dark anyway.

When working 40+ years turning wrenches, I accumulated some projects to keep me busy, '76 Ford F250 4x4, '76 Dodge 4x4, 83 CVCC Honda Civic.
Well, retirement came and I no longer have the desire to work on them and sold them.
Reason I mention this, if you have old iron rides, they have to be driven a lot.
Mice like to make them their home so look for nests, damage, etc. if you have electrical issues.

I never worked much on cars other than oil, brakes, coolant changes etc. but if you have an older one I think you better be able to work on it. Or have money and a good mechanic that knows older stuff.

My 50 yr old Midget has been down for a while. Needs a fuel pump & a new ignition switch.

Time & $.
Have the fuel pump just not the time to tackle it.

Spent two days last week changing front control arms and bushings on my son's 99 S10. Still trying to get people to followup on craigslist to source some tires to replaces the ones he trashed driving it with the alignment off.

I have a '68 and a '77. I enjoy working on them, mostly because I can. My newer truck I don't even think about anything more complicated than changing the oil. The only frustration is getting parts usually requires shipping vs. just running down to the auto parts store and picking one up like we used to. There's some good vendors out there though with quality parts...even really obscure items that you'd think no way anybody has them. Somebody has them.

I’ve got a 1972 Harley FLH.
So I feel your pain as far as always having to work on something.

I have a few friends that are all Shovel / Pan Head owners. They love the classic bikes and cars.

One of the best things I’ve heard from them was:
“At this point in my life, I like my bikes like I like my women. I don’t want to wrench on it or fix it for an hour before I go. I just want to warm it up, throw my leg over it and ride.”

Wise words from a wise man.

I have found that the only thing that is more fun than swapping an inner tube from a 14" wheel is swapping the tire pressure sensor from a 22" wheel.

Adjusting the contacts on an external voltage regulator, setting float drop, or adjusting the choke angle? Been there, done that.

Changing out the vacuum pump on the charcoal canister and still have the code? Cussworthy.

Have a friend that from day 1 his 2006 Z06 (big block) Corvette that a parasitic electrical draw that would draw the battery down every 2 days .. Never could find the problem even with dealership looking.... He eventually installed a in-line disconnect in the electrical circuit that fixed the problem. .......... drill sgt.

I imagine a mouse family running a tanning salon somewhere in your garage, with an endless supply of free electricity.

What year is your Corvette?

Paul's is a 1990

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Paul's is a 1990

I have an `01. That's way older than mine.

I’d rather work on my 82 FLH or my 67 Pontiac 2+2 over my 02 FLHTPI or my 2012 Wrangler any day.

The Pontiac and it’s tale of ignition woes.

Started out with breaker points, went to a Pertronix kit to eliminate the points. Worked for about 5k and failed. Ok, so I put in a Mallory magnetic sensor distributor and coil. Worked “allegedly” fine but a year ago coming home from a car show it quit. Cooked an ignition coil. From what I read that coul failure could also damage the distributor pickup, translated to English between that and the coil about four hundred dollars or so to replace both. No bueno.

So last fall I finally succumbed to dropping in a GM big cap HEI, so simple any dummy like me can fix it and parts are available anywhere. I fought against those HEI units despite their being simple, I was trying to keep the underhood looking original.

Originality vs. dependability, guess what won out? I’m too old to walk.

quote:

Originally posted by drill sgt:
Have a friend that from day 1 his 2006 Z06 (big block) Corvette that a parasitic electrical draw that would draw the battery down every 2 days .. Never could find the problem even with dealership looking.... He eventually installed a in-line disconnect in the electrical circuit that fixed the problem. .......... drill sgt.

IIRC, parking it in Reverse would do something to eliminate/reduce the issue.
When I worked for a Chevrolet dealer in college [08-10] we were instructed to park the [MT equipped] Vettes in the showroom in R.
Still had to charge them from time to time, though.