Got an XE running dizzy and coil with a pair of 45's, but today when out today it back fired and then stalled and wouldn't start.
Realised the battery is crap, but also when running and I remove the negative, it runs better!
Any ideas?
On a similar vain, is it worth replacing the old cavalier coil for one of the high performance jobs?
Cheers, ben
The alternator will be robbing bhp to charge the battery... If you disconnect the battery the alternator will consume virtually zero BHP. After a while the battery should be fully charged and the power goes back to normal. If your batter is knackered, however, it'll be on full charge all the time....
Running an engine with the alternator disconnect could damage the alternator. When you fit a new battery check the charging rate .Suspect the reason it runs better disconnected is as BenB suggests
So basically it is because the battery is buggered then?
I would concur about the knackered battery but I don't understand why running with no battery would wreck the alternator. If there is no power feeding the excitation, then surely the alternator is just a spinning bundle of nothingness??
Disconnecting the battery while running the engine is likely to damage the alternator and even sensitive electrics like the ecu or electronic dash -
you might even blow bulbs. The battery acts like a smoothing filter, taking the spikes out of the supply.
Owelly - I think the alternator would supply its own excitation while running anyway.
Ben - It sounds like your battery is fubar and the power is probably being converted to heat. Best get it replaced asap.
[Edited on 29-7-07 by RazMan]
quote:
Originally posted by RazMan
Disconnecting the battery while running the engine is likely to damage the alternator and even sensitive electrics like the ecu or electronic dash - you might even blow bulbs. The battery acts like a smoothing filter, taking the spikes out of the supply.