'65 Fastback wont start

[fastback_Ry]

I bought the car from my brother-in-law. He put too big of a battery in it. What kind of damage am I looking at here? Am I looking at starter, starter relay, coil, voltage regulator and/or wires being fried?

[Squid]

What do you mean by "too big?"

Physical size won't make a difference unless the fan catches it (which is a possibility I have done before).

If it's 12 volts, it's okay and if you put it in correctly (positive/negative) it's okay.

From personal experience if you put it in backwards you'll fry the Alternator, Regulator and possibly the wiring harness connected to the alternator.

[fastback_Ry]

He put a battery from a pickup in it. By "too big" I mean voltage wise. When I went to go look at it I asked him start it up. After it ran for about 30 sec. it had that burning electrical smell. A few days later I went back to pick it up. When I started it to load it on the trailer I noticed the alternator light was on. I had the alternator bench tested, it came out bad. So the alternator was replaced and the light is still on. And that may be a different problem all together. Sometimes when you try to start it, it makes the clicking sound and other times it just sits there. I tried by-passing the starter relay to see if that was problem but it didn't do anything different. Tomorrow I plan on getting a multi-meter and chasing componets/wires from the battery on back and see if I come up with anything that way.

[Squid]

Generally (greater than 50% of the time) when you fry the alternator, you fry the voltage regulator. It resides up on the radiator support brace on the driver's side of the radiator. That is also what controls your alternator light. You'll know if the wiring got fried as the insulation will just fall off when you bend the wires slightly. Probably (using my '66 as a guide) it would not be a bad idea to think of replacing wiring -- I just did the alternator harness.
http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?parta~showpic~Z5Z5Z50000016e~Z5Z5Z5EBRIF~Z5 Z5Z51~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z5
See the electrical/alternator harness section from cjponyparts.com ...

[fastback_Ry]

I ordered a new alternator wiring harness after I removed the alternator. Wires seemed brittle, rubber boots were dry rotted and there were exposed wires on the harness. So that should be coming to the house sometime mid-week. I'll check the voltage regulator today along with everything electrical.

Thanks for your input Squid, keep 'em coming.

[boss91gt]

Rember simple is best have the battery checked. I do not drive my car much and when is clicks the batter does not have enough charge to start the car. There is always a drain on the battery when the car sits. When it sits a lot the battery life is shorter. As long as it is 12 volts there is no such thing as to big of a battery. One bad cell in a battery will make is unreliable. Good luck let us know how it turns out.
JS

[Squid]

One other very simple thing when you just "click" when trying to start (I am assuming that you had some interior lights or indications before hitting the key) is either loose or dirty connections on the battery. Autozone or wherever can check your battery to make sure that it's a-ok also.

Another possibility is that the battery cables themselves are old and broken down. It seems that you have about all the possibilities covered. You can bypass the key by using a start switch from the terminal on the solenoid to the 1st small terminal next to it.

[fastback_Ry]

Im on hold right now. Waiting for my alternator wire harness to come in and hopefully by this weekend I can get a handle on this situation. I'll keep you guys posted on what happens, good or bad.

[fastback_Ry]

Problem solved, I got it running last night. Thanks a lot for your help guys. :beerchug: