Re: [T3] Finally Getting Greasy

[Stan Schaefer <stans4@americanisp.net>]

You might have chosen the wrong car to own if you don't want to do
your own work.  T3s take regular, but cheap, maintenance to keep
running.  If you don't do it yourself, it'll get pretty expensive,
particularly since most air-cooled mechanics don't know one end of a
T3 from the othe(some don't know a T1 front from rear, either).  If
the maintenance isn't performed at all, it gets really expensive, with
results ranging from merely inconvenient to life-threatening.  I'd
suggest you get both the Bentley factory manual and Muir's Idiot's
Guide. You'll need the factory manual in any case, undoubtedly
whomever you take it to won't have it and that's got the circuit
diagrams in it.  There's a lot of hack mechanics out there and if you
don't know what things are supposed to look like, how will you know
when the guy is finished if he's done it right?

Meters are cheap, ranging from the Harbor Freight $9.99 one($4.99 on
sale) to whatever you're willing to pay.  Radio Shack has a decent
selection for cheap.   My cars all have a cheapy in the tool box.
Good for checking bulbs and fuses as well as battery charge.

Muir has the relay mod for the starter in the back of the book, but
you'd better get the wiring straight first.  Uses a standard 12v Ford
starter relay, available anywhere.

I've never had a starter burn out, so I can't really tell you where to
look.  I've had field windings fall apart(a bad rebuilt) and solenoids
go bad, but have never have actually burned one out.  

My approach would be to take the factory manual circuit diagram and a
meter and trace continuity from the battery through the ignition
switch to the starter.  Somewhere there you've got a break in the
current path.

On Sun, 06 Aug 2000 11:05:10 -0500, you wrote:

>Tony Adams wrote:
>
>> While starting the car, a lot of current goes through your ignition switch, there is
>> a relay mod that is fairly well documented to avoid doing what it sounds like you
>> just did to your ignition switch.
>
>Tony (and All):
>
>A "relay mod" as in "modification" or "module" or what? What relay? The ignition switch
>still appears to work other than that it no longer engages the solenoid.
>
>I don't have any electrical diagnosis equipment, and honestly, that's something I'd much
>rather leave to someone else...someone who will warranty the work. I have a long and
>scar-ridden history of messing with electricity.
>
>The PO said he burned out a couple starters trying to get the car in running order. Any
>idea what would do that more than once?
>
>Thanks, y'all,
>Carmody
>
>PS: About the tin under the engine...I guess the lack of them explains how several of my
>pushrod tubes got dented.
>

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