'66 Bus No Electrical Power

[splittythe66]

After a full rebuild and safety inspection, I happily drove splitty about town. One snowy, blustery night (always the case, isn't it?) I drove out as normal and got to my destination. After about an hour, I had to go home. I put the key in the ignition (the little orange light went on), turned the key, got one click out of the starter and all systems went down. I tried the key again, no light, no power, no starter. I tried a push start, but I'm not burly enough to get the speed up on a snow covered dirt path. The next day the bus started with a boost from another vehicle and I got home safe and sound.

Since I'm a mechanical novice, this situation raises some questions for me and I'd appreciate some advice on what to try next.

1) The belt seems to deflect about 3/4"-1" instead of the prescribed 1/2" that I read about. If the belt is loose, would it drain the battery since, conceivably, the generator isn't spinning fast enough to keep the battery charged while driving?

2) I'm 99.9% sure I didn't leave the lights, or wipers on when I got out but, is the bus' ignition a master kill switch for the electronics (lights etc)? Meaning if the key is out, no electricity is flowing?

3) The high-low beam foot switch was acting finicky that night. It went from low to high to OFF (a bit worrisome and exciting in a snow storm). So maybe there's a short in that switch, but should I tighten the belt first, and then see how things go? Should I buy a new battery? I did get a "good" used one w/ the rebuild.

Thanks in advance.

P.S. Happy New Year!

[static]

The belt is not the problem, but I dunno what is.

Does the battery hold a charge?

[vdubyah73]

Loose battery connections is where I'd start. You might find that the connections can be twisted if you get a little ham fisted with them. If you can twist them on their posts, twist til they get tighter, you may find that it will start right up with out a jump or charge. If you can twist 'em they need to be cleaned and re-tightened. There is stuff you can put on battery terminals to protect from corrosion. I just use wheel bearing grease, old Navy trick, grease is good.

[Amskeptic]

What vdubyah73 says. Anytime a huge demand kills everything, the post/terminal on the battery is your suspect. Scrape the posts and terminals shiny an' hit the road. Don't go tighten the crap out of them just because of this, just snuggish.
Colin

[JLT]

1) The belt seems to deflect about 3/4"-1" instead of the prescribed 1/2" that I read about. If the belt is loose, would it drain the battery since, conceivably, the distributor isn't spinning fast enough to keep the battery charged while driving?

Well, if the belt has been slipping, the generator might not have been putting out full power, thereby not charging the battery. Usually, even a slightly slipping belt provides enough oomph, but if the generator, battery, or voltage regulator is marginal, all bets are off. Likewise for the battery cable connections.

Of course, belts stretch over time, so it may have just been normal stretching over the months since you last checked it. As in life itself, a lot of marginal things can operate smoothly for a long time but suddenly fail under extreme conditions where everything needs to be better than marginal (think of FEMA under Brown).

[splittythe66]

but if the generator, battery, or voltage regulator is marginal, all bets are off. Likewise for the battery cable connections.

I banged my head around the engine compartment today. The battery is clean, tight and still has a charge. The guys who put her back together did a tidy job. I tried starting her anyway since the orange light went on. I tried turning the key, got two clicks from the starter and lost all power and wasn't able to try again (as before).

Makes me wonder about JLT's post. Is the voltage regulator the black box behind the steering column, just below the fuses?

[Amskeptic]

The battery is clean, tight and still has a charge. The guys who put her back together did a tidy job. I tried starting her anyway since the orange light went on. I tried turning the key, got two clicks from the starter and lost all power and wasn't able to try again (as before).

Makes me wonder about JLT's post. Is the voltage regulator the black box behind the steering column, just below the fuses?

Makes me wonder if you are following the directions. . . You cannot just give the terminals a yank and say, "yep, that thar terminal's tight aiight."
You must disassemble the terminal, clean the post shiny, clean the terminal shiny, and reinstall. Like I mentioned above, if an electrical connection does that oxidize trick, it will lay a grey non-conductive film between the post and terminal. Also, see if your positive terminal has that horrid cable strand clamp type end for the cable itself. If it does, you will have to disassemble that too, clean each copper strand of the cable, clean the trough in the terminal as well as the sheet metal clampy thingy.

If you still have this drop dead deal, then the next step is the starter terminal (disconnect the ground at the battery before you go snooping around the starter), remove the 13mm nut and clean all ring terminals shiny particularly the battery cable end and the red wire that leads up to the front.

Before you attempt to start the engine, turn on the headlamps to see if you indeed have a decent surface charge on the battery. Turn them off. Try to start the car. If the car drops dead again, turn on the headlamps again. Are they on as before, or are they out dead? New battery cable is my guess. Check ground cable against body of car for shiny contact (we know you got the battery end shiny. . .) as well as the ground strap between the transaxle and the body of the car. Remember, a battery can have a decent surface charge and puke under the first load placed on it, anyway. Particularly used batteries, unknown batteries, older batteries. . .
Colin

[splittythe66]

Good News! Cleaned the terminals. Found the battery was at 50% charge at the local helpful-mart (no hard sell for a new battery). Charged it up and I'm on the road again. Tomorrow's going to be warm, so I'm taking splitty for a run to see how the system holds up. Hopefully there's not a 'leak' somewhere draining the battery. Thanks!

[Amskeptic]

Good News! Cleaned the terminals. Found the battery was at 50% charge at the local helpful-mart (no hard sell for a new battery). Charged it up and I'm on the road again. Tomorrow's going to be warm, so I'm taking splitty for a run to see how the system holds up. Hopefully there's not a 'leak' somewhere draining the battery. Thanks!

Excellent. Do let us know if any other issues arise.
Colin