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Tom Wesenberg · 02-19-2014, 03:53 PM

Put a 3 to 6 amp charger on the battery right away and leave it on for about 10 hours. It's hard on the battery to leave it discharged, and that sounds like what happened. After the battery is charged try to start the car, then run it at a fast idle and check the voltage on both sides of the cutout. The readings should be equal. If the generator side is lower, then the generator isn't working. If the generator side is higher, then the cutout must not be making good contact inside to the output side, which should read battery voltage. If the cutout seems to be bad just jump across the two terminals with a good clip lead, then read the ammeter. You can drive this way for years as long as you disconnect the jumper as soon as the engine isn't running.

Bert's sells restored original cutouts. I always use an original cutout and have never had a problem with it.

02-19-2014, 03:53 PM	#16
Tom Wesenberg Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mpls, MN Posts: 27,582	Re: Car won't start. Help! Put a 3 to 6 amp charger on the battery right away and leave it on for about 10 hours. It's hard on the battery to leave it discharged, and that sounds like what happened. After the battery is charged try to start the car, then run it at a fast idle and check the voltage on both sides of the cutout. The readings should be equal. If the generator side is lower, then the generator isn't working. If the generator side is higher, then the cutout must not be making good contact inside to the output side, which should read battery voltage. If the cutout seems to be bad just jump across the two terminals with a good clip lead, then read the ammeter. You can drive this way for years as long as you disconnect the jumper as soon as the engine isn't running. Bert's sells restored original cutouts. I always use an original cutout and have never had a problem with it.