The Ford Barn

bikemaniac · 07-07-2014, 06:34 PM

Hi,
I am on my way doing all the electrical work on my 1930 tudor which still has the original generator and cut out relay. When the car is off and I hook up the final heavy gauge cable to the battery, it sparks a little when connecting. At the same time the ammeter reading goes to a full discharge reading. I can turn on the lights and use the horn just fine in this "mode", but I have a bad feeling. If I disconnect the cables from the cut out relay to effectively bypass the cut out relay (and connect them with a screw and a nut) there is no spark when hooking up the final cable and the ammeter stays put at 0. I can now turn on the lights with a normal ammeter discharge reading. Is my cut out relay observation indicating a faulty relay, can it be repaired ... or is it just normal? Can I use a multimeter to test the cut out relay in some way?
Lucas

07-07-2014, 06:34 PM	#1
bikemaniac Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Copenhagen Posts: 177	Cut out relay troubleshooting? Hi, I am on my way doing all the electrical work on my 1930 tudor which still has the original generator and cut out relay. When the car is off and I hook up the final heavy gauge cable to the battery, it sparks a little when connecting. At the same time the ammeter reading goes to a full discharge reading. I can turn on the lights and use the horn just fine in this "mode", but I have a bad feeling. If I disconnect the cables from the cut out relay to effectively bypass the cut out relay (and connect them with a screw and a nut) there is no spark when hooking up the final cable and the ammeter stays put at 0. I can now turn on the lights with a normal ammeter discharge reading. Is my cut out relay observation indicating a faulty relay, can it be repaired ... or is it just normal? Can I use a multimeter to test the cut out relay in some way? Lucas