[DeTomaso] question for the world

[astephens]

. The question came up how long would a car run without ANY
> charging going to the battery?


        Till it runs out of gas?  I suspected a bad battery in my 88 GMC 
pick up truck.  It wouldn't start unless I had the battery charger hooked up 
to it.  Having no other running vehicle,  I drove the truck to the auto 
parts store to test the battery.  Knowing if the problem was the starter and 
not the battery and that I would be screwed if I shut the engine off,  I 
removed the battery while the engine was running and what do you know,  it 
continued to run!  The battery tested fine and the parts guy told me that 
sometimes when a starter starts going bad,  it will require more amps to 
start the engine.  That is apparently what was happening.  The starter 
needed more amps than my good battery could provide.  I replace the starter 
and all was well.

Art