My Milano's sick -- so is the Spider

["Bain, Bill" <Bill.Bain@domain.elided>]

Not a good day at Scuderia Bain 

Sunday night I drove the Milano on some errands.  This morning I go to
take it to work and it starts only with great difficulty, idles like dog
poo I can smell gas and it has no power.  Unfortunately, it rolled out
of the garage, but it became clear that it wasn't going anywhere, so I
went and got the accursed Honda's keys and then restarted the Milano to
get it back into the garage, at which point it backfired through the
plenum.  Push the plenum back down, it still idles lousy but I got it
back into the garage -- seems like I can hear a tapping but I'm not
sure.  Timing belt jump?  (I hope not!)  Any thoughts welcome.

Decide, Wot th' H@ll, I'm already late for work, might as well take the
Spider.  I last drove the Spider on a 300+ mile round trip on Saturday.
Get in Spider -- battery's flat, hear the solenoid click but no crank.
Suspect the battery  IIRC, if the alternator's working, I should see 14
volts at the battery posts with the car running, right?  How can one
test for a dead cell in the battery?  I'll toss it on the charger and
charge it up, but something's not right.  Any thoughts also welcome.

I drove the doggone Honda . . . . 

Bill Bain 
AROC Atlanta (I'll pay the dues increase when it comes due -- if I can
afford an Alfa, I can afford $5/month in dues) 
'83 Spider -- sick 
'87 Milano Silver  -- sicker, I fear 

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