Electrical problem has me stumped

[Rusty Homestead Fl]

Just because you're reading 6 volts on your meter doesn't mean you have enough amps to turn over the engine ( or horn or lights etc.) Kinda like a 6 volt flashlight battery will read 6 volts but won't do a thing to start your engine.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Most likely is poor battery posts to cable connections, or battery cable to terminal at battery post.
Make sure the ground connection is good.
Probe the battery posts as you hit the starter to make sure battery voltage stays good.
Probe across battery posts and cables to check for voltage drop while pressing starter button.

[1931 flamingo]

Have jumped 6v with 12v many times. Ign sw, amp, or fuse may be bad. Voltage at the coil?? At the junction block??
Paul in CT

[rivcokid]

UPDATE - Changed the fuse and still nothing. Checked the starter rod - it was fine. So, I took the starter switch off and lo and behold there was a huge crevice on the starter contact button (on the starter) where it looks like there was some serious arcing or other such nonsense, due undoubtedly to the 12 v jump starts I got. Similarly on the switch itself - I think that because of these two things, there is either no or practically no connection being made when I hit the starter rod to the switch. Will try to build them up tomorrow and see if I can make a connection. More later, and as always thanks for the ideas and advice!

[ryanheacox]

That could be why the starter isn't cranking but it still doesn't explain why every other electrical device in the car isn't working.


Have you checked your battery cables?

[rivcokid]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Hmmmm. Good point. Yes, I've checked the cables but I really haven't gone past the starter. The red book has various tests to do, but most of them involve cranking the engine, which I can't do, so I'm rather stuck, at least to my newbie mind!

[ryanheacox]

It sounds like the tests the red book wants you to do are too far ahead of your current situation. To my mind the starter can almost be treated as it's own isolated system since it doesn't care about the rest of the electrical system. The only common electrical connection the starter and the rest of the electrics have are the main battery cables.


As of right now, I would clean up the the starter switch best you can and reassemble everything and see if the starter works. If it still does nothing and you know the switch is making good contact you know either the starter is dead or the battery cables are making poor/no connection.


Judging by the fact that NOTHING electrical in the car is working my bet is the battery cables.

[Badpuppy]

Bad battery connection to the frame could do it. A 12V jump might provide enough power to overcome the high resistance. And 6V starters have been used for years on 12V with no problems, according to some.

[rotorwrench]

Confusion is sewn into a thread if a person doesn't describe things using proper nomenclature such as starter terminal, battery terminal, fuse holder, terminal box, etc. .

Normally model A types have no fuse or circuit protector of any kind so they are add ons and a fuse holder is generally installed at the starter terminal. You should have power at the terminal on the starter if all connections are clean and tight. Loose ground connection or power connection would be suspect. If you have power on the starter terminal but no power at the out put of the fuse holder at the starter terminal then the fuse is loose or bad. The starter should turn over even if the wire from the fuse holder to the terminal box is completely disconnected. Nothing else will work but the starter should turn. If you connect the wire to the terminal box then there should be power to all other switches including the pop out. Loose connections in one of the newer repo type terminal boxes can get hot enough to melt the terminal box plastic. They aren't a quality product like the original Bakelite types were.

If all connections are clean and tight, the battery is the primary suspect whether new or not. Internal condition of the conductor cables would be the only other suspect in that case. They can corrode and break connection internally if they are old and in poor condition. The battery cables should be a good quality #0 gauge conductor wire cable assembly. #1 gauge might work but 0 or larger would be preferable.

[rivcokid]

Ok all - it's time for me to come clean. The problem turned out to be the nut behind the multi-meter! I just got a new one and had it set incorrectly! Once I figured that out, I was able to find that it was in fact the battery as rotorwrench mentioned above - my new 6 volt battery registered a whopping 3.14 (Pi) volts! It was a new Optima battery to replace the one that died - but I'd heard recently on Facebook that the newer Optima batteries are not always that great. Regardless, I was able to recharge it (which is a whole other story) and by yesterday afternoon, I was driving it around!

Here's a point for everyone - I have a new Diehard 6/12 volt battery charger. It gives instructions for recharging the battery if it's still in the car, and if it's out of the car. The former led to a number of mis-charges - that is, the voltage would go up, then down, then quit. Once I disconnected the battery from the car and charged it according to the guidelines for out of the car, it charged right up in about 2-3 hours.

Thanks again everyone for your input! Now to go have a big plate of crow . . . . .!

[Dick Steinkamp]

Thanks for the update.

I would suggest you still have electrical problems. 2 dead batteries in a row suggest it may be something other than bad batteries.

Also, an external charger should properly charge a battery when the battery is in the car and hooked up since there should be no draw on the battery in that situation.

If the battery goes dead for the 3rd time, you probably should look further for a draw. One common one is a sticking brake light switch.

[Brentwood Bob]

Good electrical connections are very important to a 6volt system. Clean and tight.

[woofa.express]

Thanks again everyone for your input! Now to go have a big plate of crow . . . . .![/QUOTE]


Now Rivcokid, there is something you must get straight. To prepare your meal. Boil crow with a brick for 3 maybe 4 hours. Remove the crow and eat the brick.

[30 Closed Cab PU]

If not already checking - every time you turn the motor off - check the ammeter.

[big job]

The definition of "modern" equals 'Junk" and battery's are at the top of the list.

[holdover]

I have 11 vehicles licensed and insured, 6 modern 5 antique, plus a couple of farm vehicles. Most of them sit for long periods of time, some with battery maintainers plugged in, some without. When I go to start one and it doesn't crank, the first thing I go to , to check the battery, is my Harbor Freight battery load tester. There are other brands that do the same thing, but it was 20.00 about 10 years ago and works great, even though it doesn't say Snap On on it. A voltage tester tells little about the state of the battery, a load test shows whether it has enough power to start the engine. It is the first tool I use to determine a possible battery problem. If the battery checks out OK then on to battery cables etc etc. if not a charge and then another load test, if it fails after a correct charge, then a new one is called for. I know that many on this forum do not have a auto mechanic background, but a battery load tester is easy to use and inexpensive, and worth the small investment.