My 1954 was running fine up until recently. I have absolutely no kind of power! I can't turn on the headlights, the starter motor doesn't turn over with the key in the ignition. Nothing works??? I turned off the truck, then went to restart it a few hours later, and there is no electrical power it seems. I know the battery is good because I checked with a multimeter and also hooked up a battery charger to it. I checked the battery cables and ground strap, they are all intact and nothing loosened up. I think a wire in the dash might be the issue...maybe it disconnected or something? I don't know where to start!!! What main wire actually feeds electrical power into the dash that can cause this issue if it was disconnected??? Seems there is no power entering in? Thanks!!!
MOST (not all) power goes from the battery + terminal to one of the posts on the ammeter, through the ammeter, out the other ammeter post and on to places like the headlight switch, horn circuit and ignition switch. You say "absolutely no power". To me that means the horn and headlights do not work either. Is that true? Is this a stock electrical system? Your comment "the starter motor doesn't turn over with the key in the ignition" implies to me that your truck has a key starter instead of a stomp starter. Unless it is Hydra-Matic equipped, the key starter would not be stock. We need to understand what you are working with to provide accurate input.
That is correct, negative horn and headlights. To actually start the truck, there is a push button on the dash that activates the starter, that isn't working either. It is a stock electrical system.
So, would a bad ammeter prevent electricity going to the ignition, headlight switch, and horn? I guess I can bypass the ammeter and connect the 2 wires to test if electricity goes to the horn, headlight switch, and ignition?
Use a 10 or 12 gauge jumper across the ammeter terminals and see if anything works. The main feed wire for everything electrical on the truck is the one on the starter terminal along with the battery cable. To eliminate this as a source of problem run a long jumper from positive post on battery to terminal on ammeter. While long jumper is connected run to head light junction block on left inner fender and see if lights work. If they do it's a wiring problem.
is this a 12v system? you stated you checked with a multi meter .. did you just check volts?. A battery can show correct volts but if there is not enough amperage nothing will happen. Start simple and have your battery tested
Sounds good and thanks for the advice. I will try the jumper wire and a longer wore from the battery to the headlight junction. And yes, it is a 12v system.
So I tried using a jumper wire with alligator clips across the leads of the ammeter, still no working headlights or starting/cranking. I checked all the connections and everything is good. I also followed the power feed wire from the ammeter back to solenoid it was tight along with the positive battery cable. All of a sudden, I noticed my headlights are working and now I can crank over the motor, really weird!!! I double checked the ground cable from the negative post of the battery to the transmission and it was tight. But after the truck started working, I checked the positive battery cable wire that connects to the terminal before battery post and there was slight movement. The cable wire was still touching the battery thermal, but I decided to tighten it a little bit. It doesn't make sense that the truck is now working when I essentially really didn't find anything loose. I do know even though the positive battery cable wire was a loose while wiggling it, the headlights should of worked, but obviously there was a good enough connection for the starter to crank, doesn't make sense. QUESTION: Is using a jumper wire with alligator clips attached to both posts in the back of the ammeter strong enough for voltage to cross creating a direct circuit from the power feed line to the headlight switch and starter button, so at least the headlights work? If your ammeter is bad internally, can electricity still flow across the post, to still supply electricity to the headlights switch and starter push button. I should of used my voltmeter initially to check the voltage before and after the connections at the rear of the ammeter, but decided to go ahead with a jumper wire instead, now I really don't know if electricity was flowing before the miracle the truck starting working again.
One battery problem that is often overlooked is oxidation between the clamp and post. This does not look like corrosion. It is a hard black material that doesn't conduct electricity. The post and clamp need to be scraped clean, showing fresh metal, to eliminate the problem. The alligator clips will provide adequate power for horn or headlights, but may not engage starter. The loose wire you reported could very well be the problem... any time you find a loose connection, it should be removed and checked for arcing damage and cleaned up before reattaching .
good point.. amps and volts can make a difference. I don't understand it all. A 12 volt battery can read 13.2 volts on a multi. meter but... if there is no poop behind it (amps) nothing happens.
