ok 6 volt system..216 engine, 1953 1/2 ton pu, stock. i upgraded my battery wires to large gage and routed the ground wire to bellhousing inlieu of frame to get better cranking with the 6 volt system.. works great.. EXCEPT now my battery goes dead just siting in the vehicle for a couple days.. I can't find any lights on, ignition is off... any ideas on why this may be? did not happen before the wire swap.. but I just don't see how the simple wire swap could have done this.. thanks
yep already have a grounding strap from same bolt on belhousing to frame. i was contemplating removing it to see if it made a difference. I just removed the electical connection to wiring harness.. so the only thing hooked up at the moment is the battery negative ground and the starter.. once battery is charged AGAIN i will let it sit like this and see if it dies.. then i will know if the drain is in the harness some where or in the starter circut..
I,d Say Loosin the Battery Cable , Then When it gets dark Pull it off & Look for the Slighest spark , If It Has one Somethings Drawing Current if Not. Might Just Be a Coincidence that the Battery is weak . I,ve Been Having a Run of Bad Luck with 3 New batterys I bought Only 6 Months ago . I Just Cant keep a Charge in Any of them . In A Matter of Days They Go Dead , & Its Not in The Systems . I Charge Them , Test Them & They Show Fine . No Clue Whats Going on in My Situation. Best of Luck with Yours . Bob
I would start with a multimeter and see if you are drawing any current across the battery when everything is off. If you do, then you can start by going through each system and unplugging them to see where the drain is. If there is no current drain, then take the battery fully charged to autozone or ORiley's or some place like that and have them do a load test on it. Good luck let us know what you find out.
ok thanks will try these tips out.. I am sure its not the battery, because I charged it and pulled it out of truck and let it sit on my shop bench for a couple weeks.. stayed charged.. put it back in truck and within 3 days it was dead.. i mean dead dome light would not even light.
Battery Draw You set the meter for the 10 volt DC scale and remove the ground cable and touch the leads between the cable and and the ground post on the battery ~ it might only show a 1 or 2 volt draw but that'll do it . 12 volt system , you use the 20 volt scale . The easy way to test a battery is to charge it up then just disconnect the _gound_ cable and tuck it down behind the battery so the gound post is untouched , then leave it along for 24 hours (or longer if it takes longer to go dead) and re-connect it , if it now cranks right up , you have a current draw . if the battery is dead , it's the battery , no matter what the salesman tries to tell you . Sometime , the old ways are best . Don't forget to use the meter to test the charging rate too...
ok heres the deal. disconnected the wiring harnes.. so only starter hooked up. disconnected neg bat cable from post. volt meter from post to neg cable. have 6volts draw.. put test light same spot glows bright. ok it has to be the stater switch grounding out. heres the question when looking at new starter switches on line there are two types one has a side terminal for adiitional spark during starting.. how does this type get wired? does it actually help during start up..thinking maybe i should upgrade
Most 6v systems didn't have or need this wire. The 12v systems early on used a ballast resistor to cut down voltage to the ignition I guess to extend the life. There was a wire from that post on the starter switch that ran up to the + side of the coil that by-passed the ballast resistor and gave the ignition a full 12v just while the starter was cranking. On rides like GMC or others with positive ground just hook everything up backwards as far as coil/battery/etc. Most convert to negative ground because all accessories are for this.
You Found It ! So now , remove the two screws holding it to the starter and see if maybe the brass threaded post turned a bit when you connected the battery cable to it as there should be NO draw until the switch has been depressed a goodly bit . Remember when working with these switches or any others : POLISH the contacts , never sand or abrade them ! .
No no no ! That's the worst possible solution ! Starter parasitic draw will almost always go to a dead short all of a sudden one fine day and then the fun really begins as your ship of the highway burns to the waterline as you watch helplessly.... Whatever it is , is dead simple to fix so get to it ~ take the starter switch off and see what's the problem , fix it and motor on happliy . Battery disconnect switches are terrific if your parasitic draw is the radio or clock etcetera .
