The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 1965 voltage

hi guys and gals. customer just brought in a 1965 k10 with some electrical gremlins he needs worked out. inline 6 with a 3 on the tree. looks to be mostly original, with a rough primer paint. any way I started to do some looking and he put In a new battery when he bought it(first trip is to my shop), it's a 12volt. got looking a few things and it looks to me like it's a 6volt system. also has a alt. and when running has 14volts to the regulator. looking for some clarification. the coil system and starter look to be 6volt. TIA

daren

Daren,

If its a '65 it left the factory with a 12 volt system. Lord only knows what's been done since.

John

Unless someone has installed electrical parts 10 years older then the truck, the system should be 12 volt negative ground. The switch to 12V was made with the 2nd. series 1955 models. What color is the metal ID tag, if any, on the starter? It should be red if it's a 12 volt model.
Jerry

in all honesty I'm a ford man, but I own and work on them all nowadays. yea, I think I'm looking at a 6v starter and I'm only getting 6volts to the coil. (darn PO's). no tag on the starter, but I've rebuilt enough to know that it is a 6v(looks like a 216 starter) and judging from the condition of the truck overall, lets say it's cobbled(dead end wires all over). so back to the parts bin I go to make it right.

thanx much
daren

What you're describing is virtually impossible. A 65 truck with a 6 cylinder will have a 230 or 250 engine, and a 216 starter (or any 6 volt) cannot be bolted onto that engine. If the ignition system is working properly, there's a piece of nichrome wire from the ignition switch to the coil that drops the running voltage to slightly over 9 volts when the charging system is producing 14V, to protect the points. The only time you'll see full battery voltage at the coil is while the starter is cranking.

Find a good Chevrolet service manual and read it before you start condemning stuff that's probably working right in the first place.
Jerry

I have some advice for your customer, too.

yea stop buying stuff off of craigslist then ask me to cobble it back together. got the starter off and the brushes are shot as to the reason it was turning too slow. now that it is cleaned up, and repaired, turns over good.
not condemning it, just seen enough cobbled together stuff in the last 20 years to be a little skeptical. also the nichrome wire was replaced with a resister to 6volts with a 6volt coil. put in the wire as it should have been and a stock coil and now runs smooth. it's a 230 btw.

daren

and cletis, every customer has a different budget, and needs. this is a retired gentlemen likes to wheel and deal. over the last 4 years he's brought in some stuff that you would not believe is out there. then asks me to make them road worthy as cheaply as possible. not ideal, but he'll drive around to the swaps till someone wants to trade for something else and he'll be back with that.
not everyone has big money to fix their stuff or cares that its in primer with dead end wires hanging all over, as long as it is reliable. nothing leaves my shop that I think will be dangerous to anyone else on the road. my reputation is good and i'll give ya his number if you like and you can talk to him, make sure that you have some time to chat as he his full of stories, and loves to talk. hell, he'll probably try to trade something with you.

daren

classy.... seems like this forum has always been above such cheap shots