The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 6V starter help.

Working on a 1950 with original 216 engine (rebuilt years ago). I'm having trouble getting to the bottom of a sudden won't turn over issue. All of the wiring was replaced with a reproduction, original-style harness several years ago. Starter had been replaced around the same time with a rebuilt one from Napa.

The truck had been starting and running fine for years, then suddenly wouldn't turn over.

I knew the 6V battery was getting old and hadn't been holding a charge well. So I figured the battery was the issue. I replaced that and it didn't help.

Then started trying to diagnose the issue and I'm stumped. I've removed and cleaned all wiring connections to the battery and starter. It's using the correct style (hefty gauge battery cables).

Using a meter, I can see that I'm getting 6.3V at the starter switch. I've removed and checked the switch to ensure the plunger is contacting correctly and all seems fine.

After seemingly eliminating all the battery and cable issues, I figured the issue must be the starter itself. I swapped that with another newly rebuilt one. Still nothing. No sounds or movement from the starter.

I even removed the starter plunger switch and tried to apply direct positive battery cable directly to the copper post on top of the starter (with switch removed). Still nothing.

For the life of me, I'm stumped.

I could be wrong, but I don't think anything in the ignition circuit would be affecting this. I mean (prior to this issue) the starter would fire even with the ignition off, which I think is correct. If it matters, with the ignition ON the positive terminal on the coil shows 5.5V.

What am I missing here?

Thanks in advance.

Sounds like it could be a ground issue from the battery to the block/transmission case. 6v systems HAVE to have a clean, solid ground to crank the starter.

Try connecting a known good battery ground cable directly to one of the starter attaching bolts. The original ground path has several connections, and a loose or dirty connection at any of them will cause the problem you're having. I make my own 6V cables from #0 arc welder wire. Do the headlights, horn, heater blower, and other electrical parts work?
Jerry

Thanks, Jerry. Good suggestion.

I ran out of time to try the cable straight to the starter attaching bolts, but you did clue me in to something that I'd overlooked. The headlights and horn are NOT working right now. I got so focused on the starter not turning I overlooked this.

Does that indicate a bad ground as well or should I be looking for something else as the culprit?

Currently, I have 1-gauge positive and negative cables. The negative goes from the battery out to the engine compartment and to the braided ribbon-like cable that bolts just behind starter lever spring.

Again, thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. It's appreciated.

1 gauge is way too small for a 6 volt starter. It should be enough for headlights though.
Where do you have the negative cable bolted to?

Negative cable from battery is bolted to the frame adjacent to the starter area and directly connected to the ribbon ground strap to engine. See attached.

Last weekend I experienced a similar problem.

Starter wouldn't turn over or make any sound. Battery, however, showed 6.3 volts. Long story short, when the battery was tested under load at the parts store, it died immediately. New battery fixed things right up.

Have you tried to jump start the truck or connect a known good battery? Even a twelve volt battery can be used to test your starter. Don't turn anything else on, though.

I second Otto's advise.
Take battery down to a flaps and have it Tested!
6.3 sounds good until a load on it and Bam NO Good!
Todd

00 gauge cables! That "Ribbon" is always a problem.

Put that v-meter across the bat terms & turn on the lights. If the voltage drops way off, the bat is discharged or dead. Charge it up & try again. If it stays at that volts you have a bad ground. I would connect the neg. cable to one of the trans. cover bolts. Then clean up the braded cable where it is connected to the frame & engine. That is the way it came out from the factory & has worked for many years.

George

Thanks, all. I'll try what George suggests tomorrow and report back.

Although the battery is new I suppose it could have been bad from the get-go.

Measure the battery terminal voltage when it's loaded- - - -have someone step on the start pedal and hold it down while you test for voltage AT THE BATTERY POSTS- - - - -not the terminal clamps. A voltage reding near zero indicates a bad battery. Little or no drop in voltage with the starter switch engaged indicates an open circuit. Clean and test every connection- - - -hot and ground- - - -until you find the dirty one. Any non-loaded circuit will show full battery voltage- - - -even with poor connections. The only reason for those short braided ground straps was Chevy's "baby chicken" business model- - - - -"CHEEP- - - -CHEEP- - - -CHEEP!" They didn't cost as much as a heavy cable from the battery to the engine block on hundreds of thousands of vehicles. It's also possible to get enough paint on the starter housing to keep it from grounding to the end bell where the gear drive is located.
Jerry

Take the braided ground strap off at the stomp starter linkage strap. Under the braided ground strap there will be the stomp starter linkage strap. Under the linkage strap is the block. That represents a lot of opportunity for less that perfect continuity between the ground strap and the block.
I solved this problem on my truck by placing the ground strap directly on the block, then put the stomp starter linkage strap on top of the ground strap, then put the bent sheet metal piece on top of that.
I also put a washer under the linkage strap at the rear where the other bolt is to level the linkage strap to compensate for the ground strap being under the linkage at the front.

Thanks for all the help here. Here's what I found:

Checked the battery posts with a voltmeter and as soon as I flipped the headlight switch to ON the voltage dropped to nothing.

Took the battery in for testing and sure enough it was faulty.

Brought the replacement battery home, installed it and manually pushed the starter switch on top of the starter with my fingers. Nothing.

After a little sleuthing, I removed the switch from the top of the newly acquired, NAPA rebuilt starter. I could apply the positive battery cable to the starter's copper terminal and it would spin.

Checked the new switch and completely pushed in the copper contacts were not touching one another. I found an old switch on a dead starter, checked it and it worked.

Back in business - finally.

Again, many thanks for the help here.

Haha! Checking the basics always pays off. Funny that your trouble was identical to mine.

Thanks Otto! Yes, I'm fortunate to learn from your experience.

Sorry. I missed this earlier. i think I understand what you're saying. I didn't think about doing this, but it seems like a good idea. I'll try it. Thanks for the suggestion.

A better idea is to grab that braided ground strap and throw it as far out into the bushes as you can. Then use a real battery cable instead, a 0 or 00 size. Braided grounds are an electrician's nightmare. The only reason GM used short braided grounds from battery to frame to engine was the insistence by the bean counters to pinch pennies on the assembly line at every opportunity. It's the "baby chicken" approach to production- - - -"CHEEP- - - -CHEEP- - - -CHEEP"!