Because of an injury I sustained, my 1950 F1 sat unused in my garage for 6 months. I assumed the battery was low so I hooked up the charger and it said the 6 volt was ready to go. Turned the key and pushed the button and all that happened was a rapid clicking sound. Hooked up the charger again, waited and repeated. More clicking. Please tell me that it is just a battery gone bad. Does anyone have any suggestions other than put in a new battery? Thanks

 

Not really. I don't know where your located but here in PA during this season a battery that sits for 6 months will die. You could check simple things like are the nipples on the battery clean. But to me it sounds like a bad battery.

 

You could take the battery into your local auto parts store and have them do a load test.

 

If your older battery was exposed to elevated temps - like say Florida during the summer - the chemistry may be destroyed. Cold weather will expose weaknesses but heat will kill batteries. Get yours tested, replace if needed, and shine up all the battery and starter connections. Let us know what you find.

 

Thanks to all the wise-ones for the suggestions. I will let you know after the weekend!

 

Clicking usually means there is a current / power related issue. If you get a new battery and it still is doing the clicking, I would check your ground. I had a smilier issue where my starter would just click. I thought I needed to purchase a new starter and it ended up just being that I didn't have the starter grounded correctly. (Note that mine was on a 1967. I do not know anything about pre-1967 trucks, but I would assume it is slightly similar.) What needed up happening with mine was the ground wire got cut some how and was touching where it shouldn't have been. Wrapped the area with electrical tape and never had the issue ever again.

Either way, hope your issue gets resolved.

 

Does anyone have a preferred battery for 6 volt applications?

 

If you can swing it, Optimas are the best - and a bit more pricey. Regardless of the brand, tend to the connections.

 

While you're standing there contemplating your next move, take the handle of a screwdriver or something else and give the solenoid a few taps. It might just spring to life.


And clean your battery terminals well, even if they look good.

 

battery.... nipples? Am I missing something? What's up DOC....

 

I tried cleaning the nipples and she still won't start. lol

 

Sometimes my starter locks up on the ring gear. When I hit the start button it just clicks. Put it in third with turned off and rock the truck a little. That should free it if it is stuck. I have went through batteries, solenoids, starter pull, etc, all to find out sometimes the bendix hangs when it hasn't run in a while. Try it before you tear it down.

 

Tweaking the nipples sometimes works...sometimes not...

 

I had this problem with the 226 in my 51. It was the cam gear. It is made of fiber and is directly engaged with the crank gear. A couple of teeth were worn. It didn't happen every time but got worse over time. It finally gave out going down the highway. I was able to replace it with the engine in the truck.

 

The 6v system needs perfect ground connections. Fought mine for a long time till I read some threads on this site. Wire brushes and grinding got mine cleaned up pretty good.