Today "Floyd" wouldn't start. Starter won't turn. Charged the battery (6V) - nothing.

Looking around I find the positive lead from the battery runs to a bolt on the transmission. Do some reading in my shop manual and see several pictures that seem to indicate the truck is positive ground although it doesn't say that explicitly.

Turned the battery cables around (to positive ground) and the starter still won't run.

I don't hear the typical click of a solenoid rather a single click when pushing the starter button then nothing.

Before turning the cables around on the battery I did try to jump the starter with no good result. Haven't tried that with the positive ground setup.

1. Do I have a positive ground truck?
2. Once the ground type is determined where do I turn to troubleshoot?

Indebted to you guys already so kinda hate to ask again.

 

Not sure what you mean by 'turned the cables around'. What did you physically do?

This is a '54, correct?

 

Yes, you do have a positive ground truck. So be sure the positive cable is connected securely and cleanly to the engine or bellhousing. Next thing to check is that you have a fully charged and good condition battery. If you still have troubles, try bypassing the electrical circuit and go straight to the starter from the battery with jumper cables. Especially with 6v systems, grounds and connections are very important to have clean and tight. Go through the list step by step and check the starter, too, if you still don't get results. It could be bad, also.

 

Replying to FortyNiner, what I meant by turning the cables around is I had hooked them to battery with a negative ground so "turned them around" to a positive ground.

52, I thank you again for your help. I will do as you instruct.
Regarding the positive lead from the battery, right now it is bolted to the transmission where I believe it was when I first got the truck. I can't find anything in the shop manual that addresses that location but it has worked that way in the past.

 

So, prior to the turning the battery, you were running as a negative ground?

 

I took the battery out of the truck months ago as I began the refresh. I just put it back in today to move the truck and have to assume that previously it was set up as positive ground which I didn't pay attention to.

 

Gotcha - now I understand

 

I know on my old truck if the three grounds are not clean and tight it doesn't want to do much. I have one from the battery to block, block to frame and frame to cab. I guess they need a lot of grounds for the 6 volt systems to work properly.

 

As stated Floyd is (+) ground. If the battery was dead and you charged it was the battery charged correctly? The reason I ask is a saw someone reverse polarity on a completely dead battery by hooking charger backwards (no not me, some knothead at work). The reliability was one reason I converted to 12v. I would also check the feed wire itself and look for voltage drop through each section, also make sure wire itself is good. Really old wires can loose the ability to not flow enough electrons. The loss would be greater for starting circuit. An easy check for the wire is make sure it is still flexible.

 

Have you tried starting it with a 12 volt system?.....negative to negative, positive to positive
Ed
near Philadelphia

 

What size battery cables are you using? 6v systems like thick cables, like welding cable, 1/0 size.

 

Thanks for all the input.
First, everything worked the last time I drove Floyd into the shop which was likely July or so.
At that time I removed the battery to replace it but didn't install the new one 'til this weekend. This is when I discovered the starting issue and led me to inquire about the positive ground. Indeed, I had installed the new battery with negative ground.
Today I took all the cables off and cleaned all connections but no change in result.

1. What I did notice is that when I turn the key on the dash lights are bright (normal)and when I hit the starter button the solenoid (if this is the right terminology for the unit mounted on the firewall with the battery lead going to one side and a cable to the starter from the other side) would make a "whirring" sound vs. the traditional clicking sound on my other vehicles. Then the dash lights would go out and not come back on. I checked the voltage on the battery and found it to be about 7.5 (it's at 8 with full charge).

2. As I read my shop manual the schematics and trouble shooting language refers to "starter relay". Is that by any chance the little square thing mounted right above what I call the solenoid and has three small wires going to it with three separate connection points?

3. I went so far as to check that I could turn the engine over with a wrench as the shop manual suggested that as a last grasp effort.

I really appreciate you guys helping me with this as I am both confused about what a relay is and why the problem developed suddenly.

 

Yes, that's the starter relay. It may also have a push button on the bottom. Check your generator. It may be dead. Starter may be going out also.

 

When you hear a whirring sound when you attempt to crank it is usually a starter spinning but the bendix not engaging the flywheel. Causes for this that I have seen are, low or bad battery, loose or dirty connections, bendix that is stuck on starter shaft, bad starter. Since you say the lights start out bright then go dim or out when you attempt to crank I would be looking at connections or a bad battery or a bad starter. I had a battery just last week that showed good voltage but would not crank the engine. Turned out to be a bad cell in battery. Cheapest things to check are connections and battery, a auto parts store can load test if for you. If both are OK I think you are looking at a starter problem.

 

Have you tried bench testing your starter?