Interesting. This is directly under the cab? Do you have the others like mine (battery to engine block and block to cab), or like Joe's (battery to cab and cab to engine block)?

 

Directly under the cab on the passenger side. If I remember right it's braided. Probably not original or possibly is, I have no idea but hooked it up anyway (I think)

 

I had grounding issues on my truck; so much so that I had to replace the solenoid and voltage regulator. Check the front terminal on the solenoid to make sure it is hot; if it isn't, you will need to replace it. I also originally had my ground strap from the battery to the engine. I changed it so it ground to the cab and that solved my electrical issues. I also have grounds from the engine to the frame and cab to the frame just for good measure.

 

Sheesh - this electrical stuff is exasperating!

I've made all of the ground points shiny bare metal, and added a cab to frame ground strap (to go along with the positive to engine and engine to cab straps). Yesterday, I got my starter back from getting it spruced up at a local starter shop (new brushes was the main thing it needed), connected it to the truck, got in the cab and held my breath, and then pressed the starter button. Radio silence. Nada. Not even a click. So then I get out and press the button on the starter solenoid and the engine tries ever so briefly to crank. I press the solenoid button again and the same thing happens. One more time and nothing happens at all. So then I feel the negative terminal (my truck is 6V positive ground), and it's already getting quite warm!

Could a dead solenoid cause all of this trouble? The solenoid is basically brand new, so I'm skeptical that it's dead, but suppose it's possible. Is there a way to test with a meter? It also seems possible that the engine is providing too much resistance, but that wouldn't explain the lack of a click from pressing the starter button. I also noticed that the starter has a couple of small posts sticking out of the side of the main 'barrel' - should those be connected to something, or are they to adjust something inside the starter?

Aaarrghh.

The Cap'n

 

Are you sure that the battery is good? They can appear healthy but fail under load. I'd take it to get load tested.

 

Have you charged battery overnight? They will self-discharge.

Didn't see it mentioned, make sure the motor itself turns over freely with a socket, you mentioned that it tries to turn over when you press the solenoid button? This leads to the next, the solenoid indeed grounds through the bracket, it needs a solid ground connection. Restored trucks and fresh paint have almost as much electrical trouble as old rusty ones, and for the same reasons.

For test purposes a pair of jumper cables can be placed strategically between battery and certain parts to sniff out ground or bad connections. Try from the proper battery post to a clean, unpainted portion of the starter case for example. Or to the bracket of the solenoid.

 

Thanks, Folks. I'll give the battery a charge overnight, in hopes that it was low. I've scrubbed the firewall to metal where the solenoid bracket is attached. If that doesn't work, I'll have the battery tested under load.

-Cap'n Sygo

 

Tedster9 - In case it comes to it, I've never turned the engine with a socket - do you mean using a hand crank, or something else?
Thanks!

 

Yep, on the damper or vibration absorber. It won't turn over super easy because of compression, but should turn over with reasonable effort. Just want to make sure it's not locked up for some reason.

 

Can this be done without a long hand crank? I don't have one of those lying around.

 

Sure, a 3/4 ratchet will work, anything will probably work. Just make sure to eat your Wheaties beforehand.

 

After charging up the battery, there were signs of life - the starter cranked away over and over. The odd thing was that it did this as soon as I reconnected the battery quick-disconnect (also, there were lots of sparks on the battery post when I reconnected it). I figured that meant there was a short somewhere on the solenoid, so I wiggled the battery to solenoid cable a bit, and sure enough, the starter stopped. It would still crank if I pressed the button, though sometimes, it wouldn't stop when I released the solenoid button. Also, the negative post on the battery got quite warm during this process, and the engine never started. My takeaways are this:
1) the battery is functional enough
2) the starter works
3) the engine isn't locked up
4) the solenoid is acting oddly (also, the normal starter button isn't doing anything to activate it).
Time for a voltage drop test, perhaps?

The Cap'n

 

Has it ran at all since your ministrations? Another thing you could rule out for grins, if the ignition timing is advanced too far, it won't turn over or will kickback. Disconnect and ground the coil wire to the distributor to disable. If the starter now spins freely, then back off a couple tads on the distributor.

 

Made some progress today! I did a voltage drop test, following the very clear instructions on the first link below (similar threads). After confirming that the battery was able to function normally under load, I started testing various links in the starting circuit. Surprise, surprise, I found a 1.3 volt drop through the quick-disconnect that was on the negative battery post. I couldn't just remove it and reconnect the cable, though, because whenever that post had a connection, the starter would churn away. So I spent some time thinking about why that could be, and had an 'aha' moment that maybe I had the poles switched on the solenoid. I'd installed the solenoid as I've seen in all sorts of pictures on the web, with the bracket on the top side, and the button underneath. To see if that might be backwards, I switched the wiring going to the solenoid poles, and presto - the starter only started up when I pressed the button on it! With that issue solved, I then removed the quick-disconnect and tried again. The starter sounded much stronger then, and even heard what sounded like the first stage of the engine trying to start, but it didn't rev up. By then, the battery had gotten pretty low on juice, so I'm charging it overnight, in hopes that it starts right up in the morning. In any event, I think I'm getting closer!

 

Good deal. Is the quick disconnect one the commonly sold one with the green ****?