Need some help diagnosing what's up electrically. It acts like I have a dead battery but I have put three different new ones in and am getting the same result. The testing equipment at the local store doesn't test an 8 volt correctly which made it seem like the batteries were bad but I think the one I now have is good. I switched to 8 volt for a bit more cranking power and everything seemed to be okay when I first made the switch. Now I'm getting nothing but the "click" when I turn the ignition. The starter has been rebuilt and should be fine. I did make the mistake of hooking a trickle charger up to one of the old batteries with it in the car and failed to check the switch before I plug it in. It was set on 12 volts and within a few seconds I saw what I did and unplugged. I don't know if I caused any damage or not. If the coil was shot would it crank and not start or would it act like it is currently. What about the solenoid? Any advice would be appreciated.
I say starter. Get a volt meter and hook it to the switched side (starter side) of the solenoid. If the relay is working you will get juice on that side. Which also means the starter is getting power. Good luck.
Thanks. I had the starter rebuilt and it bench tested fine. Since this is a positive ground system is which leads go where on the volt meter? I'm not real good with the electrical stuff.
I think the first question is if the engine turns over by hand? No battery or starter in the world will turn over a locked engine. 6 volt positive ground is before my time, but trouble shooting should follow along the same lines. You should be able to check for voltage at each point with a volt meter or 6 volt test light. You need to be sure you have current at each point before you can determine what may or may not work. If you have voltage across the battery, it should be good. Then you need power at the switch, then through the switch, then to the starter solenoid, then power to the starter. If you have the correct voltage to the starter and it does not turn over, the starter is bad. You can bench test a starter out of the car, you just need to make a battery connection through the starter to get it to spin. Power to the starter wire post, and a ground to the starter housing. If there is a small wire terminal, that needs to be powered from the big wire. Hold on to the starter before you attempt to bench test it, they have some torque and will move fast and hard when they spin over. Gene
^^^^ correct grounds are crucial to proper 6V operation. Do you have little wimpy 12v cables?? Primary cables should be minumum 1 gauge and 0 or 00 better yet. Are you hooked up positive ground? lastly put a 12 V bat in for a try. just make sure everything else is off.
And remember just because you show voltage at a particular point, with a poor connection you still won't get enought current [amps] to make whatever function correctly.
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