Technical 1953 Ford starting problem?

Hey guys, have a new battery,starter,and generator and having problems starting? I put a new battery in it a month ago and every week I start it it starts slower and slower. Now its dead but the lights come on inside and I know that it is not the battery, starter or generator. Any suggestions would be great? Maybe silanoid

 

6 volt-12 volt? Did you polarize the generator? That will run off the battery solely till it dies. Did ja run it over 1200 RPM? Sometimes a generator needs a kick to put out.
I had a wife,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,well nevermind about that.

 

Do you have an engine ground cable? : Check loose grounds.

If you charge the battery does it start right up? : if so you might have a bad regulator or generator.

Check your generator output and if your car is charging.

The lights wont need much juice to light up... unlike czuch x-wife i guess :]' Hey you started it czuch!

 

It's a 6 volt and thanks for the info so far guys.


Wishing I was on the salt watching some fast cars go by me!!!!!!!

 

Bad ground

 

So you start it once a week and every week the battery is a little weaker than the week before?

That means one of thre:
1. The battery may not be good even though it is new. New does not necessarily that it is in perfect shape, it's just new until it has been tested and proven to be good.

2. Do you know for certain that the generator is charging and that the regulator is set so that it is charging the correct voltage? Again assuming because you just put it on means it is good isn't good enough, it has to be tested and proven to be working right.

3. Hopefully the problem is a drain on the battery while the car is sitting all week waiting to be driven and you can track down the drain.
Is there any accessory or light that could be staying on or drawing power when the car is turned off and setting there all week?
What are the condition of the battery cables, cable ends and connections on the solenoid and starter? Then on the ground. Is the paint under the ground strap scraped away so it is in contact with clean bare metal?

If you take a volt meter and touch one post on the battery and then touch around on the top of the battery (not on the other post) do you get a reading? I've seen a number of batteries drain because the top of the battery was dirty and damp and you could get a reading of several volts out in the middle of the battery. One particular one drained the battery in two hours.
Again, TEST don't Assume.

 

Does it have overdrive? If it does you need to let it shift into overdrive when above the OD shift point (35 - 40 mph). If the overdrive handle is pulled out the solenoid may be trying to shift but can't.

 

How long do you run it? A generator charges very little, if at all, at idle. If you aren't running it fast enough or long enough, it won't replace the charge the battery loses when cranking the engine.

Check the voltage of the battery before you start it and compare that to the voltage with the engine running. Running voltage should be very close to 7 volts.

 

Thanks for all the info guys and I redid my ground and recharged the battery and it started right up. When I bought the car 5 years ago I hadn't replaced anything in it until last year. So I had my generator, starter redone by a local company here in Denver. So I replaced a battery in it 2 months ago and noticed that the negative was hooked into the silanoid and the positive was hooked into a ground next to my radiator. Can a car run backwards like that for 4 years? Thanks guys again for all the info. Jason

 

All 6 volt Ford's that I know of are Positive ground. Did you polarize the generator when you replaced it?

 

I had no idea that the positive should be a ground and negative is on the silanoid. Did I just ruin my battery then? I have been on the highway with it and shouldn't the generator exchange shop polarize it when they get it done?

 

The battery is probably OK.

You don't polarize a generator until it's installed. If you disconnect it (or disconnect the battery or regulator) it should be polarized again.

It only takes one second to do it. Just flick a jumper wire from the negative battery terminal to terminal "a" on the generator. Don't hold the wire on there. Just a split second is long enough. That's all it normally takes: a fraction of a second.

 

Thanks for the awesome info Ulu!!!!!!

 

My pleasure.
Good luck with 'er.

 

Also did you replace any of the battery cables? 6 volt cables are a heavier gage then 12 volt cables. If you have the wrong cables it will spin slow and start hard.

 

I believe the prescribed polarization procedure for a Ford type internally grounded generator is to remove the FIELD lead at the voltage regulator and momentarily touch it to the BAT terminal at the voltage regulator. I have done several this way.

 

Ford? Huh? Why did I think it was a Cadillac?

 

Thanks fellas for all the great info and switched the cables back to where they should be. I did the polarizing from the regulator and it is running awesome. Thanks again fellas for chimming in. Thanks for this great forum Ryan!!!


Wishing I was on the salt watching some fast cars go by me!!!!!!!

 

Wish I was on the salt with my foot to the floor...