I am always having problems starting my 6volt '52 buick. I've put new positive and negative cables on it, new battery,and today I put a rebuilt starter and starter solenoid on it. I check the battery with my multi meter set at 20 DC V and get a reading between 7 and 8. The manual says anything above 4 is satisfactory. Am I ckecking it wrong? The new starter cranks over slowly as if the battery is low. My cables are not copper as they should be, but can that make a huge difference? My headlights and interior lights all burn brightly. My dash amps meter always reads that it is charging when I hit medium to high rpms. What am I missing? I drive the car to work and back at least once a week, every street in my neighborhood has street sweeping once a week so I have to be able to start and drive it at all times. Any suggestions or Ideas as to what my damn problem is?
Try connecting a ground cable to the motor while it's being cranked. There should be a strap of some kind that connects the motor to the frame for ground...something that "jumps" the rubber mounts in one spot. I did this on an old Chrysler Imperial and it was amazing how the RPM of the starter picked up when a ground was attached. Battery was grounded to the frame, put a big jumper cable from clean spot to motor while a helper cranked it over. As far as cables, you need the biggest copper cables you can get to work...yes it makes a difference with that kind of amperage. Be certain that the starter is correct. you may have recieved a 12v conversion starter by mistake. FYI...high torque starters are achieved by spacing the case mags closer to the armature. This is done with gasket paper of the specified thickness for the mod. Starters vary a bit so consult your starter supplier. Good luck.
chub chub you can't use anything less than the very best cables on a six volt system. Don't try to use a cable for a 12 volt system on it they are not big enough. I went to a heavy equipment shop where they worked on dozers and tractors and they made me some heavy cables for my 6 volt system and from that time on I didn't have any more trouble. If I'm not mistaken the 6 volt system draws twice as many amps as the 12 volt, thats why you need the heavy cables. Oh and they need to be copper too. Good luck, Stafford
Thanks guys, I'll try to locate some big copper cables tomorrow. The ones on there now are 12 volt because it was all I could find at the time and I didn't know it made such a difference. Right now the battery is grounded to the motor mount, but there is no connection to the frame, so I will try that as well. As far as the starter, I had the original rebuilt and they Knew it was 6 volt, so it "should" be correct. Thanks again, scott
Motor to chassis grounds always a good thing, more than 1 is better and don't hurt nothin. My 60 Buick 12v system has 2 motor to frame grounds, and another frame to body ground as well.
6V starters always crank slower than 12V starters. It's inherent to the system. If your used to a modern 12V car, it seems like the 6V car is barley turning. Also, as stated above, good clean grounds are an absolute must with a 6V system.
I've had the car for a while and there have definitly been times when it was cranking a lot faster than it has been lately, so I know something isn't right. I just hope I can find some copper cables and I'll add an extra ground. There aren't many tractor supply places in the city, but I'll see what I can find.
Hi,Chub, Try a welding supply shop for the cables. Setting the voltage regulator up to 7.8 volts helps, without eating radio tubes and bulbs. Don't let anybody try to talk you into an 8 volt battery. Currently available batteries tend to be half water, half plates, and seldom will crank a hot engine. The industrial batteries are the best bet, but run nearly $100, assuming your Buick still has the long narrow case. In really cold weather, a starter button in/under the dash will be handy if it floods easily.
Check your local welding supply- I use 1/0 for all my cables, never had a lick of trouble. On my flathead six the battery ground hooks to a head bolt, the hot to the solenoid, it cranks good, but is ultra sensitive to timing adjustments. just a little off and it can take a bit to fire up.
Replace the 12v cables with 6v as said above. Check and clean EVERY connection in the starting circuit including the solenoid or starter switch. whatever your car has. Keep the battery ground on the engine just clean the connection with a wire brush or sandpaper. Every dirty connection in the circuit adds resistance and slows down the starter both coming from and going to the battery. I don't know about your Buick but some of the early solenoid/starter switches can be seviced if the cover is removable. If you can get to them, file the 2 copper lugs that make contact when starting (they will be black from all the arcing). All the poor connections add up and slowly get worse as the car ages. You brand new starter can't work right if it can't get the amps it is supposed to get.
Get all the connections clean, with correct size cables. Modern 12 volt cables are 1/2 the diameter they need to be for 6 volt. After all that's done, pull a spark plug wire and observe when cranking, should get a strong blue spark. If it doesn't, then divide your attention from the starter to an ignition problem. If spark is blue when cranking but still doesn't start right up, then it's out of time, low compression, bad gas, or burned valves. Forget all of the crap about 6 volt not being as good as 12 volt. With the system working properly that motor will start at 10 below zero.
Repeat after me. I suggest you clear your head, then sort out all of the advice you are getting. This thread started off-track, implying (6 volt system) was a problem. Running a ground strap from the starter mount bolt directly to the frame will assure good current flow, as original was. Other than that, Ignore all suggestions to modify the system. Don't add jumper to coil from starter. Disconnect wires from plugs one at a time and check the spark, crank it over and it should get blue spark from spark plug/coil wires. It works real good as designed. Work towards returning the battery cables, functionally, to what they were when new. Dont forget the other post, that suggested your starter when rebuilt had 12 volt field windings installed. The wires in the 12 volt ones were smaller than in the 6 volt ones and will reduce the power of the starter. When getting a 6 volt starter rebuilt, get it done the expensive way, by an old guy that's done it for a living since before 12 volt systems were invented. Here in my home town, it's GENSTAR. They've been in business since Jusus Christ was a Corporal.
I've had alot of customers with 6v systems use an 8v battery to help the starter turn over faster. The 6v systems charge around 8v so the battery will be maintained in the system with any problems, plus the 2 extra volts really makes a big difference.
Thanks to everyone for all the help. Problem solved. I replaced the positive cable with a 1 guage (the previous one was 4 guage). I used a braided cable to go from the - post on the battery to the motor mount and a second cable to go to the frame. It fired up as fast as a... well, something that fires up real god damn fast. The only shitty thing today was I got a ticket for not having a front license plate on the car. It's going to cost me 100 bucks. At least I can start the car with confidence. Thanks again, scott
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