I have a new(er) six volt battery in my packard, as the previous owner said its a six volt system. But when i start it, its slooooow to turn over, and what dash lights still work are very dim. I was talking with an old guy in tomn with a 51 or so cadillac. He was tellin me that he had the same problem with his car when he first bought it, and that it was actually an eight voly sytem, not six. Is it possible that my packard, also being a big heavy car with a bigger engine (for its day), is eight volt as well?
Automobiles used 6 volt systems and 12 volt systems. Tractors and other farm equipment use 8 volt systems. A fully charged battery, clean terminals and ground connections make a 6 volt system work just fine in any vehicle that originally had it.
I would also postulate the electrical system was so old in the caddy that it was just tired, two extra volts put it into a craze and made it work closer to new. Same might be true for your Packard, perhaps.
Had this problem with the '39 until I built battery cables from size 00 welding cable. 2 ought. The auto parts stores won't have them. With 6V everything has to be clean and tight. It worked in '53 and there's no reason it shouldn't work now when it's set up right.
Used to do that little trick with the 8 volt batteries all the time. Worked good and charged up just fine with the charging system from the factory. Later, ****
hey, thanks a lot guys for the help. its much appreciated. while we're on the subject... since it seems im gonna need to go through all the electrical to clean it and replace bad parts, would it be worth while to just convert to 12v? i only ask cuz ive never dealt with this before. this is my first in-depth project. thanks again everyone.
Well you can put on the Band Aid or you can repair it to work as designed. The problems usually boil down to two things, undersized wires and cables, and poor grounds. Make sure you have proper sized wires and cables and clean tight grounds. With those in place most of the ills that have ac***ulated over the years will subside.
fory, Just to chime in and reinforce what 440 said in the post above me. He is 100% correct on everything. When I bought my 52 Olds, the guy had a 8 volt battery in it for the same reason, slow to turn over, wouldn't start when hot. etc. etc. I took the starter to a rebuilder that's probably one of, if not "the" oldest rebuilder of starters and generators in this area. Got the starter armature turned, new brushes, new bearings, same for the generator, new "Correct" 6 volt battery cables, and you can't tell if it's a 6 or 12 volt system now. Lights are bright, always charged, always starts right off, hot or cold. And on the plus side, I can listen to the radio now, without blowing out the tubes. Nothing wrong with a 6 volt system. But they take maint just like any vehicle does. And in your case, the maint has probably been over looked all these years. HellRaiser
440 has some great information there. Being I'm a rebuilder of Generators, Starters etc., the 6V system relies on its grounds and connections in order for it to operate correctly. Ten outta ten 6V starter motors that come in my shop need an armature in them. In most cases, local rebuilders do not have the equipment to do arms, so they are overlooked. Bearings, bushings, and brushes are installed, and the unit is slammed back together again for whatever some may charge and send you down the road. In most cases, the problem wasn't fixed. The turning over slow complaint is the most popular complaint. With a fresh arm and a good total rebuild, providing everything is in good working order in the car, the unit should perform just fine. Keep in mind, the 6V system was never designed to spin the engine over real fast like its 12V cousin, but a good working and well maintained system will give years of service whether its a car, truck, or tractor.... Steve in NJ
Keep in mind that a lot of these 6V vehicles still had hand crank to start till 41 or 42. So if you could start one by hand cranking it, speed of cranking was not and is not an issue. Lots of times, the bushings/bearings will wear and allow the armeture to drag on the field coils, which relults in slow cranking. Oh and 95% of them were POSITIVE ground systems, which a lot of folks forget about. Most cars will work and drive with the polarity reversed but coils won't work at optimum output and the points will burn faster, probably creating more starting problems than a slow starter. Dim dash light, 60+ years of dust on the bulbs. It's amazing what a bit of maintanence will do. Good grounds will do wonders for your headlamps.
440roadrunner, thanks a TON! Ill be checkin all that this weekend when i get a chance to work on it again. The temp here doesnt usually drop below 35 or 40, except in jan. or feb. it gets cold enough at night to freeze your winshield. It seems to be gettin a lot colder this year, though... Steve in NJ, thanks for the rebuild info. The guy i bought the car from said he had the starter "rebuilt", but just cuz i know the guy that could mean anything from replacing a sulanoid to actually getting it rebuilt. From what i heard the local auto elec. shop in town does very decent rebuilds and has the equipment to deal with armatures. Ill have him take a look at it. Another question regarding voltage.... if i plan on having a radio/cd player or anything in the car, will 6v be able to run this? nothin fancy, just a stereo and a speaker in the dash. or should i maybe run a separete battery in the trunk for this stuff? again, cant thank ya guys enough for all the help.
Running a separate 12V battery to power a simple radio/cd player is a doable deal. Put it in a boatbox vented and fastened down in the trunk and you'll be good to go. Just use a trickle charger every now and then to keep the charge up and check the battery "water" level every month or two.
I ran an 8v battery in our boat, along with a rebuilt starter and generator. The issue with the boat was that idling for long periods of time (i.e. sunset ****tail cruising) would lead to a discharged battery. No fun when you're the only boat out. The 8v solved that, and made me feel much more confident when I hit the switch and it whirled that old Herc over like it was 12v. It may be a "band-aid", but it's a dammed good one.
Of course 12 volt system will be better. So if you really want the car to start every time, with no worry that if it doesn't start right away your battery will run down, then convert. There is no comparison. But if you want to stay with 6v, they work good when kept up. With a starter in good condition, etc. the starter, on 6v should turn your motor over at a good rate for a couple of minutes. With 12v the difference, as the starter spins the motor over, is exhilarating to the mechanically minded. The in-between is the 8v battery. A definate improvement. It is already compatible with your system without any other consideration,. If you test the output of your generator you will find it to be putting out 8, possibly 9 volts, depending on the variation of the voltage regulator. If; your system is operating and the only problem you have is a slow starter, get the starter overhauled. Old worn starter, even if it works, due to bad commutator contact, dragging armature, etc. is usually the cause, absent poor connectins of cables. Sometime in the past 30 years someone has probably installed the wrong battery cables, or if they are the original, change them out. Install new 00 size battery cables, cleaning the crud off the area where the ground cable connects.
With 8 volt no need to do any thing with the starter. I ran 12 volt in my VW with a 6 volt starter for years. The wiring if in good shape will handle it find !
My 6 volt started in 20 degree weather just fine after I had the starter properly rebuilt. Good cables and ground. A good operating starter and a 6 volt will work just fine. Heck, I just always ran with my brights on at night. Nobody noticed.
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