VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Trucks and Vans 1946 pickup 6 volt starter problem

OOOOOOH... Did I misunderstand?

In my post above I was thinking that the starter wouldn't CRANK without the little wire hooked up.

keroppi: Does it not crank? Or, does it crank and not start?

I did not follow this thread fromte beginning but the extra wire on the starter may be left over from the polairty reversing switch that was used on 1941-early 1948 Chverolets. See polairty,reverse in the shop manual.

I'll look into this...

It's possible that the starter is 12 volt and that wire went to a ballast for starting. If it were mine I would drive it as is to get it home (if not there already) and then rewire it the way it should be. I see no reason to ground the case of the switch with a separate wire as the mounting screws will do that. It would be interesting to know where the other end of that wire attaches. You may have posted that earlier and I missed it. The instrument panel only needs ground for the panel lights . Probably time to determine what voltage the starter and generator are and go from there.

It is at it's home for the time being.

Your battery is on the firewall. Mine is under the floor on the passenger side. I will try to remember to look at my 46 tomorrow afternoon. The stud on the side of the starter button should not be for the ignition. I think Gene is right about the reverse polarity switch, which most have been removed.

I missed this earlier, thanks.

First let us determine what distributor you have.
Does it have two wire terminal studs and nuts. one on each side --- or just one.

Give us the model numbers that are on the distributor, the generator and the starter.

I will get that info.

If you take your starter to a shop for rebuilding, make sure you tell them not to paint over the info tag, of one is there.

Or, as I did with Lurch's generator, tell the shop not to paint the outside at all and leave as much crud as possible. ;-)

Cheers, Dean

Alan, Can't see enough there. Wait til you get time.

Have some info. There is definitely only 1 wire/post on the distributor.

What about using a flashlight and one of those little mirrors on an expanding wand?

Either that or pay the neighbor's kid to climb under the truck and read any info there. ;-)

Dean

I hate to admit, I don't have one.

Looks like the Delco-Remy tags on the starter and generator have been removed.........so now it is just a guess as to what model starter and generator you actually have.

Hopefully JYD's suggestion is not right, the numbers you are looking for are on a small oval? The plate is riveted to the main housing on all 3 items (distributor, generator, starter) but those plates may be a little difficult to read when you do find it.
Tony

I found a number on the bottom of the starter.

ruscar just posted this pic of his starter. Maybe some clues there for the electrical hookup.

Cheers, Dean

Yes, there is a clue here...

Still looking at this...

Most voltage regulators of this era were meant to be adjusted for voltage.

Current and cut-in voltage are often adjustable too, but those are set to book settings and are rarely adjusted.

The voltage setting can be changed and often was to better match the owner's driving habits. The change made would be small, usually 0.2V or so, and then recheck the charge level in the battery (with a hydrometer) after a week or so. Repeat if necessary.

The idea is to keep the battery fully charged, but not overcharged. Generators charge little if any at idle. Temperature is also a factor (though many regulators are temperature-compensated). A person who drives a lot at night in the city may need a higher setting, while someone in rural Arizona who only drives in the daytime may need a lower setting.

The cable going from the cut-out-switch to the front of the head appears to be inferior. That should be a healthy cable, and I would eliminate the cut-out-switch.

Actually in the above picture, the ground cable is bolted to the bell housing. Look just to the right, below that spring, you will see the started bolt. Check yours in that area to see if you have a threaded hole there.

First I want to say I believe this new theory is correct and I'm going to claim success.