1964 Ford 2000 Parking Brake??

[Soundguy]

the lamp, while it acts as an idiot lamp for charge or no charge, it also tickles the #1 on the alt to get charging to start at 400 rpm. you could simply hid a trailer marker lamp under the dash from the key to #1.

Since you have an ammeter, you need to make a small change to the wireing as follows, if it is a center 0 meter.

alt charge stud to one side of ammmeter, other side of ammeter to battery hot ( terminal or hot side of solenoid ).

wire that goes to key comes off alt side of ammeter. any power feeds like lamps , etc, come off the alt side of the ammeter. no other wires come off the battery side of the ammeter.

this way your meter will read net charge and discharge.

if meter reads backwards, swap wires side to side.

 

[Homestead Blue]

Ok, I'll check to make sure that's how I have it. I ended up having to replace the solenoid, I was getting most of my power loss through it. Now I have a short somewhere, the resistor and neutral switch get really hot when I try to crank. I got it from Advance Auto because it had a high enough amperage and four lugs, so I figured it'd be fine. Now I'm reading guys saying they're different than tractor solenoids. The only difference I know of is some that get there ground from the mount, but I can't see that causing a short. I'm going to have to check all my wiring and make sure I didn't make a mistake running the new wires.

 

[Soundguy]

um.... I see it causing a problem!

the tractor solenoid has 2 big, 2 small terminals. 2 big go between battery and starter. 2 small go between key switch and thumb button. the thumb button IS the ground for the solenoid.


the universal truck solenoids have 2 big, 2 small terminals. 2 big go between battery and starter. The 2 small are used as follows. 1 small goes to a spring loaded hot start. IE. connect 1 small to hot momentarilly and it engages the solenoid. the other small terminal, provides hot power for bypassing a coil resistor during starting. IE. hot to one to activate the solenoid, then the other one becomes hot to go to the coil .

So if you bought a car/truck one with a non isolated base, it is getting ground from the base, and is not correct for your setup using the trans top mounted button.

 

[Homestead Blue]

Well if it's pulling ground through the base, then couldn't I just not use the safety switch?

 

[Homestead Blue]

I put my meter on it and sure enough it's getting ground from the mount. So I tried cranking it with out pushing the neutral switch and it turned over but there's still a huge voltage drop which isn't allowing it to turn fast enough to start. Back to square one I guess.

 

[Homestead Blue]

Just did a quick (what I call) sanity check. I took a known good 12V heavy duty light. Ran one side to - batt lug. Disconnected my starter and ran the wire to the other side. Light lights and I get a ~1V drop. So the issue seems to be in the starter dragging the voltage down so much.

 

[Soundguy]

a 1v drop on a lamp is terrible!!!

check your + bat cable, - bat cable, and terminal ends. Check where the ground cable hits the tractro frame. don't use sheet metal. make it hit some piece of cast iron. sand the spot, grease it, then connect the cable back after cleanign the ends.

1v drop on a small load is horrid....

 

[Soundguy]

I put my meter on it and sure enough it's getting ground from the mount. So I tried cranking it with out pushing the neutral switch and it turned over but there's still a huge voltage drop which isn't allowing it to turn fast enough to start. Back to square one I guess.

I told you to start over with all new electrics.. meanign correct solenoid, etc.

Do whatever you want ont he start setup, just keep in mind that not using the correct solenoid means no neutral starter safety interlock.

as for the drop/drag..

this is a 12v system right? that starter should hit for up to 150a and that shouldn't touch a good 12v battery. checkt he battery and all your connections. 12v should spin over a old 6v starter fast if it is in at least average condition. heck even if it is a 12v starter, it should spin fine on a good bat.

 

[Homestead Blue]

I have cleaned the ground really well, it's probably the cleanest spot on the whole machine. And it goes into cast. Also the ends are really clean. It's possible the cables are bad on the inside, they're the only wires that I didn't replace. I can try jumping the battery straight to my ground lug and batt side of the solenoid.

 

[Soundguy]

bad cables under the insulation is a possibility.

try a set of jumper cables in tandem with the regular cables you have and see if it pick up.

also, not that it is specifically needed, however I usually add a extra ground cable that goes from bat ground right to a starter mounting bolt. never hurts for the starter to have extra ground, even though it is bolted to cast, there's always paint and rust to contend with.

try the test with aux jumpers to see if it improves.

it is still possible the starter is just in need of rebuild or junk, but lets rule out the cheap / free options first!