1948 Pilothouse no power

[gbhdrake383]

I bought a 1948 Dodge B1 pickup after it was sitting for a few decades. Went to put a new 6volt battery in it and I have no power. I checked the positive ground and the starter. Both are still hooked up and I'm not seeming to trace the problem. Any ideas. The only thing I've really done was remove the  ignition switch from the dash but all the wires are still connected. it doesn't have a key. Just need some advice. Thanks

[JBNeal]

Did you try yelling at it?

[Los_Control]

Always want to check your grounds. Have you tried the headlights? seems they would work without the key, probably the horn.

You could just jump the switch or replace with a toggle switch until you get a key.

Be careful to not leave the key on and walk away, will burn out the points. But if you know the battery is charged, clean the ground cables is where I would start

 

For the pro's, does anyone have advice on making a 6 volt positive ground test light?

[gbhdrake383]

I tested the starter with a multimeter and it's getting power. The headlight don't turn on either

[DJ194950]

Time to break out the tune up hammer?

DJ

[gbhdrake383]

What would cause even the headlights to not turn on?

[Jeff Balazs]

It is not uncommon for the contacts in old switches to be bad. Also there is a breaker on the headlight switch that could be acting up. Sounds like it is time to get familiar with the wiring diagram and start testing. We have all been there and there isn't any easy way around the process of elimination..

Jeff

[Merle Coggins]

Using your multi-meter, do you have voltage at the key switch? There should be a wire from the starter to the ammeter, then from the ammeter to the ignition switch and headlight switch. Use your meter to follow the circuit and find where it looses voltage. I highly suggest you get a copy of the wire diagram. You can download one from the DEPTCA site.

 

Merle

[Plymouthy Adams]

where can it be...be hared to guess from here....only you can report to the forum what you have found during troubleshooting....hopefully you took the protective cap off the battery terminal before mounting the clamp...lol.....Merle is right.l..even you posted a schematic on this board in one of your threads.....use the meter and just trace the wiring....it is very simple to follow, nothing like a modern car schematic where you have to jump through 90+ pages and through body controller and ECMs..all is on one page...heck a 50 cc motor scooter is more complicated than these old beasties...

[William Davey]

GB - Your original post states the truck has been sitting for several decades. IMO, you need to disconnect and clean every wire on every terminal in the truck.  While disconnected carefully inspect each wire for proper size and condition of terminals. A meter or test light may show voltage at a connection, but that doesn't mean the connection can pass the high current required to spin a starter for example.

Go back to basics, and check everything.

[gbhdrake383]

You all have great idea. I've decided to replace every wire one by one. That's what it really need anyway. Hopefully by doing that the problem may be solved. Probably broke wires somewhere

[ggdad1951]

If you have all original wires that's probably the case.

[JBNeal]

I had the original batt.cables in my '48 and they looked OK, but cranking problems over the years had me stymied until I cut open the cable insulation to find the copper strands black with oxidation... new 0 gauge cables were made with soldered terminals, and voila!  Cranking problems solved...the headlight switch got to hanging up, so I removed it from the dash, carefully pried open the tabs, and opened the drawer switch to find corrosion and dirt...cleaned that all up, applied some dielectric grease to the contacts, put it back together and BAM!  Switch movement became nice and smooth.

As for the wiring harness, insulation problems are worst at the headlights to the junction blocks; at the starter, dimmer and brake switches; around the ignition coil and distributor; under the cab to the fuel tank and tail light; and under the dash at the firewall to the gauges and switches...so purty much everywhere.  I have been using the original wiring in the '49 (except batt.cables), but it is so bad now that only the starter works, after jiggling the key for awhile.

And speaking of fuel tank, do not be surprised if your gas gauge does not work...the original sending unit design is prone to failure, and simply replacing it may not work without running a separate ground wire to a stud added to a new sending unit flange

[Dave72dt]

2 hours ago, gbhdrake383 said:

You all have great idea. I've decided to replace every wire one by one. That's what it really need anyway. Hopefully by doing that the problem may be solved. Probably broke wires somewhere

Replacing them is a great idea. Be sure to use the correct gauge wire when you do.  Simply replace them one at a time may sound great too, but I'd check where they were coming from and going to as well. Just because they're there, doesn't mean that's where they are supposed to go.

[gbhdrake383]

14 hours ago, Merle Coggins said:

Using your multi-meter, do you have voltage at the key switch? There should be a wire from the starter to the ammeter, then from the ammeter to the ignition switch and headlight switch. Use your meter to follow the circuit and find where it looses voltage. I highly suggest you get a copy of the wire diagram. You can download one from the DEPTCA site.

 

Merle

Looks like I'm loosing voltage from the negative terminal to the starter. I'm only getting 3 volts. And the key ignition is the same. Bad cable. This whole positive ground is a total learning experience for me 

[gbhdrake383]

14 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

where can it be...be hared to guess from here....only you can report to the forum what you have found during troubleshooting....hopefully you took the protective cap off the battery terminal before mounting the clamp...lol.....Merle is right.l..even you posted a schematic on this board in one of your threads.....use the meter and just trace the wiring....it is very simple to follow, nothing like a modern car schematic where you have to jump through 90+ pages and through body controller and ECMs..all is on one page...heck a 50 cc motor scooter is more complicated than these old beasties...

This is the diagram I found. It's from a 49. 

[Merle Coggins]

24 minutes ago, gbhdrake383 said:

Looks like I'm loosing voltage from the negative terminal to the starter. I'm only getting 3 volts. And the key ignition is the same. Bad cable. This whole positive ground is a total learning experience for me 

Yup... sounds like you found your first bad wire. There's nothing exotic about Positive ground. Any testing and troubleshooting is the same as a Negative ground system. Don't think about Positive and Negative. You're still measuring voltage on the Hot side to ground. If it'll help you to not get messed up, switch the leads on your meter so that the red lead is in the COM socket and the black lead is in the V/Ohm socket. That way you can still put the black on ground and use the red to test the circuit.

That wire diagram is correct for your truck. Even though it's for the B2 series there really wasn't any changes in the wiring from the B1 series that you have. This diagram also shows the wire size as well as the color. The colors can be difficult to determine on the old cloth wires. They tend to fade out and all look grey.

Merle

[Dave72dt]

You may want to check your battery voltage itself.  Just because it's new, doesn't mean it's fully charged.  Since these batteries tend to be slow movers at stores, it may have sat on the self for a long period.

[gbhdrake383]

24 minutes ago, Dave72dt said:

You may want to check your battery voltage itself.  Just because it's new, doesn't mean it's fully charged.  Since these batteries tend to be slow movers at stores, it may have sat on the self for a long period.

I did. It's at 6.4volts. 

[gbhdrake383]

So I found that the positive ground is bolted to the top of the trans. Is that correct? Seems like it should be grounded to the frame

[gbhdrake383]

On 11/11/2016 at 11:51 AM, JBNeal said:

Did you try yelling at it?

No yet. I'm about to take it Darnell's from the movie/book Christine and have Arnie work on it

[Jerry Roberts]

12 minutes ago, gbhdrake383 said:

So I found that the positive ground is bolted to the top of the trans. Is that correct? Seems like it should be grounded to the frame

To the trans is fine . Make sure you have a good ground from the engine to the frame too . 

[gbhdrake383]

56 minutes ago, Jerry Roberts said:

To the trans is fine . Make sure you have a good ground from the engine to the frame too . 

Good idea. I'll do that 

[ggdad1951]

10 hours ago, gbhdrake383 said:

So I found that the positive ground is bolted to the top of the trans. Is that correct? Seems like it should be grounded to the frame

yep that's were mine was/is

[Jeff Balazs]

2 hours ago, ggdad1951 said:

yep that's were mine was/is

Yes start with cleaning up that connection. Quality of ground depends on good mechanical connections. If you find you have a problem with ground you can always add jumper straps between components.

Jeff