I have a 235 engine in a basically stock 1951 Chevy truck that in the last few years used to occasionally hesitate before turning over. It now does not respond at all unless a second new battery is attached to the truck battery.

I just finished swapping the 235 cam for a stock 261 cam but the electrical system was not involved in that process.

With the second battery attached to the truck battery, as I step on the starter it hesitates, turns over slowly to start, and then performs normally starting the truck. The truck electrical system is setup as follows.

Original 6-volt generator changed over to 12 volts. New 12 volt voltage regulator installed with newly upgraded 12 volt generator

New 12 volt battery (voltage verified at 12.86 volts)

Battery ground attached to bell housing adjacent to starter

Battery positive side attached to starter solenoid with new battery cable

Starter solenoid post connected to switch side of coil

Vehicle frame grounded to lower starter bolt

The bad news is that I do not understand electricity very well. I use the vehicle electrical diagram, replacing only one wire at a time, when I install something but don't understand the logic needed to troubleshoot something when there is a problem.

I need help to fix the problem, any suggestions to fix it is appreciated.

Thanks,

Ted

Make sure the grounds are clean, no dirt,rust or paint. Is the starter clean inside? Are you sure the solenoid is good? Is it a 6 or 12 volt starter?

thanks for the quick reply. I have not checked the ground to the bell housing but will do so tonight and clean the connection with brake cleaner. All of the other connections were assembled within the past 3 days, I may also loosen all of the other cable connections and clean them. I got the 12 volt starter back from the shop 6 days ago,after a rebuild with a new solenoid and brushes. I've never tested a starter/battery under load but will do so tonight. should I transfer over to a 100 amp alternator instead of the generator?

If your battery is fully charged the generator has nothing to do with starting. Wire and cable size might be an issue. The starter pulls lots of amps. 6 volt cables are bigger than 12 volt cables. Some new 12 volt cables are not adequate.

You mentioned " as I step on the starter". I see two possibilities,One being push button linkage out of adjustment, two , push button contacts on starter being worn from all the arcing over time. Just my two cents. You can use a 6 volt starter on a twelve volt system, works great as long as you keep the cranking time to a minimum

Some new cables are junk from the store. I like to go to NAPA and purchase Belden cable of the proper size and the soldier on connectors. When properly assembled they make a power transfer that you can depend on. Not cheap but very effective.

I agree with both of the above views. In the push starter connector the big block of copper gets burned and crusty. sometimes you can just flip it over and clean it up.

Thanks for the help guys, it starts immediately now!

The issue turned out to be I had connected the battery ground to the frame, then moved up the frame and connected the frame to the bell housing. Even though the first connection to the frame was really tight there was some rust under the connection.

I wound up with a new battery, used a rebuilt starter, replaced the hot side battery cable and hooked it up directly to the starter solenoid,a new ground cable (twice the normal size) that I connected to the bottom bolt connecting the starter to the bell housing.

Enjoy your ride and thanks again.

Ted

glad it's fixed!

i had a couple of rebuilt starters where the rebuilders just put new nose bushings into a terribly worn housing; the armature was actually cocking to one side and binding under load. two of them like this bench-tested fine, but cranked super-slow, got hot etc. only upon close exam was it clear that the casting up at the tip, that fits into the bellhousing hole, was so worn as to allow the armature to cock at an angle.

i guess cores are getting crappier and crappier and rebuilders going for lowest cost. what else is new.

I have been out of the auto parts field for a couple of years now. The terms change from time to time and there are fewer suppliers and rebuilders. "Rebuilt" now means cleaned up and faulty parts replaced. The rest is left as is. "Remanufactured" is supposed to mean brought back to original specs. I agree that good cores are getting hard to find and we should not throw cores away. In some cases the core charge is more than the refurbished part. At least around here it doesn't matter which parts store you go to A1 Cardone does the work. Like Dura Bond makes almost all of all brands of cam bearings right here in Carson City.