Hey guys. I recently got tired of short circuits killing the engine when
I drove my trusty old AEC Chevy 3/4 ton so I pulled all of the loose
wire from under the chassis and under the dash. The lights have not
worked for 15+ years, almost since I bought the truck. The wiring under
the dash had 6" to 1' lengths of very different gauge wire twined into
strings of wire for each circuit: no solder, no quick connects. Very
little electrical tape. Just open wires twisted together then shoved up
behind the dash..
Once pulled I had planned on rewiring however had to put this to one
side. I dusted the truck off yesterday for a run to the dump and found
it would not start. It would take a jump, however if you let it sit more
than half a minute after shutting down it would need another jump to get
going. I charged it overnight, and it fired right up today. However I
noticed the Amp gauge was not registering. Normally this would not
bother me.. but taking a VOM to the battery leads showed 12.6 volts at
rest and 12.52 volts when running. Revving the engine does not change
the amount of voltage at the battery terminals and I recall (??) it
should do so.
Is it possible I disabled the charging circuit ( which worked previously
) by disconnecting the Amp meter?
If so, Does the truck run off the battery when traveling? Memory says
once you start the truck you can disconnect the negative and do what you
have to then reconnect it when you wish to start again. Unfortunately
there just isn't time to work on this now, and I'm trying to avoid
unloading all the tree limbs, etc back into the back yard as I don't
trust her to get to the dump and back currently.
The truck is a 1953 Chev 3/4 ton. The electrical was converted along
with the gauges some time before I bought it to 12 volt negative ground.
But I think they muffed the external lighting system <g>
Thanks for any advice.
Paul
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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