Trunk Mount Batt. Opinions needed

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I tested mine like this. Hooked a jumper cable from the engine to the K-frame and boom, turned over great. Added welding cable as a ground from the K frame to the engine block and it has been good ever since
 
I tested mine like this. Hooked a jumper cable from the engine to the K-frame and boom, turned over great. Added welding cable as a ground from the K frame to the engine block and it has been good ever since

you should not ground to the K frame. It is "rustily" bolted to the body with somewhat rusty bolts!!!. Ground the engine to the WELDED parts of the unibody
 
you should not ground to the K frame. It is "rustily" bolted to the body with somewhat rusty bolts!!!. Ground the engine to the WELDED parts of the unibody


I have an AlterKtion. NO rust, clean bolts.

I also have a ground from the engine to the firewall and a ground from the battery to the rear subframe
 
I have an AlterKtion. NO rust, clean bolts.

I also have a ground from the engine to the firewall and a ground from the battery to the rear subframe

That's exactly "the thing." The K frame is not a ground. The BODY is the ground, and the K frame is 'a thing bolted to it' The K can never be a better ground than whatever the battery NEG is connected to
 
I have a welded stud to frame rail in trunk with 1/0 Ga. wire. Then a stud welded to left front frame rail to engine block 1/0 ga. wire. Then I have a 6? ga. wire from right rear cyl. head to cowl .
 
Ok I just found the original schematic I used when I 1st wired the car but I ran the alt 1wire denso to the factory relay instead of the ford trunk mounted relay .Wondering if this could be keeping the batt. from getting a good charge.

wiring originally.jpg
 
I have a welded stud to frame rail in trunk with 1/0 Ga. wire. Then a stud welded to left front frame rail to engine block 1/0 ga. wire. Then I have a 6? ga. wire from right rear cyl. head to cowl .

That should do it but check with a meter while cranking. You could have a bad wire/ terminal, there, and I have seen that!!!

Clip meter to battery NEG and to body ground. "Rig" so you can see it or find someone, or rig a remote starter switch. Crank and read meter. Then move meter to a good body ground and to engine block, same deal. You should have no more than maybe .1--.3V reading while cranking. Bear in mind there are TWO drops and they ADD
 
Oh, not any of this circled as well.

View attachment 1715599751

That should be simple to check and way easier with two people. "At some point" you need to read voltage drop with one probe stabbed DIRECTLY into the top of the battery POST

As I said, 'a long wire' from front to rear for your meter. "I forgot" you can jumper the starter from the trunk this makes things easier.

So: GROUND test. Connect meter to good body ground, like trunk latch. Stab second probe into the battery NEG post. Jumper Ford relay crank engine, read meter. Post reading

Hot side tests:

Same as above. Stab one probe into battery POS post. Clip other meter lead to engine side of Ford solenoid. Crank and read, post reading here

Next, take your long extension wire, clip to the Ford solenoid on engine side. Go up front, hook meter to extension wire, and clip other meter lead to starter main post. Crank and read.

Engine GROUND. Clip meter to good body ground and to engine block. Crank and read

All of the readings down to this point should be VERY low, the lower the better. THEY ALL ADD UP and that is the drop in the system.

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A backup test "sort of" tells you same thing:

Clip meter to starter and engine block, crank and read. Absolute minimum is 10V the higher the better
 
Bear in mind there is always that "red herring." A defective starter, even if it's been replaced, a defective brand new battery etc etc etc.
 
Sorry, no testing yet. I checked and clean and added copper star washers to Batt. to frame ground. Found front cable bolted to Front rail not welded. I welded a nice terminal block on frame. cleaned both end terminals and reattached.(sorry forgot to take pic of welded block). I then ran my starter 1/o wire straight to battery to test directly to starter and it seems to be much better but the starter solenoid on starter will sometimes just click. The jumper on starter terminal and solenoid is 10Ga. Jumper just installed (tight). Battery was 12volts dropped to 11 volts cranking.(I lied one test) I used the starter that worked awesome on my Ragtop 340 for my starter. Now I am going to put a new one in that I just purchased. Now I checked the battery and she was on at 75% capacity. So things are looking up. I will replace with new battery. Install my New Ford soleniod (200Amp. rated) I will go back and finsh putting my 4Ga. from Alt. to ford soleniod instead of 8ga. to stock relay. Eliminate my Disconnect switch. Then I'll see if it is good. If not, I will start dignoising. I'm only going this route as I don't have a helper yet and fiqured I would get everything the way I want it wiring wise.

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Oh, in truck, one ground to battery and the other I bolted to the X frame behind the rear seat just cause I had it.
 
If the starter mounted solenoid just "clicked" once and no crank it is likely a bad solenoid or starter

If it "buzzes" or wildly "clickety clickety" for lack of better, likely a bad connection somewhere or dead battery.
 
Yes Battery needs replacing , I'm confident the connections are good at this point. I have the new starter so I feel better about using it anyways. I'll keep you posted.
 
I just took a look at the wiring you drew. That is a total cluster F--k mess. Get rid of the ford solenoid . Your starter has one built in. All I did was run the Positive cable from the trunk to a positive bulk head on the front frame rail and used that as my positive terminal under the hood. Every other wire was left as the car came. I even have the original battery cable going to the starter running from the bulk head.


View attachment 1715596706

Oldmanmopar, where did you get your bulkhead connector? Thanks
 
So I changed the starter last night. I 1st used this one that cranked my 340 like crazy but after testing directly with the 1/0 positive to ground it would not crank every time.. So I put the new one in. The old starter is about 1 “ longer than the new one so I thought it might be better. Oh well. I then made a jumper for the starter soleniod after putting on the terminal adapter a member here sells for better starter wire routing.

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Then replaced my weak link wire to starter. I pass it through the unused clutch rod hole to teminal under dash to 1/0 to Ford relay.

Starter cable 1.jpeg


Starter cable 2.jpeg
 
OK, great news ! 1st a shout out to 67Dart273.Thanks for all the help and info. Although I didn't yet get to perform the tests you posted for me I did copy it all so moving forward I know what to do , your Post#48 did the trick, it turns out I had multible issues. 1- I welded a terminal block on the front frame rail for my ground wire.2 found two weak links in the Positive wires. 3- Replaced starter due to intermittant solenoid issues. Went to every connection adding copper star washers .
Then I put a New Ford solenoid in and the car and it just clicked (Bad out of the box!) so I put back the old one and boy does the motor crank over now. To think I put up with this for five years! (yes I'm a dummy). I still haven't fired it up yet as I'm doing a few other things to it right now but can't wait to retime and probably recurve the dizzy. Thank everyone for you input .
 
OK, great news ! 1st a shout out to 67Dart273.Thanks for all the help and info. Although I didn't yet get to perform the tests you posted for me I did copy it all so moving forward I know what to do , your Post#48 did the trick, it turns out I had multible issues. 1- I welded a terminal block on the front frame rail for my ground wire.2 found two weak links in the Positive wires. 3- Replaced starter due to intermittant solenoid issues. Went to every connection adding copper star washers .
Then I put a New Ford solenoid in and the car and it just clicked (Bad out of the box!) so I put back the old one and boy does the motor crank over now. To think I put up with this for five years! (yes I'm a dummy). I still haven't fired it up yet as I'm doing a few other things to it right now but can't wait to retime and probably recurve the dizzy. Thank everyone for you input .
I sprayed clear spray paint on all the lock washer connections to frame to avoid rust and corrosion.
 
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