Check those connections!

[willaygarn]

To all:
Thanks for the advice and comments about my clutch, and now I have a report to make re the electrical system.
The story is complicated but I had concluded that my battery was bad and I took it this morning to trade in for a new one.
Before buying it I asked them to check the old one and they said it was OK; which puzzled me, but after further testing I thought it might be the starter.

But while I was disconnecting the starter wiring I noticed that the wiring connections weren't as clean as they could be, si I wire brushed all of them and the starter cranked like it should have.

I'm now thinking that the cumalative effect of all those dirty connections added up to too much resistance in the starter circuits. What is also interesting to me is that just the other day a friend of mine had the same problem.

Something that made me grin: When I called the parts store and said that I needed a battery for a '76 C-10 the guy sounded surprised.
He said "A '76?" as if it is unusual to come across thirty year-old Chevy trucks, and I answered "Nothing lasts forever." As if to imply that the battery was that old.

[Bent]

I have also learned that the hard way, but you spent alot less money than I did.. So now the first thing I check on my or anyone's vehicle is the the connections to the terminals and the started and alternator. You can become a hero for a simple maintanence issue!!!!

[19_Chevelle_69]

If all the little maintenance things get taken care of, it's surprising to see what kind of a difference it makes to your vehicle.

Lack of maintenance can cause other problems that would have been easily avoided, and save big money in the long run.

Good to hear you got it all sorted out without spending the $$

[willaygarn]

It's been my experience that an adequatly maintained machine springs few surprises on its owner. I suppose electrical connections is something I usually take for granted

In this case it may have been nearly 30 years worth of crud & moisture creping in. Everything was passing current, just not enough of it.

I suspected the starter but was going to test it before buying a new one. Next I thought "Why not test it where it is?" (seeing as how I could access it easy ebough on the side of the straight-six) and while going to clean the terminals I discovered they had become crudded up just enough to cause problems.

[19_Chevelle_69]

How true, there's always something that comes up out of nowhere on you...

A 30 year old machine has a way of doing that to you on occasion.... LOL

[Missgoodwrench]

Okay Guys not funny! You posted this and I thought to myself I better check my connections just to make sure. Well it was raining so I thought I would put it off until it stopped. Not a good idea. The very next day I went to start my car of all things and it wouldn't start. The terminal was covered in crystalized goo. I cleaned it off and now the motor cranks over without any hesitation.

[willaygarn]

Yep, yep! :-)

It's something I have to do fairly often on my VW battery too.

I hear that one can scrub the terminals with baking soda to deal with it, but I have never tried it myself.

[19_Chevelle_69]

The baking soda neutralizes any acid that is on the top of the battery. Your best bet is to pick up a small stiff wire brush, mix up some baking soda and warm water, and clean both terminals.

Just be careful, the powdery dust is acidic, and burns like crazy if the brush flicks some of it into your eye. Don't get it on your skin or clothes, it will eat them up.

Once your terminals are clean and dry, wipe some grease on them to help prevent future corrosion.

[Missgoodwrench]

I found a wire brush and terminal cleaner all in one. It looks like a chinese star.it works really well.