As the lucky new owner of a well-known SDC '51 Champion Regal 4-door, I was saddled with a very sluggish 6V starting system: very slow cranking speed but still in keeping with the foot-switch.
Working through the very few things it could be, I changed out the decent 6V battery for a fresh one, decided to pull what appeared to be the OEM foot-switch and drained out the heavy engine oil for a modern 5W-30. With heavy jumpers and the solenoid bypassed I made sure the starter was healthy, and thank goodness it was.
Finally was the solenoid. The contacts seemed to have intermittent contact health, and when tested on the bench, there was more continuity from the low-current post to ground than should have been there. The battery was being allowed to drain enough to deplete itself between deep chargings.
Fast-forward to last weekend and with a new 6V replacement solenoid in-hand, I was ready to complete the repair and enjoy the car in Spring weather. Problem: this new starter-mounted solenoid looks exactly like the Auto-Lite that came out, but the low-current post is not in parallel to the high-current supply. That is, while the new solenoid case IS grounded through the starter case to chassis, etc,, it needs to get a 6V supply from elsewhere.
This meant I had to supply it with key-ready 6V nearby (chose the supply to the OD relay). This was sent down to the footswitch, then the original wire back up to the solenoid goes back into the side post, just like original. Unlike the OEM wiring where the footswitch grounds the currrent from the solenoid post to close the contacts, the new switch is simply to close the loop down and back up to the solenoid.
Now works like a dream, and can't emphasize enough how the Battery Tender Jr is going to make keeping a 6V car a more reliable and enjoyable experience.
Working through the very few things it could be, I changed out the decent 6V battery for a fresh one, decided to pull what appeared to be the OEM foot-switch and drained out the heavy engine oil for a modern 5W-30. With heavy jumpers and the solenoid bypassed I made sure the starter was healthy, and thank goodness it was.
Finally was the solenoid. The contacts seemed to have intermittent contact health, and when tested on the bench, there was more continuity from the low-current post to ground than should have been there. The battery was being allowed to drain enough to deplete itself between deep chargings.
Fast-forward to last weekend and with a new 6V replacement solenoid in-hand, I was ready to complete the repair and enjoy the car in Spring weather. Problem: this new starter-mounted solenoid looks exactly like the Auto-Lite that came out, but the low-current post is not in parallel to the high-current supply. That is, while the new solenoid case IS grounded through the starter case to chassis, etc,, it needs to get a 6V supply from elsewhere.
This meant I had to supply it with key-ready 6V nearby (chose the supply to the OD relay). This was sent down to the footswitch, then the original wire back up to the solenoid goes back into the side post, just like original. Unlike the OEM wiring where the footswitch grounds the currrent from the solenoid post to close the contacts, the new switch is simply to close the loop down and back up to the solenoid.
Now works like a dream, and can't emphasize enough how the Battery Tender Jr is going to make keeping a 6V car a more reliable and enjoyable experience.
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