My 1952 Land Cruiser hates me

[aenthal]

It doesn't want to start.
I drove it to the Los Angeles chapter Winter Meet. It was fine.
I drove it to work on the Monday after that. It was a regular car and made people smile.
I drove it home from work on Friday. (I always leave a spare car at work all week).
Though it started fine and drove fine, the needle on the dash was pointing to discharge on that ride.
I was going 60 mph on the freeway for 25 miles, so it wasn't a problem of idling. No lights were on either.
I parked it on the street with plans to play musical cars on Saturday (since I did not feel like moving a bunch of cars around that Friday evening).

Come Saturday, no go on starting.
It woofs a little, but there just isn't enough juice.
Interior lights work. Radio works. It has gas--all that good stuff.

I have a 6v jumper box at the house but no extension cord long enough to recharge the battery out on the street.
Which leave me with the option of jump starting a 6 volt positive ground car with one of my 12 volt negative ground ones.
I don't know how.

If you do it wrong, you burn out every light, I'm told.

What exactly do I connect to what, or am I toast, and should I just have Triple A flatbed it to my mechanic, so he can figure out why that car hates me so much?

[Invalid User Name]

Remove the battery and take it in the house for a few hours of charging. Be sure to check the water level in the battery before you charge it.

Doug
Venice, Florida
1950 Champion
9G F1

[Steve T]

...And make sure the voltage regulator is OK. Your problems sound very like the gremlins that plagued my Lark the first few months I was driving it, and the regulator turned out to be at fault...zero electrical breakdowns since it was replaced a year and a half ago.

S.

[rockne10]

[doug]

A 100 foot extension cord is cheaper than a tow bill, that is if the car is towed too many times by AAA. I suspect you don't want to hump the battery around.

[65cruiser]

Regarding push starting...wouldn't that cause a lot of damage if the push car had to be doing 30 mph or so when it came up on the back bumper of the dead car?

Just sayin

Mark Anderson
Member SDC and FMCA
Keeper of the Studebaker Cruiser Registry

https://www.65cruiser.com

[barnlark]

Andrea, you could have a multitude of problems causing your mostly dead battery, so it's best to start with someone that you can trust to help you right there at the house. The first is see if your battery has a dead, or dying cell by taking it out of the car, getting it on a battery charger to see if takes and/or holds a charge. If it's just bad and a purchased new one doesn't give you a discharging light, you have found the problem!

If it's a good battery and you still have a discharge light, something has changed to cause your problem. Think about any additions to the wiring that has been done lately..radio, new switches, loose fan belt, etc. If none, the generator, the regulator, or at the worst, an electrical short somewhere in the car is the culprit. I've had something inside the generator (a broken wire) cause the same symptoms as yours, but a bad regulator could also cause your problems.

The good news is those two things are easy to extract from the car and get repaired. If you have an honest garage, take it there. But have them check both the generator and the regulator together.

I have a local automotive generator and alternator repair shop that insists on matching the generator and the voltage regulator to each other and dialing them in. They explained that many a regulator gives out because it is not adjusted to the generator; they are usually just thrown in the car's electrical system and while they will work for a while, they will eventually give out and strand you somewhere less safe than the front of your home.

I'm not sure where in L.A. you are, a quick look on Google gave me a mix of advertising repair shops, but there has to be a shop for that specialized classic car generator repair suggested by your local club members.

When I lived in Pasadena I trusted Blair's Speed Shop to steer me toward anything to keep classic cars running. They are great guys with whom to deal:

2771 East Foothill Boulevard
Pasadena, CA 91107-3442
(323) 681-8644

Good luck. It doesn't hate you, btw, it just likes to test your patience and love.

[studeclunker]

At least it didn't try to kill you like the Blue Witch tried with me... Twice! Naw, if yours hated you, it would have quit on the freeway. Somewhere like Boyle Heights where there's nowhere to pull off. The old girl's just a bit irracible in her old age. Be patient. Underneath it all, she's a sweet old lady just looking for a bit of attention and love.


Home of the famous Mr. Ed!
K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Studebaker!
Ron Smith
Where the heck is Lewiston, CA?

[Orestudeguy]

Oh Ron,,
You still haven't gotten over the "Blue Witch" LOL..
Well it's going back together. I have got the 259 and auto trans in it. Got lot's more work to do on it yet. Looking for the throttle linkage that bolts to the firewall. Removed all the clutch linkage and installing a brake pedal from and auto trans car and the steering column as well.
I removed all the shag carpeting and what was left of the factory rubber floor mat and for the most part the floors look better than i had expected.
I hope to have it on the road by summer. And it won't be called the blue witch anymore..

George
Grants Pass, Oregon
64 Station Wagon with fixed roof (Canadian Car)

64 Wagonaire sliding roof South Bend car.

63 GT Hawk

51 Champion Starlight Coupe