Battery Wiring Issue

S

SimpleJack

Junior Member
Hello everyone

I have a 1955 Ford country sedan with a 223 engine. I recently put new battery cables on the vehicle and replaced the battery. When i went to start it up it gave one crank (or atleast it felt like a crank) and sparked around the negative battery conductor :(.

I'm new to mechanics here so bare with me. This car is running on a new 12V battery (the old car battery was a 12v). All i did was replace the old cables with new ones, i didn't change the wiring at all. The negative cable is connected to the body, and the positive cable is connected to something that connects to the starter. I tried to look in my parts manual for this series of car but it doesn't go into detail of battery wiring.

Now did i mess something up? :( . I really hope not.

Here's a picture of my wiring set up

NEGATIVE CABLE

IMG_0665.jpg



POSITIVE CABLE

IMG_0666.jpg



Sorry for my lack of knowledge on battery wiring, this really is new to me.

Thank you
 
You need a NEW battery cable on the ground, that cable end is a quick fix item that breeds corrosion resulting in poor connections. When you moved them, what connection was there was lost, and clean the + cable end to ensure a connection. Buy a terminal cleaning brush.
 
You better make sure this complete car was changed to 12 V. 55 was still 6V. 56 started with 12V. Not sure if 55 was still pos. ground. ken ct.
 
These are completely new battery cables, the picture might not show it.

How can i tell if the car is a 6v or 12v?

But looking at the wiring is anything wrong? why did the cables spark when i cranked the engine the first time? now it wont crank at all if the battery is connected.
 
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Pull out one of the headlite bulbs,should be marked on the back side 6 or 12V. 40 up had V.R. so dont go by that.ken ct.
 
just pulled it out and its marked 12V, what a relief. I woulda been pissed to buy a wrong battery. Well now i know. great for future reference thanks Ken.

Now back to my wiring issue, i still don't know about it. any help?
 
Is the negative cable attached to the fender,as it looks in the picture?If so,the first thing you need to do is remove it from there and attach it to the engine,unless you are positive that the body,frame and engine are all perfectly grounded to each other.
 
From your description of what happened it sounds like as others have said you need to clean and tighten your battery terminals. the fact that you had a spark, at the least, means you have a loose connection.
If everything was fine before you changed battery leads, just tighten all your connections.
Regards
 
I'm pretty sure its already grounded because when the battery is attached the lights go on in the dashboard but now it wont crank at all. And what has me worried is the first time i tried starting the car i heard a short fizz sound and seen that the negative side on the battery had slightly corroded. I then took out the battery to clean this off with a brush.
 
Where you saw the sparking/arcing indicates a loose connection. Even though your negative wire is new, you still have the possibility/probability that the connection is not tight between the wire and the battery connector. Check all that again to be sure you have a good, clean, tight connection. The previous poster is correct. You would be much better served to connect the negative to the engine block and then tie the frame and body to it.
 
It is not unusual for lighter loads (no pun intended) to still work though it wont start. If you try to start it with the lights on they will almost certainly go out. If they do the fault is on the battery connection, if they don't it is in the the starter circuit, but I would go for the battery terminals first.
Regards
 
Even though it would appear that your car was switched to 12 volt, you need to check and see what polarity it is wired for. Originally your car was wired for a positive ground system, Ford went to negative ground in 56 when they swiched to 12 volt. On a positive ground system, the positive cable should be wired to the frame and body, and the negative side of the battery should go to the starter relay.
 
if you are sayiing you have nothing now not even the solinoid clickig perhaps you overtightened the terminal when installing the cable and spun the post on it {the solinoid}
 
Your ground connection (-) to the fender bolt is sub-standard at best. Connect the ground cable to the large tapped hole on the lower front passenger side of the 223 engine. The bolt is the perfect size for the battery cable terminal hole.
Then make sure there is a grounding strap or bonding jumper between the backside of the frame crossmember to the engine.
 
did you trade in your old battery for a core, are you sure the positve and negative post are on the same sides. As for the cable connected to the fender, not a good connection, if there is a strap from the frame to the motor or body to motor you may have burned it.
 
NEVER ever hook a ground up from a battery to your FENDER ! that's a big no no .
Most all problems with electrical systems in cars is due to ground problems . The sparks you saw were from the negative current trying to make a good connection from the battery through 2 separate pieces of metal that has rust between them and who knows how many coats of paint in between the inner and outer fender .
ALWAYS connect the negative cable to the engine Block ! Always clean the paint off the block where you intend to connect the cable to for a good connection . Also use a place besides the intake and exhaust manifolds too !
Let us know how you make out .

Jim
 
Two things. '55 fords were 6 volt POSITIVE ground. Ensure it has been converted to 12 volt NEGATIVE ground.

Next ground it to the FRAME and then install another CABLE from the frame to the engine block.
 
When people talk about connecting an earth to the frame, that includes the body. You are going to need an earth that is to the body/cab section. From the factory, 55 Ford V8's had an earth connection from the back of the block connected to the firewall. Personally I prefer to bolt an earth to the radiator support bracket from the battery as well as to the engine block. You then get the earth to the body connected to a 5/16" bolt that is securely tightened. Just make sure wherever your earth is connected that the area is clean, rust and paint free. This applies also to the earth connection to the block. The primary ( heavy earth) cable needs to connect to the engine block as it needs to carry about 400amps when cold cranking.
On 6 volt cars most of the problems people have is related to poor earths and loose connections.
The bodies and engine are rubber mounted to the chassis ( frame) and technically could provide a poor electrical path for the earth, considering that the electrical components on the body do not run return lines to the battery.
 
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