starter wire

[1990SSchevy65]

Hello
I own a 1965 chevrolet truck. The PO swapped out the I6 and 3 on the tree for a 350 and an auto. I think the PO wired the truck wrong because I can start up the truck all the time I want. The only problem is I let a friend borrow the truck twice now and both times when I want the truck back she will not start at all. The first time I had to replace the starter and the alt., this is the second time and when I went over there to try and start her up you could hear the starter trying but wouldn't start. Now, I did find out that the friend would shut the truck off in the accs. position even though I told him that the key needs to be straight up and down then pull the key out, but he did not do that. My question is (sorry for the long post for this) is the alt. bad again or could the wiring job the PO did have something to do with this? Not the positive battery cable wire the small wire that I believe is purple? Sorry being colorblind doesn't help me much sometimes.
Thanks in advance.
Scott

[60-66 Nut]

Hi Scott. It's hard to know exactly how the truck is wired without seeing it, but I'll see if I can help. The heavy purple wire is usually the starter wire, and it should be wired through a neutral saftey switch either on the column(if it's a factory auto column) or in the floor shifter. But if it starts in any gear, then there must not be a neutral switch, but that in itself should not cause a problem with it not starting at all. Leaving the key on acc could easily kill the battery if left on long enough, especially if the truck still has the original alt with the external regulator. Will it start if you charge the battery or jump it off? Just trying to help narrow it down for you.

60-66 Nut

[1990SSchevy65]

The purple wire that connects to the starter on my truck is not that heavy of a gauge. The positive battery cable wire on the other hand is 0 gauge wire I believe. Leaving the key on acc could easily kill the battery if left on long enough(this is what happened the 1st time I let him borrow the truck). I have never tried starting up the truck in any other gear besides park, I'll have to try that. Well, the starter and alt. are all newly replaced with autozone counterparts, and that was about a month ago. I was not able to try and jump the truck b/c I did not have cables and I was not there long enough to try and charge the battery. I will see if either of those will work. When I bought the truck I bought a new battery, so the battery is only 3 months old. I am sorry that I haven't really answered a question just trying to show some background on what has been done since I have taken posession of the truck.

[60-66 Nut]

I'm sorry Scott, I misunderstood when you said you can start the truck any time you want. I thought you meant it would start in gear, my bad. But if the truck doesn't give you problems except when someone else uses it, chances are the wiring isn't to blame. Like I said before, the key left in the accessory position will knock the battery down for sure. And if it still has the alternator with the internal regulator, it could possibly even damage the alt or reg, depeding on how it is wired. And yes you're right, the purple wire on your truck could be a small gauge wire, I was thinking of the later model GM trucks. If it starts OK with a fresh charged battery, and the alt puts out 13.5-14V you're probably OK. Let us know what you find.

60-66 Nut

[1990SSchevy65]

Sorry to bring this thread back up but, I did find out the problem. The genius that I let borrow the truck did the exact same thing that he did the last time. That would be that he left the key in the accs. position and ran the battery down. I had told his wife that if the key wasn't vertical, it would be in the accs position, but he wouldn't know b/c the truck doesn't have any accessories. ANY. Well when I went there to rescue my truck, he said he checked it. His wife narked on him and said he didn't. But on the suggestion of my girl (fellow car nut ) I humored him. Went to the autozone nearby and had the alternator checked... it was fine.. had the battery checked..."uh sir, we're gonna need to charge this before we can test it." Now... an old truck that doesn't run for a while tends to have trouble starting b/c the battery goes down. However... sitting for two weeks? The only way to drain the battery THAT much is for it to have been turned to accessories. This guy doesn't know *JACK* about vehicles. So it's my fault for loaning it to him. Won't happen again.. but anyhow, he thought I would be dumb enough to believe that line of ?? Gives me a good laugh every time. What's even funnier, once she heard about the battery... she started laughing ... my girl even knew he was full of it. Makes me sooooooo proud She is learning so much.