77_Cruiser Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 Had the mechanic come out and get the truck running last week. He pulled out the terminals to the battery box as he was not impressed by the lack of slack in the lines. Parked it in storage and tried to start it this morning. It is about 30 degF. Reconnected the batteries due to suspicion of possible short. Took the voltmeter to each battery, all 6V+ and 12V+ across the series connections. However, getting absolutely nothing to the truck. No radio, no lights, nothing. Needless to say, the truck does not start. Tried jostling the telescoping steering wheel but nothing seem to be affected electrically by that at all. Going to go back later and look at the fuse box. Thinking of plugging in the block heater too. I think these systems have the main power routing to the starter before the rest of the truck. Starter has been getting stuck lately on harsh shutdowns. THIS IS A RESTORATION PROJECT in its infancy. I suppose there is much to find out about this rig. Any ideas are appreciated. Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/52547-77-cruiseliner-no-electrical-power/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lmackattack Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 If the cab over is like the R models the power runs from the batteries to the starter. from starter to fuse panel. at the panel some power goes to lights and such that will turn on when the key is off. other power goes to a relay that is only on with the key in the run position. I would first check that + power is in fact making it to these locations, put the ground probe on a solid ground such as the frame or negative battery post. If you have power checking it this way. then you have a bad ground. (most common electrical issue) check the grounds or simply add in a new ground from the frame up to where ever you see the panel ground is at. Can never have to many ground wires. 2 Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/52547-77-cruiseliner-no-electrical-power/#findComment-392276 Share on other sites More sharing options...
77_Cruiser Posted February 17, 2018 Author Share Posted February 17, 2018 Thank you Lmackattach. Will give it a go in a bit. Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/52547-77-cruiseliner-no-electrical-power/#findComment-392278 Share on other sites More sharing options...
70mackMB Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 2 hours ago, Lmackattack said: I would first check that + power is in fact making it to these locations, put the ground probe on a solid ground such as the frame or negative battery post. If you have power checking it this way. then you have a bad ground. (most common electrical issue) check the grounds or simply add in a new ground from the frame up to where ever you see the panel ground is at. Can never have to many ground wires. Once upon a time l spent over an hour getting a tail light (1157?) to work. Turned out to be a bad ground. l check the ground first now! .....Hippy 1 Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/52547-77-cruiseliner-no-electrical-power/#findComment-392288 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ws721 Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 If your Cruiseliner is 24 volt then there is a rather heavy gage wire coming off the right side battery box that powers the cab. At least that's how my "eastcoast" Cruiseliner is wired. My "westcoast" built cruiseliner is 12 volt. I can go and try to follow the cab power supply if that helps. The power wire I'm talking about is the same gage as a starter wire on a lawnmower. I dont have much in the way of wireing diagrams but I do own 2 Cruiseliners. I'm more than happy to look at mine and tell ya how there wired. Good luck 1 Quote Remember if it's got a hood it's no good! Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/52547-77-cruiseliner-no-electrical-power/#findComment-392298 Share on other sites More sharing options...
77_Cruiser Posted February 17, 2018 Author Share Posted February 17, 2018 Well, thanks ws721 and 70mackMB for the insight. This is a 12 volt western model. I did get back out there and tested some different connections. I think I accidentally did the thing I was supposed to do to test that grounding problem. Basically, as the snow got heavier, I decided to pack it in for the day. Disconnected all terminals on the driver side with the passenger side still connected. With the positive wire on the driver side hanging mid-air I tried to clear the negative wire out of the way to replace the top portion of the battery box. The negative wire hit the bottom half of the box that is bolted to the frame and sparks started flying. Meaning, the 2 6V batteries on the passenger side were not properly grounded (right?) Otherwise, there should not have been sparks with the negative line on the driver side touching the piece of the battery box connected to the frame/ground. So I am going in tomorrow morning planning to address a grounding issue. Going to use jumper wires to create a temporary ground line on each side connecting the negative terminal on each side to the frame. Hopefully some lights start turning on or something... Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/52547-77-cruiseliner-no-electrical-power/#findComment-392303 Share on other sites More sharing options...
77_Cruiser Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 Yep, a bad ground. Got the lights on. The starter still isn't right though. Time for a new thread... Quote Link to comment https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/52547-77-cruiseliner-no-electrical-power/#findComment-392513 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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