Electrical system screwup! Arrgh!

[SpookyDad]

I decided to switch the battery to the other side of the truck, to get it out of the way of the new gas tank position. Someone had converted my truck to a 12volt system prior to me owning it. It wasn't a pretty job but it did work. Here is how it was wired when I got it:



The blue wire on the right comes from the battery up to the "master" switch. The red wire goes down to the starter. The yellow wire goes to the alternator and there is a branch off the yellow wire to the light above the master switch. The white wire was tied off when I got it.

Now I moved everything around I thought I had it rewired correctly but it doesn't go at all. I can't remember which terminal the yellow wire hooks up to. I am assuming the system is a negative ground. Is that right?? I think the yellow wire should go on the same pole of the switch as the red cable. i.e. it makes the alternator "hot" and turns the light on when the master is on.

Can I have blown the starter switch?
Can I have shorted out the alternator?

I hooked it up and got various clicking noises and assumed the battery was dead. I tried hooking up the battery charger and the light would go on until I hit the foot starter switch and then everything would go dead.

Can someone recommend a diagnostic procedure for me to try?
In the past I would turn on the master, pull the choke, flip the ignition switch, hear a clicking sound from either the starter or alternator (I could never tell) and then hit the foot starter. It would start up great.

Neil

[SpookyDad]

The crisis has been averted. The system is on a negative ground. I found pictures that I took earlier in the project and confirmed the wiring. Once that was put back in place, I found some bad/dirty connections and checked the battery. It isn't a sealed battery so I opened the cells up and most were down below half full and one was dry. So the battery had no juice at all. I filled up the cells and let it sit on charge for a couple of hours. After a fair bit of cranking, it finally fired up again. I guess she sensed that friends were coming tomorrow to take a look at it and was being grumpy.

Neil