1964 2000 with 8V battery

Hello everyone,

I just inherited my grandfather's 1964 Ford 2000. It is the 4 cylinder gas model with a 4 speed transmission.
I read that it is a 6 volt system and noticed the positive ground. I have been troubleshooting a very slow crank. In doing so I noticed that the battery in it is 8 volts.
I suspect that the generator is not charging as the battery measures 8.5 volts when the engine is not running and 8.1 volts when the engine is running. It drops to 7.7 with the lights on. But, I don't know what the voltage regulator is set for. If it is a 6 volt system the VR would probably be set for 7.5 or so right? With an 8 volt battery how can I troubleshoot the generator? Can I pull off a battery terminal with the engine running? If the engine keeps running then the generator has to be making current right? Which terminal should I pull off?
Last question, how to charge my 8v battery? As I didn't have another option, I hooked it up to a 12v charger on the 2amp setting. I measured the voltage while it was charging and it only measured 9.2 volts. Does the charger measure a battery's voltage and step it up slowly? Mine started the process at 8.1 volts and after 2 x 15 minute charges read 8.7.
Thanks for the info.
J

Welcome to the forums!
To charge and 8V battery, use an 8V charger.
Hard to find nowadays, might want to shop yard sales.
The batteries are getting harder and harder to buy too.

It should work fine on 6V, but you will need to make sure
you have clean electrical connections everywhere. Both ends
of both battery cables for example. No grease, corrosion, paint.
The battery cables also need to be the correct size. i.e. BIG.
Zero to two gauge max. Not the little 4 gauge wires used on cars.
The shorter you can keep the cables the better.
Many times the problem is just a dirty ground connection.

Could also be an issue with the starter.
Some car parts stores will test them for free.

There are lots of posts in the archives here on how to test the
generator. Motor test, full field, etc. Not very hard to do.
I usually just motor test mine and if it won't motor I take it to
my generator/starter guy and have him test/fix it.

Adding a 8 volt battery often was a farmers fix for a poor starting engine. It gave the starter a little more boost. On some 6 volt regulators, you can turn up to recharge the 8 volt.
Do yourself a favor and fix it. In the long run you will be happy.
It's sort of like pay me now or pay me later.

You will need to readjust the voltage regulator to charge your 8V battery with the OEM 6V charging system. Voltage regulator adjustment, though possible is largely a lost art. There are very few folks who can do it properly.

Do yourself a favor and replace the 8V battery with a 6V battery or do as most folks do and convert to 12V.

If you stay with the 6V (or 8V) system, make sure that you have properly sized 0 or 00 battery cables.

Dean

How do you know that it is cranking slowly? Engines being cranked by a 6V starter crank far more slowly than 12V

Everyone,

Since typing that I have cleaned all the terminals between the battery and starter and the positive ground (which was quite dirty/rusty and grounded via the battery tray). I also charged the battery using a 12 volt charger and got it up to about 8.7 volts. The tractor cranked much faster.
I think I will continue to clean up all the electrical connections and use this 8 volt battery until it fails and then go back to 6 volts.
I am going to continue to use my 12 volt charger until I find an 8 volt one. I monitored that process closely and it never went above 9.3 volts and the battery never even felt warm. I don't see how this would be dangerous or damage the battery as long as I never let it go above about 9.5 volts. Thoughts?

Thanks,

J

8v bats are poor bandaid kludge fixes.

can reduce points and lamp life and vreg, if not tweaked.. leaves you with a mostly discharged bat all the time.

the charver is not stepping the voltage you.. you are just seeing a dead battery charge...

if you want to continue to trickle charge it. find a junk electronic device you have wi9th a wall wart that is 9-10vdc, cut the plug and add gator clips... that can safely be used to trickle charge your 8v battery.

Problem with 6 volts is.. that is takes [u:0d6df94874]200 amps[/u:0d6df94874] to crank the engine where a 12 volt system takes [u:0d6df94874]100 amps[/u:0d6df94874]...

So the cables must be perfect and very very large. all connections must be very clean, and the starter and battery both must be in great condition.

So.. getting fast cranking means you must always keep the wires perfect and battery charged. An 8 volt battery will have more pressure than a 6 volt and should help crank faster... but... but.. but....

all batteries will slowly sulfate up the cells, meaning they will slowly put out less flow.. while the voltage (pressure) is good, the current (maximum flow) decreases over time. And for fast cranking on your 6 volt starter, its all about flow, flow, flow and then flow.

So,, all batteries slow decrease current over time,, is your battery is good shape? has it been load tested for high amperage? It may simply be an old battery. Most batteries will not work well after 3 years old.. some at 2 years, others at 4 years... If you keep a battery maintainer on the battery, you can extend its life up to 5 years or more in some cases. A pulse charger will actually break up the sulfate crystals and extend the life of the battery significantly.