12v or 24v??

[JerseyMud609]

ok i know im asking alot of domn ?? and i thank yall for not busting by chops on here for all my new guy ?? but i was trying to figur out if its still a 24v sistom. it dose have 2 batarys but the briver side alt has bin removed. it looks like all the wires are still there for the alt and so are the brakits. how can i tall if she has bin swiched to a 12v?? and how importint is the 2nd alt?? shud i get one asap or can i work on other probloms fist and still run the truck of the pasinger side alt?? thanks for the help and the kindnis iv gotin on steelsoldiers, it makes me feel like im as good as the rest insted of a no one/ no noting...

 

[kennyw]

If you don't have starting problems after a day or two I'd guess your rig has been converted to 12V. But, if you take a look at how your batteries are hooked up you can tell at a glance. Positive to positive and negative to negative is 12V. Positive on front battery to negative on rear battery is the 24V system.

 

[mangus580]

If you don't have starting problems after a day or two I'd guess your rig has been converted to 12V.

Thats funny, I have had mine for a few years now and never had a starting problem. I am 99.9999% sure its still 24v.....

 

[ida34]

Ditto. I have had two bone stock cucv's with not starting problems.

 

[Blood_of_Tyrants]

Easy. Are the positive and negative battery terminals wired to common points?

 

[JerseyMud609]

Easy. Are the positive and negative battery terminals wired to common points?

yes i think they are. and that means its 12v right? and if it is, is it worth it to go back to 24v and how do i do that??

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Thats funny, I have had mine for a few years now and never had a starting problem. I am 99.9999% sure its still 24v.....

Ditto. I have had two bone stock cucv's with not starting problems.

Hate to point out the obvious but I think kenny is referring to the altered from mil-spec charging system the guy says he has. If it was still some form of 24v it obviously wouldn't be working correctly in the configuration he described.

 

[Blood_of_Tyrants]

yes i think they are. and that means its 12v right? and if it is, is it worth it to go back to 24v and how do i do that??

Yes, if the positives and negatives are all tied to the same point electrically (all on the same two bus bars) it is 12 vdc. If you have the resistor bank, a 24v starter, and some time, it isn't too hard. But why would you want to?

 

[JerseyMud609]

is it worth it to go back to 24v or stay at 12v now that some one already took the time to swap it. i want to bring the truck back to how it was when it went into service, well mabe after eating some staroids. i want it to be just like it started but with a 6 inc lift and mabe some 38's or at lest in that ballpark.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

The 24v system works well. However if you have nothing else 24v it's a bit of the odd man out. Not to mention you can't just go to NAPA and buy the alternator and starter.

12v can be fine if the conversion is done well. Heck, you can even convert it to use standard GM parts that CAN be bought at NAPA.

My 24v system works fine now. When it dies or gives me expensive trouble it becomes a 12v system.

 

[kennyw]

Thats funny, I have had mine for a few years now and never had a starting problem. I am 99.9999% sure its still 24v.....

You would have a starting problem if you removed one alternator and drove around for a couple days.

 

[wallew]

This is one I can answer. Because my M1009 came to me as a 12v system. POORLY converted I might add - they ONLY swapped the started and two battery cables - not the other things that make a good 12v conversion work properly. Plus the county sheriff's department that had it hacked the wiring harness pretty badly as well.

So things didn't work so great. At least not ALL of the electrical stuff and not all the time.

My conversion consisted of swapping the 12v starter with a 24v starter (then I had to replace a bad solenoid - actually easy). Plus replace a couple of battery cables.

IT DOES make a difference. Mine used to be hard to start. But now, she fires with one turn of the key. I used to have to cycle it at least twice (three times in the winter, but I live in Denver). Now she fires right up. Even WITH snow on the ground and the temp well below freezing.

So it's doable.

Cheap? Not really. But I'm anal and like to go at things one step at a time.

Mike at OD Iron is your friend and has ALL the parts (extra alt and 24v starter) to help you on your way.

Others here will gladly step up and help as well.

I'm TICKLED that mine is now back to 24v.

You want an EASY way to check to see if it's 12v or not? Check you NATO slave plug. Chances are if it's been converted, your NATO slave plug wires have been clipped so NO ONE attaches a 24v power supply to your truck. Because IF it's been converted and you do attach a 24v power supply, you will definitely fry something.

My NATO slave plug wires are clipped and pulled to the front of the grill so you can see that they are clipped. So I've gotta replace those two cables as well.

Hope that gives you some insight.

Here's a couple of posts regarding my problems. And what I did to resolve them.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/cucv/30979-cucv-alternators-im-still-confused.html

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/cucv/32194-huge-kudos-od-iron-2.html#post392529

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/cucv/35639-everything-working-great-then.html#post392527

I hope those links help.

 

[JerseyMud609]

that is very helpfull. i do have probloms geting that stubern old girl so start up, i thought the glow plugs where **** (not saying they arint) but now i want to swap back to 24v even more, the way i look at it if that was the way the truck was supos to be then theres a resin for it and it should be that way, if it was ment to be 12 volt then they would come that way!!!

 

[AJMBLAZER]

More of them came in 12v than in 24v.

Comparing the hacked up wiring of a 24 to 12v conversion done by people of dubious skills to a real 12v setup is fallacious. The proper 24 to 12v conversion would be better than the crap it sounds like some of your vehicle's previous owners decided to bless you with.

 

[kennyw]

But, either way you go, you have some work ahead of you...

 

[motormayhem]

A 24V start uses less amperage draw.

 

[JerseyMud609]

for a wiel my truck was a Briginten New Jersey Bech Patrol Truck. after that some guy bouth it wanting to fix it then sold it to another guy that wanted to fix it(nether of them did more then park it behind there house) now i have it and every day its not raining i put as much time trying to cleen up the truck (boddy, filth, wires, moter, trani, est) iv only had her a week or 2 and iv already got alout of stuff done, i just need to sell my ranger now so i can get the rest of the stuff i need to get-r-done for the most part

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Well, sounds like it definitely has a dubious history. All I'm saying is there's nothing wrong with a 12v start system on one of these trucks. Plenty of guys drive civilian 6.2L's every day in colder climates and places than NJ and their trucks start just fine.

Unscrew the previous owners' hackjob wirings and conversion and then decide if you want to go back to the 24v military system or over to a properly setup 12v system. Either can be done well.