Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rustynail]

Hello
I have a wolseley 680 it hasnt been going for probably 30 years i checked the oil water etc i put the battery in it wouldnt turn over then i noticed the generator was getting very very hot slight smoke i quickly pulled battery leads off went and got manual it said it must be positive earth i couldn,t work out how you can put the earth strap on the positive on the battery and neg on the positive how does it work
Rustynail

[peter scott]

Hi Rusty,

It sounds like your cut-out contacts are welded shut. Try starting it with the generator leads disconnected.

HTH

Peter

p.s. Wouldn't have thought it was a polarity issue, or when you say generator do you mean alternator? That might be different.

[ukdave2002]

+ve and -ve battery post are usually of a different size to prevent you putting the battery on the wrong way.

For the generator to be getting hot you must be cooking the field winding, did it get hot when you were turning the car over with the starter motor, or as soon as you connected the battery up?

Regarding +ve earth in general, DC (the sort of voltage batteries produce) is about potential difference (voltage) so on a +ve earth car if you think of the earth as 0v then the other side of the battery is -12v rather than the +12v it would be on a -ve earth car. headlamps or starter motors don't care if they get +12v or -12v, they will work the same. Electronic stuff like radio's do mind, so need care when wiring in, smaller fixed magnet motors will work but turn in different directions.

Hope this helps

Dave