Hey guys. I put a new battery in and the car still didnt crank. But I placed a jumper wire between two of the terminals on the relay and the car cranked over and ran! My problem is determining which terminals are 1,2,3,4 so I can properly diagnose the starting problem. There are four terminals on the Delco (Buick) relay and if I place a jumper from the green wire that runs off the voltage regulator to the black wire terminal that runs to the starter solenoid, the engine cranks. I need to know which terminal is which. I have a large redish pink wire that runs from the bottom terminal of the relay into the firewall and dash. Directly opposite that in the far side of the relay is a smaller gauge wire of the same color which also runs into the fire wall and the dash. THen there are the two other wires, the terminal with the small green wire from the armature on the voltage regulator, and the larger black wire that runs to the starter solenoid. So I need to know which terminals are 1,2,3,4 and/or what running a jumper wire between the two terminals I indiacted would mean. We are making progress!! Thanks Guys!

Once again , I have no wiring diagram so am stabbing in the dark so to speak.
I would say that the large red wire going into the dash is the feed for the solenoid.
The thin red wire would be from the ignition switch. I would guess that you shorted out the large red and the large black wire to get starter to move ? You need to find out if there is any power on the thin red wire when you turn the key on to start position. THe relay should click if there is power.
If it does click and there is power to thick red wire then the contacts in the relay are Kaput !!( finished,over )
If there is power to to thin red wire when you turn key on and no click , the relay contacts are Kaput also.

Ken. ( aka Rooster ---looking for' 54 Buick )

term 1 10 gauge pink goes to ign sw
term 2 10 gauge black goes to starter sol.
term 3 18 gauge green goes to gen term of reg
term 4 18 gauge pink goes to carb switch then to neutral sw then to ign sw
I would say by jumping 2 to 3 you are by passing the carb sw, neutral safety sw, and ign sw. Disconnect the small pink wire and put a volt meter between it and ground. Turn on the key and step on the gas pedal. If you get full battery voltage the relay is bad. If you get no or very low voltage the prob is in the ign, neutral, or carb switch or associated wires/connectors.......Bob

Yo 54 Century. You have 3 posts here asking for advice and info. Several people, including me, have taken considerable time to research and post advise and help for your various problems. Call me old fashioned but I would think you would at least reply with a thank you to let us know you at least read the damn things. If you are having a life crisis I apoligize in advance. If you are just lazy or inconsiderate don't expect any more help from me......Bob

Forgive me. I put my thank you s in the posting because I am a subsitute teacher and never know when I will be working or home. I havent looked at the car for a few days. I will be tonight and will be sure to add a post with an update and a tahnk you to all who have helped me.. I will attempt to be more on top of this from now on. I am not lazy, just too darn busy and I do appreciate all teh help you all offered. I will post later. Again I am truly sorry

No big deal, I posted that before my coffee. Let us know how you are doing and if we can be of help......Bob

I ran the test you recomended on the relay and I had a solid 12 volts going to it with teh switch on and the gas pedal depressed. That made it seem pretty obvious that the relay is bad. I also found out that if the relay goes bad it can cause the generator impellor to try to turn in turn burnign out the generator if it isnt caught. I smelled something and hopefully got that in time. I am having a really hard time finding a starter relay for the car though. I thought Napa would carry it, but they looked at me like I was nuts. I am hopeful that the new relay will take care of the starting problem. Then it will be on to the non-working brake lights so I can get it inspected and then the start of its restoration!

Those relays are made of "unobtainium". They show up on ebay occasionaly but are grabbed by the Chebby boys for high prices and last minute snipes.
Take yours apart, file the contacts with a point file, if there is corrosion around the rivets drill them out, clean the surfaces and replace. This has a chance of working unless the coil is shot.
Willie

I'm with you Willie. I was never one to be at the mercy of "unobtainium " I would do exactly the same ' 54 Century , take it to bits and clean it up like Willie says. It will then probably outlast you ?
One tip though with silver contacts. Make sure after you file them you try and polish them smooth with some fine wet & dry paper using about 600 - 800 grit.

Ken ( aka Rooster -- looking for ' 54 Buick )

I didn't have any trouble finding relays in my local junk yard. Guess I was just lucky. The cover comes off by bending two tabs on the bottom. If the coil is not obviously toasted you can prob repair it as per last post. Not to try to correct anyone but using sand paper on any kind of electrical contacts is a no no. File only. The abrasive particles on some papers are silicon carbide or other conductive material. Fine particles of the grit get imbeded in the soft contact point and either insulate it or cause local hot spots that lead to burning and arcing.......Bob.

BTW, the 55 Buick shop manual has a section on testing and adjusting the relay. I strongly suggest you buy a manual. They are on EBay all the time for about $35 or so. If I had a scanner I would send you the section. Maybe some one else can help. It's on page 349, para. B...........Bob

THanks a ton! I have good news and bad news. THe good news is the relay is apparently working. My mechanic took it to a buddy who tested it and said it works fine. THe bad news is that means the problem is somewhere else. At this point, we know that the relay is getting a solid 12 volts between the number 1 and four terminals. This according to the posts would indicate a bad starter. FUrther, I have to have the battery disconnected i or the impellor on the generator tries to turn constantly and thus forces the generator to burn! I am going to put the relay back on at this point and go from there. The problem is I dont know where there is lol. Crossing the jumper cables did something. I just dont know what yet. Ill keep you all posted. Im going to buy that book on ebay right now if I can find it. It sounds like a lifesaver.

If the gen is motoring with the battery connected check the cut out relay in the regulator to see if it is stuck/welded closed. With no power all 3 contacts should be open. It sounds like you may have toasted the reg.........Bob

I pulled the cover on the voltage regulator today and found that one of the contacts was melted closed. I unstuck the contact and that seemed to fix the generator issue. PLUS the solenoid for the starter now clicks when the gas pedal is depressed. SOmething that never happened before. I had a spare voltage regulator I found in the trunk when I bought the car, but I popped that one on with the same results. Is there anyway to check a voltage regulator to see if it is good or not. Would a bad voltage regulator cause the solenoid to click but not turn the starter? I would think that if the solenoid is getting power, then the starter should crank. It did before when I jumpered between contacts 2 and 3 on the starter relay, which was tested and checked out good. Thanks again for any help you may offer.

When you say solinoid I assume you mean the solinoid and not the starter relay. Actually the starter solinoid is also a relay. When the solinoid pulls in it engages the starter motor gear with the engine ring gear, then it acts as a relay and energizes the starter motor. If the solinoid is pulling fully in but the starter motor is not cranking the engine then either the solinoid or motor is faulty. Try jumping the heavy terminal on the STARTER directly to the battery. If the starter motor spins (it will not crank the engine in this test)then it sounds like the relay portion of the solinoid is bad. BTW, the relay portion can usually be repaired. I'm pretty sure NAPA has a repair kit for about $10-12.

If the solenoid clicks but does not engage the starter when starting normally, but will start when jumpered at the relay, you still have a low voltage condition...most probably in the relay. Replace or freshen up the relay as detailed previouly...internal resistance at the rivets will not show up on any tests.
Willie

I am going to try that test tomorrow.. I did mean that the solenoid on the starter was engaging as was the starter relay. The only part of the circuit not engaging to start the car was the starter motor. I will report back with the test results tomorrow. Thanks.

ABout ready to test the starter motor. Is there a heavy terminal directly on the starter itself. I crawled under and saw teh heavy terminal on the solenoid, I did not see any wires connecting directly to the starter mtor? Thanks.

I have determined that the problem above and beyond the stuck relay in the voltage regulator was a low voltage situation. Good call Willie! I jumped the brand new battery with my car and the 54 fired right up and now it cranks and starts. IF it doesnt hold the charge and I need to jump it every time even with a new battery, I assume I should clean out the strater relay really good? I am going to tackle the small problems one at a time now. You guys rock! I would buy you all a beer!