Business_As_Usual

Could also be the starter or the solenoid. You can pull it off the car and bench test it. I took mine to a place in Galesburg, Illinois. He went through it, cleaned and serviced it for 40 bucks. Unfortunately he retired and closed his shop about 3 months ago.

Hopefully you have already checked and cleaned the battery terminals, the connections at the starter and solenoid. I recently had the same problem. Turned out the positive battery connection was not on the solenoid first and I found it arcing at the connection. Put the battery cable on the solenoid first and then the other wire and haven’t had any problems since. Hopefully you don’t have the original wires on your car, because if you do it can be anywhere in the wiring. Also check the connection at the ignition switch and at the A or Gen. terminal at the voltage regulator. Hope this gives you at least a starting point to find the problem. Good luck.

As I was tightening the cap, I noticed that the edge of the cap that is against the lower control arm, was starting to tear away. Stopped and backed it off a tad. Looking at the marks on the zert end of the cap that was on the photo I previously posted, I believe it’s about where it was when I started. I will inspect it every time I grease it.

Got grease into the lower control arm on my 40 Buick. Took the weight off of the front suspension, loosened end grease cap about two turns. Applied heat with a heat gun and applied grease. Grease finally went into the joint. I think I have the grease cap where it was, my marks kind of got lost from the wrench. Wish I would of used a punch and marked it instead of using an awl. I think I just marked the paint.

Your right, I did remove the zert and dug out the grease. I will try pressure on the grease gun while heating up the joint. I wouldn’t think it would take too much heat to melt the grease. So if I understand what your saying, I would be ok to remove the cap while the front end is on jack stands with the suspension relaxed.

Hello everyone. Now that the no charge problem we had is solved, with the installation of a very old Delco Remi voltage regulator, it’s time to address the lower control arm zert that won’t take grease. I’ve checked the zert and it is not blocked up. I’ve tried using a Grease Buster tool with penetrating oil to no avail. I’ve hammered on the joint but still no luck. I’m thinking about adding heat to the joint to try to melt the hardened grease. The zert is on a hex shaped 1 1/4 inch cap, which brings me to my question. If I jack the weight of the car off that control arm, would it be prudent to mark the current position of the cap in relation to the control arm, then loosen the hex cap to try to get it to take the grease. If it takes the grease, I could then tighten it up to its original position. If it doesn’t to the trick, next week I will remove the lower control arm and do what needs to be done. Advice, suggestions, experiences, and pitfalls to consider will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tom

I did manage to get the cover off while it was still on the car. Sprayed all three contacts and it still didn’t work. I guess the car likes Delco Remy VRs. Hope this VR lasts for a while. Hard to find vintage Delco Remy VRs.

While looking for somewhere to attach an engine to frame ground wire, I found this very convenient protrusion on the drivers side of the bell housing. There already was a threaded 5/16 hole in the end, so I used it for the ground wire. I looked in the shop manual for the reason it exists, but found nothing. I’m assuming it was used for something on a much earlier car. I have a 40 Buick Special. Anyone out there know why it’s there? Just curious I guess

Well, today was the day! Acquired an old Delco Remy VR and installed it on the car after spraying the contacts with electronic component cleaner. Took the car for a 100 mile ride, turned the headlights on for about 10 minutes, stopped for lunch, returned, and had a voltage reading on the battery of 6.41. Left with a reading of 6.38 volts. Had great weather and plenty of sunshine. A very good day! Thanks for everyone’s input on solving this problem.

Installed the Niehoff VR and tested it. Still not charging. I tried to get the cover off the VR before installing it, but it wouldn’t easily come off. No real good place to pry so I rolled the dice and installed it without checking the inners. Now I will take it off the car and check the inside of it.

Did manage to run a ground wire from the VR to the frame today. Drilled the hole, used a self tapping screw from an old VR, and attached the ground wire before mounting VR on firewall. I did not tap a dimple in the VR to start the hole. Didn’t want to take a chance on damaging the VR. Didn’t have the time to test it yet, so I’ll have to wait till late next week.

Battery is only about 6 months old. An Interstate battery. I hope it’s not bad. I should check the cells with a hydrometer. Won’t be able to work on the car next week at all.

Already did the ground the field terminal test and the generator worked fine. I’m going to go over all the ground cables and wires and see if that helps. That noisy VR worked, which leads me to believe it is the VR. Not sure how old this Niehoff one is, but I will open it up and see what, if anything transpired inside. I agree with Bloo, Niehoff did make quality parts. Did not have time to work on it today, sorry to say. I have the shop manual and a 1940 Motors manual. It is a three post VR, Bat, Arm, and Field from left to right, like is shown in the manuals, and I have checked the wires many times for correct wiring. I did change a ground point from the body to the frame. I’m going to try to go back to the original body ground point to see if that works, like it did with the noisy VR. Thanks to all for your input.

Hi guys, installed the Niehoff VR today and drove the car 83 miles. Turned the headlights on for 15 minutes and the gauge never showed a charge. Checked the battery when we got home, using a volt meter between the battery posts while revving the engine and it only showed 6.3 volts. After shutting down the engine the battery checked out at a little over 6.3 volts. It was at 6.49 volts when we left for the ride. We could have taken the car right home to continue working on the VR, but the weather was fantastic and the sun was shinning, so we stretched out the test drive. The Niehoff VR does not have a place to attach a ground wire, so in the next day or two I intend to remove it from the car and drill a hole in its base and use a screw to attach the 10 gauge ground wire. And yes, we remembered to polarize it. I use the chart as a way to determine what is happening with the battery. Getting a charge or not. Last fall we drove the car for just short of 200 miles. It ran great, but had to push start it at a gas stop. I had a pleasant conversation with Dave Tacheny today on the subject. He said he will call me back in a few days to see if he can find a good Delco VR. He also said he is getting rid of his 1940 and 41 parts and intends to be in Cleveland this year. Food for thought.

My question was referring to the add that Markewebb posted. I was wondering what the people in the ad considered low. Found this on the internet.

The question that begs to be asked is, how low does the battery have to be to be considered low? 10 percent, 20 percent, 30 percent? ??????

I bought the Niehoff voltage regulator. I will try it when it gets here. Thanks for the help. I liked the fact it was a replacement for the Delco 1118201.

I agree. Now the hunt is on for a NOS Delco Remy regulator, 6 volt, negative ground. Thanks to all for the advice.

Thanks for the input. I have checked the voltage at the battery while the engine is revved up. Never showed more than 6 volts. Should be about 7.5. It worked with the noisy voltage regulator. The noisy voltage regulator was continually charging the battery as long as we were accelerating. The battery was fully charged. The ground wire between the regulator and frame fixed that. It worked with the noisy regulator, so I’m thinking my new regulator is bad. At least the cut out for the battery on the regulator. I like your idea of eliminating all the other electrical components on the car. Will try that.

I know this topic has been covered before, but there just doesn’t seem to be a definitive answer. The charging system on my 40 Buick is not working. Checked the generator on the car and it is working. Took generator to two shops, one replaced a bushing, went through it and said it was fine. About two years later brought it to another shop with the voltage regulator and it worked fine. He adjusted the VR charging rate to 7.7 volts down from a little over 8 volts. I installed it back in the car and it did not work. Then I put a 10 ga. wire ground from the VR to the frame. It worked then, but was buzzing unusually loud which could be heard inside the car when driving. Took it back to O Reiles auto parts and replaced it with a new one. Now the new one does not work. Installed and wired the same way. Even changed the ground cable (flat weaved type) from batt to engine. New one had less than half the resistance than the old one. Still don’t work. The car has a new wire harness on it. Double checked that the VR and generator was wired correctly too. Any ideas. Thank, Tom

Hi Bob, yes I would be interested in buying two sets of the outer bearings/races for the 40 Buick Special. I would have to look to see where I put your address so I can send you a check. I wish you had the inner bearings too, but I will take what you have. Also, we installed that distributor ball bearing plate and it made a big difference in how the car runs. It also made a big difference when we cleaned the centrifugal weights. Someone had put grease on them and they were sticking to the old plate. Hope all is well with you and your family. I’ll check for your response to this message.

The car is still equipped with the original 6 volt system. I am trying to keep the car as original as possible and still use it as a driver. Had to replace master cylinder and wheel cylinders and had the radiator recored with a more efficient core.

Hello everyone, thanks to the response that I received on an earlier post, the Business Coupe is running well. My dad had used lithium grease on the cam of the distributor shaft because we didn’t have any cam grease handy. That was a mistake. It hardened into an uneven layer of dried up grease and quickly wore down, and continued to wear down the fiber block on the points. We cleaned the cam on the distributor shaft with parts cleaner sprayed onto a rag, applied a thin layer of cam grease, installed a new set of points and the problem is now solved. We also confimed, as 1937 Buick 66C pointed out, that once the finished edge of the fiber block is compromised, they won’t hold the correct gap. I’m attaching a pic of the dried up lithium grease on the shaft. Thanks to all on the forum who contributed to solving this issue. Tom

Thanks for all the replies. Hope to get a chance to work on it in the next few days. Tom

I did lubricate it with lithium grease, but I did not check to see how smooth it is. I guess I can use some emery cloth to polish it up, being mindful not to let any grit fall into the distributes. Thanks for your idea. Tom