1925 Spark

I have a 1925 IH truck that I could not get a spark, I turned it over a few times and the battery wore down. I removed the battery and noticed the terminals were reversed. Is it possible that there wasn't any spark because the negative and positive were reversed on the battery?

Short answer is no. Old IHC's were POSITIVE ground. Which way are you hooking it up?
Look at the coil, the + terminL should go to the points if + ground, - to the points for - ground.
most likely the problem is the points are not conducting even when closed. This is because they have coroded, clean or replace the points and try again.
A coil will make spark even if hooked up backwards, but do better if correct.

Morning everyone

Speedtruckbill just sent me an email as he is having problems logging on.

Trevor,
Cannot get logged on OldIHC. Model S Speed Trucks with Remy ignition were Negative ground!
If it still has the original Remy coil with the built in condenser, the condenser has probably failed.
Please note this is a Remy system prior to Remy being merged with Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co (Delco).
Have him send a photo of coil and distributer.
Bill

Ahh, didn't know they were - ground, all the later 6 volts were positive ground. In the days of generators, points, and wound field starters, it doesn't really make any difference. swap a few wires (so the ammeter read correctly and the coil is correct, and they could switch polarity. As I have said, the coil will fire regardless, with a little reduction in output.

Make sure there is voltage to the coil- the small wire that comes from the ign switch. Sometimes these old switches like to be ornery. Other than that. points. as previously mentioned.
BTW if you want to know which way the battery went and the wiring is intact. Just turn on the lights and see which war the ammeter reads. If it shows charge with the engine stopped, you got it backwards.

I didn't have an amp meter with me, I was grounding the plug to the motor to see a spark. I wasn't sure if the battery having been installed backwards would affect the current from the coil to the distributor. I cleaned the points and they were moving , they opened and closed as the motor turned over. The distributor was quite corroded, I cleaned it and it didn't make a difference.

I switched the ground and positive on the battery to positive ground, could I have caused future problems?

I was not able to turn the lights on, I had already removed them. They are for a 1930's model, so I took them off to sell. OOps

I just looked at my 26 and it has a positive ground with a Delco-Remy distributor, which is the same as the 25. Is it possible that the Canadian built trucks were different?

Sometimes a slight oily film on the points will prevent them from making contact. Turn the engine over by hand so the distributor cam is such that you can rotate the rotor against the advance springs and have the points open and close. Turn the switch on and rotate the rotor back and forth and watch for a small spark in the points contacts when they open. If your not seeing one, try touching the tip of a clean screwdriver to both sides of the points contacts to create a spark, usually if there was an oil film that should burn it off and they will make contact. MM

Thanks for the advise, I will try that when I go back down to Saskatchewan. I have it out there until I can bring it back home this coming summer. I was hoping to figure out if I was doing something wrong or what process I should be testing before I go back.

I am going to be replacing the distributor cap, rotor, points, wires and plugs on the 26, as soon as I can track down the parts from the IH dealer. I figured I can replace the parts and get familiarized with the electrical system before I go down to get the 25 working.

I found the distributor cap and rotor very corroded and the wires are barely hanging on. Yet it starts on the first try? go figure.