Road side starter help

[NC_Mule]

1970 IIA 2.25 88"
-11 here last night and my starter would not turn the truck over. I get kind of a click but no movement of the starter. Left the truck downtown over night now its warmed up to 2. My battery terminals are clean, 11.8v at the battery. I removed and cleaned the hot wire going to the starter. Next step is to clean the connections at the starter solenoid.
Any other advise, something I might be missing? If I run a hot wire directly to the positive terminal on the starter should it spin? What about bypassing the solenoid, if I jump the two big cables at the solenoid should that spin the starter?
Thanks for the input.
Pb.

[I Leak Oil]

Try the traditional method of jumping it with another vehicle first. I'm guessing that would do it.

[NC_Mule]

It's Alive!!
Jumping didn't change anything so that's why I was looking down stream of the battery. I think what did it was cleaning the hot feed to the starter. It still didn't turn over after that but I think my battery was worn and very cold by this point. I hooked it up to a car with cables and after letting charge for 5 min got the slightest movement. After a 20 minute charge it fired up. Had some starter fluid in the mix which helped.
Thanks pb
It would have broken my heart to call a tow truck.

[SafeAirOne]

Common misconception is that since 11.8v is close to 12v, the battery must be fine and almost fully charged. The reality is that 11.8v is just about a dead battery. Like Jason says, get a jump start and work out if your battery or charging system is faulty when you get home.

The bottom line of the following State of Charge chart says quite a bit. -11F = -23C

http://onsolar.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/battery-condition.jpg


[EDIT:] Glad you were able to recharge your battery and get it started!

[NC_Mule]

Nice chart. Yeah 11.8v is 35ish% then back out 30% for the freezing conditions and I see why I was having trouble.
It's home and in the garage, I'll do a charging system check.
Thanks again for the help

pb

[antichrist]

Good to check your cables and connections anyway. If your battery is that low it might indicate too much resistance in the charging circuit (which includes the earth). It could also just mean a really old/dying battery.

[SafeAirOne]

Nice chart.

There are a bunch of similar charts out there, but I probably ought to provide some credit for this one, since I swiped it twice from this (http://onsolar.co.uk/blog/47/keeping-a-healthy-12v-battery-pack/) website in the last couple of weeks.