Positive or negative ground ?

Posted by Delawaredave On 2009/8/9 16:00:37

Just bought a 51 Packard 200. The car starts and runs fine - but the BAT light is on and I do not think it is charging.

The 6 volt battery is connected with the NEGATIVE terminal to ground. I look in service manual and schematic says positive ground.

Two questions please:

1. Is it possible / likely that a previous owner converted the system to 6 volt negative ground ? Is there a way I could tell if this has been converted ?

2. Can I damage anything if I just switch the terminals back to positive ground ?

If the battery is in backwards, how could it run ? Wouldn't the starter motor (and other stuff) run backwards ?

Thanks !