Electrical Problem (possibly newbie ignorance)

[paddy1998]

Hello all,

I am the proud new owner of a 1925 Touring modified with a distributor. Here is the problem I'm having. It will start fine with the key turned counterclockwise (batt) but just dies when switched to magneto. At the risk of stating the obvious, this suggests to me that the magneto is bad (and might have been the impetus for installing the distributor in the first place).

What I'd like to know is whether I can run the car on batt all the time, or will that create a problem? Is the battery charging?

[Les Schubert]

No problem running a distributor on battery. In fact it is about impossible to run a distributor on magneto

[John.Zibell]

A distributor was probably installed for several reasons. The magneto no longer functions so a distributor was installed, a previous owner removed the magnets, thus no magneto, or the previous owner didn't want to use the individual coils. Also a DC coil doesn't cooperate with AC current. It messes up the rise time. You should have a generator and starter on a 1925, so if the generator is working you are good to go.

[Scott_Conger]

Welcome, Scott!