1926 Battery Problem

[KCW]

Hi everyone,

I have a 1930 model A Cabriolet but decided to get a T too, fulfilling a 10 year old dream to have a model A and a Model T. I haven't had the T tagged yet and have only had it for a few weeks, learning how to drive it around the neighborhood. It's a 1926 run about pickup, and looks awesome. It drives great too.

I need some help however with a few issues before I get it tagged. Keep in mind, I'm very new to owning antique cars in general and my knowledge base is poor, but growing. The first problem is the battery. The car has an electric start, and the battery dies after about 24 hours of sitting. I charge it back up and it starts and runs fine, but then it is dead in 24 hours. I'm not leaving the lights on or the key in either. What gives? Apparently this wasn't an issue when the car was sold.

The battery is new, and looks it as well. The other thing is, the car came with a note saying that the car will only run in battery and that there are no coils. Why would one do this to an old model T? Is there some advantage to this? Also, when I'm driving the car, I start on battery and then if I switch to magneto the car still drives fine. I really don't understand this at all. It really seems like too that the battery is drw9nijg overnight when the car is sitting. When I practice driving it's for maybe 20 minutes tops.

Lastly, the car seems to have a little trouble when going from low to high gear. Should I be giving more gas? Advancing the speak more? Any and all advice is welcome. Driving these cars is a joy!

Thank you!

KCW

 

[29spcoupe]

As far as the battery goes, you may either have a short that is draining the battery or your generator is not charging. The battery may look new, but may not be holding a charge. If the car has no coils then it must have a distributor or an electronic conversion in either the coil box or commutator. If it has a distributor it can run on either mag or battery if it is wired correctly. Look for a ballast resistor to lower the voltage to the coil when running on mag. All of this is based on assumptions without pictures or a little more info. Hope this helps. John

 

[Jack Innes]

If you charge the battery then remove one battery cable & it is still dead 24 hours later the battery is at fault. Sometimes even new batteries can go bad.

If the battery stays charged the problem is a short - possibly the generator cut-out.

If you could post a picture of the right side of the engine it could be determined if it has a distributor.

Jack

 

[KCW]

Thanks for writing. Like I said, I'm very new to all of this. I'll post some photos later if the engine. I'm really stumped by all of this.

 

[redmodelt]

How old is the wiring? Do you see any bare spots? I would do the battery disconnect test as suggested above. I am thinking the cutout is sticking and the generator is trying to motor drawing the battery down. Disconnect the wire from the cut out. This wire is hot at all times, even with the key off so don't let it touch anything or you will get a spark! If the battery still goes down and you have done the battery test, start looking for shorts.

 

[KCW]

Here are a couple of shots of the engine. Thanks for the advice. Now that you've seen the engine any other thoughts? Why would this car not have a magneto?

 

[Jack Innes]

Your engine looks great! It does not have a distributor & there should be 4 coils in the box on top of the head. It may have an electronic ignition conversion in place of the coils but the wiring is all there for regular coils.

If the battery proves to be OK the most likely problem is the cut-out. You could try the T battery in you A & see how it behaves.

In any case I would suggest not leaving the car in your garage with the battery connected - a current leak can cause a fire.

 

[redmodelt]

You may have a magneto, it's built into the flywheel. It's not an outside mag. I suggest you buy an owners manual so you can better understand your car. Unless the switch was rewired to work on battery when you switch from battery to mag and the magneto coil ring was not installed but I see the red wire connection to the output post. ? Are there coils in the coil box or something else?