Re: 1938 Super 8 1605 - adventures with a newbie

Posted by HH56 On 2023/1/20 11:54:14

Quote:
This may or may not work and it depends on other electrical items in the car and how the electrical system all ties together.

Most ignition switches have a contact inside only for the coil so that when the switch is turned off that contact is broken separately. That way the coil is isolated and it can not receive any feedback voltage and the engine will quit. If you tie the coil to the accessory post then depending on how the generator or other components are connected, the generator could still put out a voltage or sufficient battery voltage could pass back thru another component connection to the accessory post that would be enough to keep the coil energized so the engine would not stop.

Later cars with numerous accessories are prone to this issue but in 38 there may not be enough extra on the electrical system to matter. It will not hurt to try but if the engine keeps running then you will need to go back to finding a repair for the switch.