Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

It would appear that my Packards are ganging up on me. Just as I got the '51 200 Deluxe more or less straightened out, my '55 Patrician goes dark.

This evening I got into it to go to the store when after unlocking it, I noticed that the outside courtesy light didn't come on. Looking inside, I noticed Map Light was dark as well. OK, looks like a dead battery right? Wrong. I got my H-F battery charger out but when I hooked it up, the test voltage read 13.2 Volts. I checked for power at the Power Window CB using the red wire that comes from the starter power take off. Plenty of volts there as well. It was getting too dark to do much else as the '55 was parked under the carport. I did check the battery cables and they passed the Ohm Meter test. We've got high winds coming in tonight lasting through tomorrow to be followed by snow and freezing rain (we call them Silver Thaws) so I don't want to get under the car unless I have to.

Any and all ideas are gratefully accepted!

J.

Did you try to start the car? I think only that the courtesy light switch needs cleaning. They are getting rather fussy as they approach the 60 year mark. That or the body fuse has popped or corroded.

Thank you for the quick response, Ross. You know, I honestly don't remember for sure if I tried to start it or not. I did try the headlights and they were out as well. Right now we've got pretty good winds with a wind chill of 28 degrees on a temp of 34. I'll try that in the morning as have the battery disconnected at present. It should be something simple as it was doing great. This car has done this before with a previous owner. He was driving it on the freeway when everything quit. He had it towed home and put in his garage where it sat for 28 years. Turned out it was a bad ignition switch and Ballast Resistor. It's not going to get off that easy this time.

Thanks again, Ross

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It's taken a long time for me to get back to Ross and my '55 but I finally did.

Ross hit the nail on the head with the Body Feed fuse. I replaced it and the interior and exterior Courtesy Lights all came back. The Headlights no show was apparently caused by my hitting the Dimmer Switch. It seems that when I hit it (doing so was unplanned) I only pressed it half way so neither High or Low Beams got any juice. Fully pressed and released the switch a couple of times and everything is back to normal on that front. Flushed with success, I turned the ignition key and she started right up. With the cold weather, I then checked the anti-freeze which was OK but leaning across the fender (the car was too close to the back wall to stand in front of the car) caused the front end to dip and the back to rise. Once everything under the hood was checked I got back in the car and turned on the suspension which soon leveled the car back out.

I went into the garage where the '51 Patrician is parked and sprayed more Easy-off on the grease areas of the engine to let that sit and then called it a night. Heading back to the house I went passed the '55 and heard strange sounds. There was a repeating "CLICKING" sound that seemed to come from under the car. It was like something was trying to turn on and off. It took a while, but I realized the "clicks" sounded just like the clicks the T-L System makes before the motor kicks in to level the car. Only this time, the motor wasn't turning on. It was then I realized I'd heard this before. Just before the Body Fuse blew. I opened the door to the '55 to turn the suspension back off but too late, the Courtesy Lights weren't coming on again. Sure enough, the Body Feed Fuse was blown.

A quick look at the FSM showed me that while the Leveler Motor has it's own dedicated fuse, the "brains" of the system are powered off the Body Feed Circuit.

What I've got here has got me stumped. The T-L System functions for a while but also seems eventually take out the Body Feed Fuse. I couldn't find anything on site but since I'm not sure what I'm looking for, I may not be using the right "Magic Words".

Any and all help will be much appreciated for as soon as I finish cutting up the part of the tree that closed off the garage, I want to take the '55 out just to keep everything up to snuff.

Body feed fuse also feeds the brakes on a 55. It does sound like something in the TL control or the on/off switch under dash has a problem and is causing the blown fuse but for kicks also look carefully for a damaged wire or something loose in the brake light wiring in the trunk. Some typical places others have had problems in the trunk have been at the lamp sockets where something may have been placed in the trunk and hit and pinched the wire as it enters the socket or in the small trough at rear of floor just below the trunk lid opening where the wires cross over to the right side. If insulation has gone missing somewhere then vibration can cause intermittent fuse blowing.

Not related to the problem being discussed here but perhaps something to make note of. Initial current draw for electric motors is higher than the current to keep them running once they are in motion; good engineering takes this into consideration as regards the recommended fuse size. After I had the dual rear antennas rebuilt for my 56 Carib, I often blew the fuse when raising or lowering them. Installing a higher amperage fuse is a no-no, but I installed a "slow-blow" fuse of the correct amperage - end of problem.

A "slow-blow" fuse however is not a solution to a short circuit or to lighting circuits but rather to electrically motorized units.

Thank you O_D & Howard for you prompt reply. The T-L system on my '55 has always seemed to be something of a perfectionist. In the past, whenever I've done something that makes the car sit "out of plumb" there will be one or two major corrections followed by increasingly shorter periods of adjustment - even if the car has not been driven. It will just sit there an cycle until it "gets it right" What seems to be happening now is that it after a major adjustment, it is trying for perfection only the motor is not coming on to do it. I will check the wiring in the trunk and as I returned the T-L system to the 3 prong brake light version right after I bought it I will check the wiring around it as I recall that having been butchered to bypass the brake light switch, the wiring was a bit of a mess. I will also check the trunk as I had been using the car quite a bit during this year's Indian Summer.

Also, as Howard suggested I noticed that the T-L Switch on the lower left portion of the dash seems worn (as in internally loose) I did buy a NOS T-L Toggle Switch in the same order that gave me the 3 prong brake light switch.

O_D mentions the initial current draw of electric motors which brought to mind something I think I saw when comparing the '55 T-L with the '56. I seem to recall the the '56 Chart called for a 30 amp fuse rather than the '55 20 amp fuse for the dedicated T-L motor circuit. If that memory is correct, could it be that Packard was trying to address a "blowing fuse problem"? A Slo-Blow 20 or 25 amp fuse would seem to be a happy medium. The fuse in the inline fuse holder is a SFE 20 - the same as the Body Feed. I wonder if the aging T-L system isn't drawing more current than it did when new when the T-L Motor kicks in. What is the prefix for Slow-Blow fuses?

But then again, the T-L motor works when a new Body Feed Fuse is installed so it doesn't look like the dedicated circuit is the problem.

I'll check the T-L Wiring as well as the trunk wiring and get back to you as soon as I am able - hopefully, it won't take a month this time.

Thank you once again Howard and O_D for walking me through this.

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Howard, I believe you nailed it with the T-L "On-Off" switch. I checked everything else you and Ross and O_D suggested but found nothing until I came to the switch. I noticed that the "toggle" seemed a little loose and sloppy. Fortunately, when I first bought this car, there was an eBay auction for a NOS T-L Switch ( I believe it was also used as the Heater Blower Switch on the 51-54 models). Comparing the two, I could see that the NOS switch toggle was much more positive in it's action. So I replaced it. That was two weeks ago, that the Courtesy Lights still work as designed so I cautiously say that the mystery is solved. I tested the old switch with an Ohm Meter and at times got a reading that seemed to indicate a "leak".

My thanks to Howard, O_D, Ross and others who helped me through this. It's taken a long time, but I think I can cross this one off. At least for a while.