Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

One cable goes to solenoid, the other to eng block. With both good connections then starter will be fine. The problem is the connection of either the positive (ground) to the chassis or the negative (hot) tot he electrical system.

As I understand it from physics class you have to use metal clothes pins to remedy.

My apologies once more.

I guess my memory was faulty. So (for Brenda's sake) there Where is the connection from the engine block to the chassis ground? That would help her.

Packards battery ground is something I've wondered about. On prewars there was a healthy ground strap between the frame and the engine generally located around the transmission area. Believe the battery ground strap also connected to the frame so the bodies had a good ground on those models.

Postwar, until 55 I have yet to see a Packard that has what I would consider a good frame or body ground. The battery ground cable goes directly to the block and except for a 14ga wire between the generator case and the left fender which continues on to the body ending at the voltage regulator, there appears to be no other hard connections -- at least I have never found anything on the cars I have taken apart. If there was something originally, like fuel pump heat shields and Electromatic components, they must have tended to disappear.

As far as I can tell, on pre 55 post war models Packard relied on the generator ground wire, tubing, linkages and various mounts to complete the ground from the block to the frame and body. 55-56 added a small 6" or 8" strap at the firewall between the right side head and the body.

On the 47, I interrupted the ground cable with a disconnect switch and added a small strap between the engine side battery ground cable and frame. IMO, it would not hurt to add something between the block and body or frame on other pre 55 postwar years. Even if there is an original strap somewhere a second won't hurt. Napa has the 15 inch long 8 or 10ga straps shown in the photo with terminals sized for bolts at each end.

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Yeah, I think I'll keep the original and have it serviced as you suggested.

Fred enough with the clothes pins, the joke has over run it's course.

Brenda, most of my electrical problems were solved with a new wire harness. I made my own, but you can buy one with modern wires reasonably or spend more money and get a proper cloth covered version (I think your car should have cloth). Anyway, with new wires everything pretty much worked except for a few bugs that I can trace down to bad grounds. Also watch that a 12v bulb didn't find it's way into your car. I had one in my front turn signal light that sent the turn signals into a tizzy.

Great idea about the 12 v maybe lurking around. I'll ck it out.