Re: Vacation Car - 56 Patrician

Posted by HH56 On 2023/8/15 11:36:06

You can turn off the under dash switch and unscrew the limit switch. There is grease inside the compensator so it should be solid enough nothing would run out. Hold and guide the wires so they are angled more or less straight out the end of the switch when unscrewing.

While a bad or sticking switch cannot be ruled out, it may not be the switch at fault but rather the wire connections at the end. The wires are soldered to the switch terminals and in that process the last 1/4 inch or so of the wires can have the solder run in and wire becomes solid. Vibration and pulling of the wires if coiled up in a tight bundle -- particularly in the switch nearest the driveshaft -- can break the wire conductor so connection becomes intermittent. That issue can be easily missed because the weatherproofing substance the factory used on the terminal and wire is also hard and tends to hide a broken wire.

On the courtesy lights, that is correct. On 4 door sedans, front doors or headlight switch knob turned all the way to the left operate the center dash or map light, a second independent section of the door switch (on 55s and early 56, a second switch) operates the outside courtesy lights. The rear doors or pillar switch operate the rear reading light.

On the sway bar, they are a pain and there was a special C clamp and a shim like stop made to do the job. Photos of the tool are in a 51 service counselor and a later counselor shows how to use it. It is easy to make if you want to have something on hand. Lucky you did not break one of the two tangs off the clip because that piece is hardened and very brittle. Prying or bending it at the wrong spot can break a tang off.