Re: Unconnected cable in my starter area. 1954 patrician

Posted by JuanS On 2021/8/4 20:11:14

I was going to start another post for this but since you asked I’ll specify. The car worked fine when the gentleman test drove it. It was slow to turn on but it drove fine. The 30 miles to my home was also no problem. after 2 weeks of driving it around I left the car idle for 5 to 10 minutes and it simply turned off. It refused to turn back on and needed to be jump started. As soon as the jumper cables were disconnected from battery, the lights dimmed again and after just 2 minutes of sitting it died again. This was in some random parking lot so the second time it was jump started I wasted no time to rush it home. (Note that when the jumper cables were connected all the lights went bright and the turn signals were incredibly fast) When I braked the lights headlights would become dim and the car wanted to turn off. I figured the problem was the old Duracell inflated battery so I bought a new 6 volt battery with the specifications for the car and put it the right way (positive ground.) this solved the issue for another two weeks until it shut off again when driving. It again needed to be jump started. At this point I take attention to the old and rusty regulator. I cleaned the contact points with sandpaper and put everything back together the way it was and polarize it. This made my turn signals faster and more responsive and the car no longer shut off. There was still one issue however. The car simply had a hard time starting. I drained my new battery trying to turn over the starter. It really was a 50-50 gamble. I ordered a brand new regulator labeled as specifically made for the Packard. I put it in, polarized it and the problem is still there. The more I turn it on, the slower my turn signals are to turn on. They don’t turn on at all when the car headlights are on. I’m now focusing my attention on the generator. I don’t have any idea of how to service it or test it and there’s no local shops around where I live. Any insight would be helpful.