Hey there friends. Decided to do some poking around the back seat area and found a small burned hole in the carpet. I removed the carpet and found this bad boy there. Miracle the car didn’t go down. It seems like the red wire was merged together with the one going to the seat with that black thing. Is this the cable that goes to the power seat? Because if so it still worked up until I unconnected the battery and cut it to replace it. Haven’t tried anything since. Wondering if it is in fact the power seat cable and what gauge wire to use to replace. Because if the merging of wires wasn’t original then it means whoever did it obviously did it wrong.

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Thanks again for the information. I’ll have to make the investment. Quick question… How do you test for proper tension at the generator belt?

Can anyone tell me the original delco voltage regulator number that came with the 1954 patrician? The one that was on is an after-market pile of rust inside and out with no brand. Looking to buy a replacement. Any suggestions?

I’ll drive by this afternoon. Thank you!

Was working on the generator yesterday for my 1954 patrician. Was getting ready to put everything back together when I realized the condenser wire had broken off the condenser itself. It’s the little round thing mounted to the generator. I looked up the part number and it was labeled as condenser. does any old condenser work? It’s an original 6volt generator. What would be a proper replacement recommended by you guys?

Thank you so much Howard and everyone else who gave so much valuable information on my car. I shall perform these tests tomorrow. I’m 16 and I’m really invested in this thing. Once again thanks to all!

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.

yes. Looking at the wires they are brown rather than red. So the wire should be connected to the transmission if it’s an ultramatic? But as you mentioned it appears that it was bypassed at some point. So based on all the information… should I just leave it as it is? The car drives and shifts no problem. And it doesn’t appear to relate to the charging issue I’m having based on what you’ve told me. It would be nice to one day have everything fixed and wired the way it was originally. Thanks for the information and time folks.

Okay looking at it better, the cable in question comes from a big wire underneath the car. It then splits into two. One is the cable in question and the other goes to a wire bunch underneath the regulator. Attached is a photo of the second end that goes to the regulator

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More pictures of that wire bunch. Orange wire seems to come from some place underneath the car. I followed the wire to the inside of the car and it’s plugged into the ignition. Attached is also a picture of this from the underside view

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