The governor wasn't working properly. The switch was on even though the car was not moving. I took it apart and found that there was an adjustment that was too tight on the contact so that it had no freedom to release. The governor was clean inside. I am still fiddling with it.

Thanks. This gives me something to check. Can the governors be repaired if that is the culprit?

The overdrive had not been used for at least 20 years. The lockout cable was rusted up and somebody had even removed the clevis from the overdrive and wired it forward so that the unit would not work. I used a new conduit using a manual choke cable from the tractor supply house and adapted the Packard switch end to the dash part and made a clevis to hook onto the R11. I used some 3/8" copper tube to guide the threaded rod at the transmission end. I silver soldered the control wire to the Packard parts at each end. I machined parts to fit over the cable housing to hook them to the stationary Packard parts.

That said, the overdrive worked after the cable was installed and the electrical was hooked back up except for the glitch with reverse.

John from kc

On occasion I have trouble getting my car into reverse. It is definitely being blocked by the overdrive mechanical interlock at the back of the transmission. It only happens when the overdrive cable is pushed in (engaging overdrive). The cable will not pull out when the problem occurs unless I move the car and make sure that the car is not pushing against the trans by being on a little hill trying to coast. Level ground is OK.

Is this due to improper adjustment of the lockout cable? If so how do you adjust?

Or is there some electrical control that causes this?

John from KC

I went ahead and let the car run a little longer, and the ammeter backed off appropriately. So All is WELL!

John from KC

They came with either an Auto-lite or Delco Generator. My generator is an Auto-lite GDZ 4801 35 amp gen. Attached find a piece of a service book for 2300 series Packs.

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Gents,

I have an Autolite Generator on my 23rd series Super 8. The Voltage regulator had failed. I ordered a Delco replica Voltage regulator instead of an Autolite replica. Is this safe to use? It is charging pretty aggressively, but I have only run it a minute. That may just be catching the battery up from starting the car and setting for a week.

I hate to abandon the new regulator if it is not appropriate (I paid good money for it!). Is there a resistor or such that can be put in the circuit between the field and the regulator that can tone down the charge rate? Does anyone have a guess as to how long is it safe to run at high charge (most of the way up the ammeter)?

John from KC

I replaced my switch with the recommended napa replacement. The level of the brake fluid stayed right at the top of the nozzle. I now have brake lights!

It worked fine. It would be cool if you had a 6 sided 1" socket to turn it or a crow foot. There is not quite enough room for an end wrench to turn it easily (although that is what I used.) The switch has rounded off corners so that a regular 12 pt socket doesn't drive it.

My 49 suffers from loose shift linkage as many have described in the forum. I have been manually "gating" my shift pattern for years, but finally decided to look into fixing the problem. Most posters suggest lubrication of the gate, bushing the linkage joints, or checking the detents inside the transmission.

I was surprised to find that my problem was a loose shifting arm on the 2-3 shifter on the transmission. I tightened the bolt on the connection and almost all of my shift linkage play was resolved. The 2-3 shift arm on the transmission is quite long and a small amount of looseness makes a dramatic amount of play.

So add this to the list of reasons for this rather common problem!

Thanks,