Interesting... I was told on the other Packard site that my year/model didn't come with a strap, makes me think, also was told that the carter fuel pump and glass bowl filter should be AC.

Perfect! thank you again!

Hello,

Sorry for the basic question, I'm not near the car to do a quick measure... Does anyone know if the ring terminal ends on the battery cable to starter are 5/16 or 3/8?

I'm ordering a new battery to starter cable and I'm going to try BatteryCablesUSA because they offer 2/0 00 awg at very reasonable prices and I've seen two recent positive experiences posted to aaca. This is specifically what I'm looking at getting:https://www.batterycablesusa.com/00-gauge-battery-cable-with-ends-2-0-awg It says "extreme" in the description which is exactly what I think of when I think of Packard ;)

I already have a new thick braided ground strap...I know it's not supposed to be a strap originally but that's what Kanter gave me for some reason and it works so I'll stick with it.

Thank you!

Looks like I just have the two wire/terminal brake switch. Picture attached


Arrived to find the tail lights on today... bad brake light switch after all? It's really on there, hard to get off without loosening the whole brass block, is it a bad idea to try removing it with the block on the car? I have a replacement but I'm worried about hurting that brass piece. I do have play in the pedal.

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I went with a 12 ga wire and after pulling out that added third wire I just connected the two ends to the brake switch. The brake lights and all indicators now work!

Based on the wiring diagram and the posts, I'm inclined to re-check the rear end wiring anyway. It's not an OD model, but there is an optional reverse light which is still not working. From what I remember, old P.O. Bypass may have been at it again because the fuel tank sender wire seemed to be running under the car rather than dropping out of the trunk as described here. I thought it might be either broken or need better grounding because it's not working either, which is still possible, but based on the brake lights I'd like to do more investigation now. The wiring diagram is very helpful for this, thank you.

Car still doesn't start though. It turns over and over, at a strong rate too, but not even attempts. I'm going to check the fuses and also probably give the ignition system another run through in case all the movement impacted one of the coil or other wires in the area.

So I think the previous owner was trying to bypass the brake wiring, I'm thinking because there was a pretty big short I found a little farther down the line. Their inclination seemed to be "if it's broke... bypass it" since they bypassed the ignition, bypassed the fuel tank, bypassed the carburetor!

I'm hoping that if I go past the short and put in some healthier wires up to the brake switch (which won't come out of the block by the way) maybe that will fix this until better overall wiring can be bought. The car won't start now, I'm hoping because of this serious short stealing all the juice.

Any special wire needed from the parts store?

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It does have that plastic fuse holder piece. I don't think the brake switch seems to have power, though I haven't tested it specifically with any type of meter, when I touched the two wires (which I understood to be a test that would light the lights if it was just the switch) a whole ton of nothing happened. The previous owner did install a button under the dash which I think originally bypassed the starter switch, so it's highly possible that this was some other home wiring attempt maybe to deal with only powering the brake lights when that button was pushed... or a hack solution to non working brake lights?

Hello Again,

Thought I'd get all my questions out of the way in one afternoon.

On my 49 deluxe 22nd, I also discovered a wire coming from the brake switch off the master cylinder that ends in a ring terminal connected to nothing. The switch otherwise appears to have wires coming from both pins, making this a third connection. Any ideas what this is or where it's supposed to connect? I've attached a very poor picture lit from underneath, but you can see the wire hanging over the master cylinder cap (which is shiny because it's a brand new MC). Possibly related is the fact that my tail lights otherwise worked until a bulb was broken (running lights, turn signals) except for the brake lights and the backup light.

Sorry for multiple posts, possibly of a basic nature. I'm new to Packards, and any car even close to this age, and probably in over my head budget and time-line wise.

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Hello Again,

In addition to the light bulb number sorting I was graciously helped out with earlier today, thought I'd see if you all have any ideas about the front pillar hinge seal/weatherstripping. My 49 Deluxe sedan's seal was basically small screws, pieces of tar, and bits of hardened rubber band. The replacement from Kanter is not that, but it's almost impossible to put it into the gap between the pillar and fender. Is this possible to do without loosening/removing the front fenders? I saw one other post asking about this (other than mine on another forum) but there were no replies. I haven't been able to figure out how to do it without cracking the paint on the lower rocker area, the top there's easy access to the bolt holding it to the firewall side... That being said I'd be thrilled to learn that I'm just wrong about this and there's a way to get these seals installed without removing the fender or otherwise compromising it.

Thank you!

Thank you for all your help! Off to the parts store now! Hoping that new bulbs and the brake light switch will get the lights in working order.