Thank you Howard. It is definitely not yellow. I will leave that extra wire unattached.

It's been a while but I'm still working on this issue. It's been a busy year with work and I've had little time to tinker with my toys. I just thought I'd update everyone that has taken the time to help me out.

I received some much needed help in person from a long time mechanic / old car hobbyist friend.

Issue #1 found:

The wire that runs between the ignition switch and the ignition coil was allowing the proper voltage to run through it but not the proper amount of amperage to run through it. And at that, nothing would run through it if the wire was held in certain positions. I replaced the wire with one of better quality and probably closer to the correct gauge.

Here's my next question.

There was a Y connector that runs off the ignition switch wire to the coil. It feeds into the main wiring harness. From there, I have no idea where it goes. Does anyone here know? It looked like original wiring.

The condition of the wiring on this car has a lot to be desired. It's a hodgepodge of original and replacement of dubious quality. A complete replacement of all wiring is in order (now if I can just find the time and money for that!).

Issue #2

The other issue was the gas was of questionable quality. I drained the tank. The gas was very yellow and had almost no smell to it.

We were able to get a lot of false starts and a couple of times the engine would run with a lot of throttle to keep it from dying out. The spark was as strong as it's ever been with the faulty wire replaced and a new ignition coil installed.

While running, the engine was running very well so it seems the electrical issue has been resolved and now we move to a fuel / fuel delivery problem.

The exhaust was black as black when the engine first started and then after a short while turned to very white but would die at idle as if it was starved for fuel.

I have to get some gas line to feed the engine from a small gas can with fresh gas. I will report back my findings when I do so. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the old Packard will run as it should with the electrical fixes and some new fresh gas.

Interesting. I do have an OD. I'll look into this as well.

Yes, still positive ground system.

Well that's one issue why the car wasn't running right to begin with.

I will make the correction and recheck.

I took a break and now I'm back at it but I still can't get my car running.

I'm re-examining everything that I've touched.

I don't think that I'm getting power to the distributor.

I disconnected the ignition coil wire at the distributor cap and held it near a ground point. While cranking the engine over, there is no spark at all.

Let me start with the basics. Which wire should run to the side of the distributor? The one running from the positive or negative side of the ignition coil?

54packman1,

Thanks for the procedure on checking out what exactly went wrong inside the distributor but I've opted to have a professional refurbish my distributor and ensure all worn or defective parts are replaced. The bonus is that the distributor looks like new when he's done with it.

Yes, the wire between the ignition coil and distributor is disconnected. One multimeter probe is on the distributor terminal and the other is on the loose (disconnected) end of the wire that runs to the ignition coil terminal.

When the wire is connected at both the ignition coil and the distributor terminal, the multimeter reads 0V regardless of whether the points are open or closed.

I will be taking the distributor in to a local guy, who specializes in restoration / rebuilding of antique distributors to find out what happened and to have him correct it.

Howard, your help has been very much appreciated.

Ignition switch terminal reads 6.15V when the ignition is turned on and 0V when it is off as it should.

Disconnected the terminal at the distributor. With the ignition off, it reads 0V and with the ignition on, it reads 6.15V.

With the ignition switch on, the reading between the ignition coil terminal and the distributor terminal reads 6.15V regardless of whether the points are open or closed.

Therefore there is a short in the distributor, correct?

Quite a beautiful station wagon.

Thanks for taking the time to post this. I'll run through this process tomorrow and let you know the outcome.