Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Light circuits: I decided to start circuit testing. Car was rewired with a Harnesses Unlimited loom 30 years ago, which is in perfectly fine shape. I didn't want to find out I had an electrical problem after hooking up 700 cold cranking amps to the system, so I hooked a 6v lantern battery to the battery contacts and use a multimeter on the various circuits to detect for voltage. It's simple: when circuit is closed volts are good, when circuit is open, no volts are good.

None of the lights are hooked up, I just have loose wires at this stage. I got good volts for the regular and high beam light circuits. However, when the light switch is completely off (lowest setting) I'm getting a smallish amount of volts for the "parking" light circuit. What exactly is this circuit -- would it be for fog/auxillary lights? There is a separate circuit for the fender lights which I have not yet tested. Is the "parking" light circuit contained in the headlight assembly?

Obviously though, detection of volts in the circuit when the switch is in the off position is troubling, and I take it something is touching either in the steering wheel lever or in the switch box at the base of the steering box. Any advice on where to focus my efforts?

The only wire that runs up the steering column is the horn wire. The switch as the base of the column is where all light wires end. The lever on the steering wheel is just that... a lever that rotates the switch at the bottom of the column. All lights should be operated through that switch. There would not have been (originally) a separate switch for the headlights/parking lights/fender lights.

I believe the fender lights were an option on the Standard Eight, so you may have separate wires running to that switch. The wires from the parking lights within the headlights should be part of the loom running back to the switch.

Do you have an owner's manual? There is an EXCELLENT wiring diagram, PLUS, a close-up of the inside of the switch showing where each wire connects.

Okay, good to know. I do have an owner's manual and located the diagram of the switch connections. In further testing today I found that at the lowest setting, the parking/fender lights come on, moving it up an inch turns everything off, another inch up turns just the low beams on, then all the way up will turn on just the high beams. I also tested the tail light and found I had power there as well.