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Hello all. I'm having some issues with my R9 overdrive. Car is '48 Super 8

1.) When the lockout cable is pushed in, I can hear the relays click and light in the dash comes on. Normal?

2.) With overdrive on and leaving from a stop, it feels like it's already in overdrive. Isn't the governor supposed to keep it locked out until 20+ mph?

3.) When in second gear, I can engage the overdrive like normal (release accelerator) but only at what seems to be too low of a speed. Also, once in overdrive in second gear, if I release the accelerator again, it kicks down into normal second gear. I can go back and forth by just releasing the accelerator and pressing it again.

4.) Overdrive doesn't engage in third gear at all.

5.) Not sure if this is related to my overdrive problems, but my car is equipped with the electromatic clutch. The "TRANS" button does not engage or disengage the e-clutch function. The button doesn't do anything. But, it does work flawlessly when I push the overdrive knob in.

Any help would be much appreciated. I got this car from my grandfather who has owned it since I think the seventies. It sat in his garage since '96. I got it running and driving, drove it to his house to show him, and have never seen him happier. But he was quick to scold me about the overdrive not working because he said it was working when last he drove it!!

Not normal. The OD should not do anything until you reach approx 20 mph. At that time if all the other switches are ready governor closes OD contacts to ground, relays actuate, light comes on, and you should go into OD when you let your foot off the gas for an instant.

The EC system is totally separate from the OD with exception of the governor. It should be active until approx 20 when governor opens the EC contacts to ground. When working, if EC switch is on and ground is present, when the engine is started and vacuum becomes available if you are holding the clutch pedal depressed it should feel like it drops away. On some cars if the clutch pedal is out it will move to the floor on its own. That last bit depends on a piece of linkage and springs so not all pedals visually move. A combination of valves and switches use accelerator position to determine when to engage or disengage until the governor cuts the operation at about 20mph. After 20mph EC will be inactive unless you are in third and the shift lever is moved slightly to downshift.

It almost sounds like the wires at the governor are swapped or perhaps the OD wire to governor has shorted. As a first step I would suggest you verify the wiring on the back cover on the governor. It will probably be hard to see colors but the OD wire should be coming from one of the terminals on the kickdown switch and should go to the AD terminal on governor that is an exposed rivet connection -- sort of in the middle of cover. Checking with an ohmmeter from that governor wire to chassis (disconnected to OD), there should be no connection to ground at this time. Hard to check the other direction unless various things are disconnected because of some connections that could falsely indicate a ground.

The EC wire comes from the accelerator switch and connects to a wire on the governor that enters a raised molded portion on the cover. The actual wire connection on the cover is probably covered with tar. If the wire to EC is disconnected the wire entering governor should be grounded with car at rest.

If the wires at governor check out OK let us know and will help troubleshoot farther. Here are schematics for the R9 and EC. As you can see the only common point is the governor. If EC starts working when you push OD knob in it sounds like some wiring could have been intermixed.

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G'day 48_S8,
to PackardInfo.

I invite you to include your '48 Super 8 in the Packard Owner's Registry.

Good day everyone...Just a question. If this automobile sat from 1996 to present...I wonder if grease and dirt in the R-9 control area could be the problem. If wiring is checked and the controls are opened up and flushed out and cleaned, it might work quite happily...Ernie

Howard, does the governor have no/nc terminals? I would think that's the only way you could make a wrong connection at governor. Is governor internally grounded?

So I swapped the connections at the governor, because I left my multimeter at work, and the overdrive seems to be functioning properly with exception to the kick down switch. It shifts nicely into overdrive in 2nd and 3rd, but doesn't kick down into normal when I give it full throttle. It's kicks down when I slow down to the governor speed and I hear the relays click.

The EC "TRANS" button still doesn't seem to be functional. The EC still activates with the overdrive knob. But it acts the opposite way it did before I switch the wires at the governor. Before, the EC would work at speeds above 20, now it works only at speeds below 20.

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It's been sitting in a garage since '96. It surprising clean, just the normal small seeping leaks. My grandpa took pretty care of it.

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It does. OD uses the NO and EC uses NC. Both are brought out and connected to OD and EC via wires. The ground is provided to the common contact via a small strip of metal connecting a rivet on the cover to one of the cover mounting screws.

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I would check the OD kickdown switch adjustment and also make sure nothing such as a carpet or mat is blocking the accelerator pedal from going full to floor. Also, if anything linkage wise was disconnected make sure the EC accelerator switch lever is facing forward and not being driven toward the firewall. If it accidentally was reversed and lever is going toward firewall it can prevent enough travel for OD kickdown switch to actuate.

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That is a puzzle. There should be no connection but at least it is working below 20 as it should. The dash switch provides power and ground is via the governor. If both are closed and acc switch is also closed it lets the solenoid energize to admit vacuum to the control valve. Again, if any linkage has been removed or changed the adjustments are somewhat critical. The control valve works entirely on accelerator linkage moving a nested spool valve arrangement to control vacuum and air to the power cylinder. When the accelerator is released when you shift, the accelerator switch closes to let the solenoid admit vacuum and apply the clutch. When accelerator is depressed again to continue moving, a combination of the acc switch opening to stop the vacuum and spool valve metering the air bleed to power cylinder lets the clutch engage smoothly.

Thanks all for the info. I'm working all day tomorrow, so the car will have to wait until maybe Saturday.

I'll check out the kick down adjustment. As far as the EC, I'm not too concerned. I never really saw myself using it, but since it works great, all be it activating in the wrong manner, I'll probably leave it alone for the time being. My main concern was the OD, for highway driving.