Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Since I replaced the lower solenoid, does anyone know whether I need to uninstall it and turn it upside down to get it to work right?

I do have power on one side of the under dash switch when brakes are not applied. Also, after I replaced the stop light switch, my tail lights stay on constantly.

Assuming the new brake switch is good, would need information on your 2 prong conversion kit and how it's wired to suggest reasons the brake lights are staying on. There are different makers of kits and not all are wired the same way. The fact you have brake lights AND voltage at the dash switch at the same time indicates something is not wired correctly or has failed.

Where did you get the solenoid and is it the same type? If from one of the Packard vendors, it's probably OK. If from a regular parts store, there are starter solenoids that look the same but are internally wired differently.

A store bought solenoid I have has one of the large terminals with BAT stamped next to it. Packard does too but is extremely faint. If you do not see any markings, disconnect the solenoid from the buss bar and use your ohmmeter to measure from the small terminal to each of the large posts. One large terminal should read a direct short to the small terminal. That would be the one to connect to the buss bar. If no reading, measure the small terminal to the case. If there is a short indicated, it is the wrong type solenoid.

I got the solenoid from NAPA (ST56) as mentioned in one of the other threads. I'll uninstall it and do the ohms check. Thanks.

Ok here we go. The new solenoid does have "BAT" stamped for the big terminal and I do have it connected to the buss bar. Everything ohms out just as you said it should. I even swapped the solenoids and put the new one on top and the old one on the bottom. I still have voltage on both small terminals. The nose still doesn't raise. I have voltage on one side of the under dash switch when it's in one position, but I also have voltage on both green wires when I flip the switch. My tail lights are still on.

I'm totally befuddled.

It sounds as if all (except brake lights) is good upstairs.

The brake lights and dash switch voltage at the same time will have to be sorted out but for now, the voltage on the green leads is a good thing. Voltage on both sides is correct when the switch is on. The next step is under the car so make sure the suspension is off or the 30A fuse is disconnected when raising the car.

You will have to verify that the position of the transverse bars are as shown in figure 21 of suspension section. Passenger side to rear of compensator, drivers side on front. Also see if anything is disconnected or if any wiring looks as if it could be shorted to the frame.

If something caused the transverse bars to rotate to the opposite sides, the compensator switch will be confused. It will try to do whatever is needed to level the car but with the bars on reversed sides, while it thinks it is going the correct direction, the action will be opposite to what is needed. It could also have driven around until a limit switch is activated.

If the bars look good then the compensator switch and limit switches will have to be checked.

what kind of brake fluid are you using?

I have had switches go bad with the silicone brake fluid.


Can you push the back of the car down with your hands?

Can you look under the car as HH suggests and see the orientation of your bars?

Can you hear the motor running up or down?

I'm using the regular Dot 4 brake fluid.

Yes I can push the back of the car down with my hands.

The only time the motors run is when I ground the small terminals on each of them, then the car will go up or down depending on which solenoid I ground.

Am I correct in saying that when there's voltage on both green wires on the under dash switch, that the T/L system is on? I presently have the switch out of the dash, but I have it grounded to the frame. So before I raise the car to look underneath, I'm hearing you say that I should only have voltage on one of the green wires before I raise it. Is that correct????

Any other ideas about why the brake lights are on?

If the switch is off, there would only be voltage on one green wire which would be the supply from the brake light switch or, in your case, the two prong kit or places unknown.

The regular 3 prong brake switch has a common and a normally open and a normally closed contact. The voltage goes to the common. When brakes are relaxed, it will be passed out the normally closed contact to the level circuit. When brakes are applied, the contacts switch and voltage is disconnected from leveler and applied to lights.

To use a two prong switch, that function has to be duplicated. The kit has a relay for the function. The question is how the kit does the switching. Some kits have the brake switch only operate the relay. In that situation the relay totally duplicates the old switch with the relay's normally open and normally closed contacts doing the work. Other kits have the brake switch operate both the relay and at the same time operate the brake lights. The brake lights are turned on by the brake switch directly and the relay activates at the same time to disconnect the leveler.

Without knowing what you have it is hard to say if the brake switch or the relay is at fault keeping the lights on -- or is there a miswire or short somewhere and the leveler and lights are both on the same terminal.

Update, update, update. After checking everything everyone suggested for me to check and found that they were good, I decided to buy another stop light switch from O'Reilly (BWD S194 $6.99) just to see if the stop light switch was causing my problems. Although the one I was using was also new, for some reason it seems that it was my problem. It also might have been a combination of a bad stop light switch and a bad solenoid which I also replaced; either way my nose is off the ground and everything is working. I'm cruising once again.

Thanks to everyone who gave me ideas during these hair scratching times.

Glad you are "UP and RUNNING". Enjoy your Packard!

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