Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

It seems like the bottom solenoid on my '56 Clipper is bad. The car is stuck with the lower end down almost touching the ground. When I try and raise the back end by jumping the power to the upper solenoid, I keep blowing the 30 amp fuse.

I know I likely need to replace the lower solenoid; however, I want to raise the back of the car up so I can move the car off the street and into my driveway.

Does anyone have any suggestions on raising up the back end?

You do realize that to engage either solenoid, upper or lower, that you run the jumper wire from GROUND to the small terminal on the TOP of the solenoid.
To raise the rear end you would run a jumper from ground to the small terminal on the upper solenoid.

Thank you for your help.

I know that to engage either solenoid, upper or lower, that I run the jumper wire from GROUND to the small terminal on the TOP of the solenoid; and, to raise the rear end I run a jumper from ground to the small terminal on the upper solenoid. When I do this, I just get a few clicks and the back end of the car does not move.

I just learned that the 30 amp fuse runs between the I/O switch (under the dash) to the solenoids. I have now replaced the 30 amp fuse and turned off the I/O switch. There is still power to the solenoids, and I can jump the upper solenoid by grounding a wire to the small terminal on the top of the solenoid, but I still just get a clicking sound and the back end of the car does not raise up.

It seems like when the I/O switch is on, and I have power to the solenoids the 30 amp fuse just blows after 7 seconds with power to the solenoids. I went through five fuses until I figure this out. Could the I/O switch be bad?

Something else that I've discovered is that I am not getting power to the small terminal on the bottom solenoid.

Any additional suggestions?

On 56 there should be two fuses. The 30 amp is off the starter solenoid and supplies power to the solenoid buss bar and ultimately the motor. It also supplies power to a second fuse off the buss bar and located close by which feeds the brake light switch. The brake light switch is a 3 terminal switch and when no brakes are applied, supplies power to the under dash switch and then thru the dash switch to the control box.

The control box does it's thing and depending on what the car needs, energizes internal relays. The relay contacts first go to limit switches and after the limit switch then go to the small solenoid terminals to provide the ground.

Remove the wire off both the small solenoid terminals and then as Randy suggests try grounding just the top solenoid. If the fuse blows again, you may have a bad down solenoid or possibly because of a problem the motor has wound around too far and is overloading & blowing the fuse because it can't move anything.

If you do blow the fuse again then remove the motor wire off the bottom solenoid and try again. Another blow and the next thing to do is verify the location of the transverse bars to make sure they have not rotated around to the wrong sides and the motor is trying to rotate them past center.

If it gets to that point, since it's on the ground it will take a bit of doing to access the motor and be able to watch the bars while you electrically or mechanically rotate things to the proper place.

Here is an easier to understand complete diagram of the 56 system showing all the hidden contacts. 55 is slightly different.

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Thank you for the diagram. I did the following as suggested:

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I didn't hear the motor. I just heard a few clicks, and then the fuse blew again. I think I have a bad down solenoid. I don't have power to the small terminal on the down solenoid, but I do have power to the small terminal on the up solenoid. I think the down solenoid is bad because there is not power registering at that solenoid's small terminal. Should I have power to both small terminals?

Yes, you should have power at both small terminals. The power into the solenoid off the buss bar is internally tied to one end of the coil. If the coil has opened, you would not have power at the small terminal.

If one solenoid was changed and the wrong type was installed, that could also be the problem. Typical starter solenoids from the parts store look the same but since they need power and not a ground, the coil is not connected to power internally on those.

One other unlikely cause is if the solenoid was mounted upside down so the power was being applied to the terminal not connected to the coil. I don't think it can be mounted upside down but just for grins check to make sure both rounded ends point the same way.

Howard's advice is more complete than mine. Look under the car, if you can, and note the position of the link from the drivers side to the TL motor. It should be in front of the pivot closer to the front of the car. It should not touch the pivot point at all. If it does then it has gone too far in that direction.
Click on the picture to get a better view.

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Thank you for confirming that there should be power to both small terminals. Both solenoids are also installed correctly with the rounded end on the top.

Since I'm not getting power to the bottom (down) solenoid's small terminal, then I think I will try replacing it. Any suggestions as were to find them?

I replaced them about two years ago, because of a similar problem. I can try that place again, but I thought I'd ask around for other places. The ones I replaced were used; so I suspect they may have outlived their lives.

Thanks again for all of your help.

Here's a picture of how the Clipper is "resting"; as well as a picture of how the solenoids are installed.

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How embarrassing. Certainly not a dignified position for an otherwise fine looking automobile.

Several in this thread have mentioned the Cole-Hersee 24046 as the replacement and there is also a Napa number mentioned farther down the thread. The Napa solenoid doesn't look right though so might need checking. Cole Hersee's are available from various vendors on ebay and possibly from Cole Hersee directhttp://www.colehersee.com/catalog_top