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

Looking for some help. I have a 1940 Packard 110. To make a long story short the ignition and some of the electrical wiring has been re-wired or modified (I think). First question may be a stupid question... Should I have power to the starter when the key is in the off position? I can crank the ignition regardless of the position of the key (from the dash starter button). The car will start only if the key is in the on position as one would expect. I'm thinking the ignition key and starter button are not wired properly.

The previous owner had a battery that sent 12 volts to the starter only when starting the car. I'm keeping the car 6 volt positive ground and have had no issues starting. I replaced the cable with the correct 00 gauge. The previous battery had a solenoid that combined two 6 cell halves during start-up. I'm trying to return the wiring to factory correct. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

It appears the car is operating as Packard designed it.

Looking at the AEA wiring diagram, if you follow the orangish line the battery connects to the BAT terminal on solenoid, from that terminal thru another wire to the ammeter, thru the ammeter and out to the supply terminal of the headlight switch. The supply terminal is a tie point so from there another wire connects to the BAT terminal on the ignition switch. From that same BAT terminal on ign sw a wire connects to the starter button making it hot all the time. When the starter button is pushed, by following the yellow line you will see it goes directly to the starter solenoid so cranking can occur at any time. Starting will only happen though when the key is turned on and the coil gets power thru the wire in the armored cable.

Packard changed this in all 42 models so the key needs to be on. Other than the switches being hard to access I see no reason you could not do the same by moving that connecting wire between the ign sw and stater button. Disconnect it from the ign sw BAT terminal and move it to the GA terminal so it is switched by the key. That way you would not have the continuous cranking ability.

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Howard thank you for the detailed response. I really appreciate the help.