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I have rebuilt several sending units over the years but not a single one gave me a challenge like the one in my, or any other Packard I have restored. I found one that would work in my 49 but would only read 1/2 tank at best long after the whistle I love so much quit alerting me it was full and ignoring it, trying to test the other half of the gauge. I could drive for days and the needle set at 1/2. Being one of the quirks of the car, I accepted the fact once the needle started moving, Better get gas in the next 100 miles.

Now I know. The other night, the gauge was setting at about an 1/8. I stopped for gas and it was windy as hell. Put the gas nozzle on full and ignored the fact the factory alert whistle stopped. About 30 seconds later it spit gas all over me. (Yes I was standing down wind) It burnt like hell the rest of the way home and lighting a cigarette was out of the question and the gas gauge went to empty.

When I got home I decided to make a patch panel to take place of the sending unit since it quit working anyway, and tear it apart. I made some amazing discoveries. They are extremely serviceable and and adjustable for any tank or voltage. I'll add some pics if anyone is interested.

Yes - Please add some pictures. What type of sending unit did you use? That is the next item on my list to fix.

I used the factory sending unit. But, it's best to test the rest of the system first. That's easy. Make sure the sending unit has a good ground. Next, take the screw off of the center post of the unit and ground the wire that goes to the gauge. Turn the key on and the gas gauge should read full. If it does not, your sending unit may be ok and you might just have a wiring issue. I'll go take some pics.

Somewhere along the line someone made an access hole in the trunk to get to the sending unit. This might be a good option if you don't want to drop your tank and it's really handy when you make the final adjustments.

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The center of the unit will pop off with a small amount of persuasion. Just pry gently on the sides. But first. make a mark on the top and another on the base so you can line it back up in the same place. As you can see in the first pic, I just used an ice pic to scribe a mark. Once the top is off...

<a href="http://s102.photobucket.com/user/brianl_03/media/sender2_zpsbcb788f7.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m81/brianl_03/sender2_zpsbcb788f7.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo sender2_zpsbcb788f7.jpg"/></a>

Inspect the inside. Once you get this far, post a pic and I'll walk you through the rest of it.

Nice info to know. Maybe you could go ahead and do a write up of what you did to repair yours. Just remind folks the photo is the bimetal 48-50 22nd and 23rd series sender. I believe the bimetal type was only used in those years. Straight variable resistance senders were used in other years and the ohm values did vary depending on whose instruments Packard used in a series.

Another poster over at PAC forum found his original was rusted and according to the repair company he contacted, too far gone to be repaired. He was apparently able to replace the bimetal type with a straight resistance type. His choice of sender and where he got it as well as the other readily available items needed to adapt the different mount on the new sender to the Packard tank is in his thread. AFAIK the conversion was successful as there have been no updates since the work was done.

Thanks for the input Howard. I wasn't sure how many years the bimetal unit was used. I restored a 47 clipper taxi years ago that had the same unit but that car was oddball on everything. It may have even been replaced somewhere along the line too.

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When i took this one apart, everything was black and crusty looking. I sprayed it with Mothers mag wheel cleaner and rinsed it with hot water. Twice. I let it dry good between applications. This made everything bright again. My main problem was a poor connection on the center prong that sticks up in the middle that contacts the top. I gave it a slight pull upward. Put it all back together and I was back to the same old 1/2 tank was the highest it would go. Back apart to study some more. If you look at the photo, there is a ramp with a gear at about 9 o-clock. I turned it counter clockwise first and it dropped me to 1/4 on the gauge with the key on. I thought "sweet, it is adjustable." Next I added a couple gallons to top it off. Then I adjusted the ramp it till it read full. The next step was to drain a couple gallons at a time to see where the gauge read as I went, just fearing I had just moved the scale up and 1/2 would now be empty. Not the case. I was pretty excited to see it drop all the way to empty and even a bit below before it would actually run out and strand me. (I used a bore scope to see the pickup tube and level of fuel) Now it was time to fill it back up and watch the gauge again a gallon or two at a time to see if it had any new quirks. All is good. Everything was perfect for a test drive so why not? I knew how far it should drop off full if I burnt off about 3 gallons to go hang out with my parents for a while. Perfect. Several trips to the new house and back to the shop, it still drops and seems to be right on the money. I have a few more days before it hits E but I feel I can trust it now. Can't wait to see it on the full mark again. If you have any questions, please ask. It was over engineered for it's time. I even found a tool with a pin that sticks in the hole just above the ramp that has a tiny little cog to move it. As you can see, I bent a cog at the top when I used a pic to move mine. But it worked.