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Thanks Howard that picture helped alot. The previous owner had the realy mounted upside down, and what did I do, mounted my new relay upside down too! Hopefully no damage was done.

Finally got the Packard out of the shed and went for a drive, but no overdrive light came on, so I'll move onto the govenor and check the wiring to the soleniod.

I had also fitted a new speedo cable, as the old one was broken at the gearbox end. The speedo bounced all over the place, so it looks like I'll need to get the speedo serviced as well.

Getting their slowly.

Cheers
Lyndon

The photo I posted is just a photo showing the layout and was positioned that way so the stamped terminal numbers can be read. I hope you verified the terminals with wire function rather than just turn the relay around.

The relay orientation does seem to change though and not sure why. I just wired mine and the way the new loom was configured 4,5,6 are on top like the schematic shows and the Delco label on the cover reads correctly. Another car I have a good photo of shows the relay the other way around so go figure.

It's too bad the terminal designations are so hard to see but as long as you check the stamped labels and go by the schematic and wire color you should be able to match correct wire to terminal.

Yes, I did verify the stamped number on the terminals and wired correctly to the new loom.

Rechecked my overdrive relay and I did cock up my terminal wiring! The Packard wiring diagrams all have the relay coils 180 degrees out! Even the new loom is suited for diagram rather than actual, talk about being set up for failure!

Anyhow, rechecked everything and got it 100%, went for a test drive, and bingo OD light comes on, lift off and the light goes out, slow down and she's back on again. So that is very positive. I could not detect any 'clunk' when you lift off the accelerator, though I assume it's all good as the plunger movement extinguishes the dash light.

Also my speedo settled down and is operating smoothly.

That is good news. As you surmise, the light going out would indicate the solenoid is operating so maybe it is just quiet. When the light goes out at engaging speed do you notice a reduction in engine RPM or background noise level letting you know car is in OD?

Next issue, I have a couple of courtesy lights out, being one under the dash on the right hand side, and the other being the rear passenger compartmnet left hand side (rear of front seat). My question is- how do you access the globes!

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They are held by a combination friction/mechanical arrangement. There are small dimples in the lamp bodies which are captured by slots and holes in the glass retainers. Four dimples -- 2 on each long side -- on the rectangular assys including those by the rear window and two dimples on the round ones. The round ones are located at 90 degrees to the tab and screw mount to dash.

Here is a photo showing the arrangement. It depends on how tightly the two pieces are captured but carefully easing a screwdriver or another broad flat pry tool should ease them off. Some come apart with relative ease and others can be a pain.

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Thanks Howard, the courtesy lights can be stubborn.

Next issue, duly ordered a tune up kit for my Packard (356)which arrived with all the Auto lite pieces, however when I went to fit them, it appears my car has a Delco distributor fitted! This does not align with the parts manual etc. So, do I have a dizzy from a later car (327?), and would it be possible to find the correct distributor for my Packard?

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My "long skinny" 6V battery finally died, and we have no sources for replacement here in Australia. So, I sourced an Optima 6V and base mount, which nicely fitted into the stock battery tray. More importantly this mod only required 4 holes to be drilled (I can live with that) and it is a very neat installation as I hate bastardised battery hold downs!

It also gave me the opportunity have to battery tray powder coated.

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