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Hi Cyber Packard Friends!!!

Well my dad's 1949 Packard is back...hopefully not as long this time...

I replaced the brake light switch and am working on a couple other squawks like the rear axle humming after I replaced the pinion seal.


Last summer I replaced the voltage regulator because it seemed like the right thing to do...while I had it all apart doing the engine and transmission swap.

The new Generator was not charging consistently so I removed the new voltage regulator to check the points and discovered that the field points were not aligned correctly (they were only mating at only about 25 percent of the contact surface) and were therefore intermittently connecting. So no problem...I replaced the voltage regulator under warrantee.

The new voltage regulator is not charging at all now so I was hoping I could talk (type) you all into some more cyber tech support/troubleshooting advice.

I checked all of the wire connections and rubbed sandpaper on the terminal ends and made sure they are tight.

Made sure the generator was polarized (even though it was not removed/replaced) by connecting all of the wires and also the battery and then touching a jumper lead briefly from the A to the B terminal and saw a spark. Throughout the afternoon I have done this procedure a number of times...just in case.

I have the Autolite Service Manual from this forum (thanks BigKev) however my guess is that it is something simple so if you have any suggestions can you please throw them my way.

Should I try pressing the field contacts together and see if the generator puts out current?

I looked at the wire diagram and there does not appear to be a fuse in the system.

I hot (cold) wired the generator case to the voltage regulator case and no luck.

THANKS AGAIN!!!

Bill

If it some No-Name brand repop regulator then remove the cover, use a piece of clean cloth and drag it thru the contacts. LOOK AT THE CLOTH to see if there is anykind of residue on the cloth. Probably a powdery litegrey kind of almost creamy (but not quite creamy) resedue.

Maybe run a piece of #600 sand paper between the contacts to clean them up more. I don't think a points file will fit the gap. GET CONTACTS CLEAN!!!! Then put it back on and try it.

If you're questioning whether the no-charge condition is the fault of the generator or the regulator, just temporarily use a jumper wire and ground the field terminal on the generator, and start the engine and run at atleast a fast idle. If you now have a full charge rate situation then the regulator is at fault. If no charge the generator is at fault. Do not leave the jumper connected any longer than needed to conduct the test.

Good suggestions...I knew I could count on you guys!!!

I will try back and post my results.

You say it is not charging consistantly. Maybe i missed another thread where you mention more details. Your 49 is a six volt system correct. What is the reading on the volt meter connected to the battery at idle- at 1500 rev? Lights on etc. perhaps you have a bad battery? Bad connections? Bad ammeter or loose connections or corrosion. What is the voltage with her cranking over?

Check the brush springs in the generator. I've been having troubles with mine, and discovered that one of them was weak.

After working ALL day I have not had any luck.

The car is a 1949 packard Series 2300. It came with a Autolite Regulator VRP-4402C and an Autolite Generator GGW-6001E.

I removed the generator and installed a generator and power steering unit from a 1953 Chrysler Imperial and this generator is an Autolite GGW-6001 (so it looks like it is a similar generator part number to what came out. The Chrysler however is supposed to have a VRP-6004A voltage regulator (I don't know if that matters). Both are 6 volt positive ground cars.

When installing I made sure I polarized the generator field and the system worked great. It is my dad's car and he said after a couple of months that the voltage regulator got stuck on charging and the charging was so great that the lights were very brite. He fortunately did not burn up anything.

I bought a new (not rebuilt) new voltage regulator and it worked for a short time and then quit so I bought a second one and this one does not work at all. Now I have three voltage regulator so play with.

Here is what I know.

If I ground out the generator field pole directly to the ground the generator produces 6.19 volts at idle and the voltage increases to greater than 7.5 volts when the engine is at very high idle so the generator is working.

If I measure the armature voltage (connecting the + lead of my digital volt meter to the armature pole and the - lead to ground the armature pole) the measured voltage is 6.19 volts at idle and it goes all the way up to 18 volts at high idle. Can this be right??? I double checked the scale and it was on the correct setting and not reading in 10ths.

I have placed the voltage regulator on the fender cover (it is outside the car and not connected to anything) and I am using jumper leads directly from the generator Arm and Field poles to their corresponding terminals on the voltage regulator, I have a lead going from battery - post (the starter cable) to the Batt terminal on the VR, and a lead going from the + post of the battery going to the voltage regulator case. (so I can confirm the car wires are not the fault)

When running the engine there is no power being generated.

I push and close the circuit breaker contacts closed and there is still no power being generated.

I reconnected up the first voltage regulator and it seemed to function fine on the fender and then I installed it and it would not work. I removed it to do the fender test and now it will not work anymore.

Visual inspections of the voltage regulators look ok. Points are closing square and I cleaned the points.

I removed the capacitor from the armature lead at the generator to make sure it was not causing trouble.

Visual inspection of the resistors under the voltage regulator look fine (not burned up)

Does anyone have any suggestions???

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!!!

I would suggest you have the regulator ground screw or case connected to the generator ground screw so the regulator is seeing the exact voltage in relation to ground that the generator is seeing. Since you have the regulator out on the fender you can pick the ground up at the mounting screw at the headlight terminal block where the wire from generator ground joins the wire continuing on to regulator.

Even though the battery pos terminal post is grounded, not sure if that same voltage reference to the generator would be the case if you have the regulator connected directly to battery positive. The generator is going thru mounts etc so there may be a bit of voltage drop. It may not be enough to make a difference but since the system was designed to have a direct ground I would try to duplicate as much as possible.

I doubt it is your problem but I remember one poster had fought all kinds of strange and intermittent charging problems over a long period of time. Turned out one of the terminals on his ammeter was loose. Wouldn't hurt to look. The 18 volts almost sounds like there was no load. I wonder if that voltage and the way it was applied was high enough to burn out one of the coils in the regulators and the reason neither functions now.

Install the regulator on the car. Run a GROUND WIRE directly from the regulator base to the GROUND post of the battery and try agin.

The problem is that whatever part of the car that the regulator mounts to is NOT grounded back to the rest of the car. So what ever the regulator mounts to will have to be grounded back to the rest of the car. Probably rusty bolts.

What part of the car does the regulator mount to???

PackardV8, I doubt it's ground issue, if you read back in post #7 he grounded the regulator base directly back to the positive (ground) terminal on the battery which did not correct the problem.