Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Wonder how it runs...

A lot of people have intentionally reversed the batteries to negative ground because of the add on accessories available today. Phone chargers, GPS, and even the occasional modern sound system require a negative ground so wanting one of those is usually the deciding factor. Any number of others have accidentally been swapped by careless mechanics. The cables being crossed on the car you mention is poor workmanship as far as I am concerned.

As for how it runs, as long as the coil is reversed along with the battery so spark maintains efficiency the engine should not know the difference. Swap the ammeter wires so it reads correctly and there seems to be no difference in the car. As to the other components, nothing in a stock Packard is polarity sensitive with exception of possibly the regulator. I don't believe anyone has posted definitive information on exactly what the difference is between the two to make one pos or neg but the generator (after re-polarizing) still seems to work. Hard to say if the regulator changes in efficiency or longevity. Packard radios even work in spite of some being designated pos or neg so another thing that makes me wonder if the differences are dramatic or barely measurable.

Where it gets interesting is when there are modern substitutions that someone might not know is in the car. Solid state radio vibrators, instrument voltage regulators, LED bulbs, electronic ignition and a few other modern replacements don't like having their polarity swapped. At best they just won't work and at worst can sometimes let you know in a dramatic way.

Actually while the car will run with the regulator polarized and the cables reversed, both the coil and the regulator are wired for polarity.

On the coil side the direction of the spark will change. And the regulator fields will have a change in flux. Some of the current in the regulator will end up flowing through a winding.

So I would change both the coil and the regulator over to negative ground merchandise. The coil doesn't make much difference however. And for all these gadgets people want to use, well, I would run them off of a separate power supply anyway.

After 19 years I finally had to buy a new car. I would have fixed the old one myself if I was retired and I miss it already. So I shopped around for a car with the least gadgets possible and bought it based on the durability record. While I was there another couple came in and said the only thing they cared about was that the car has four wheels and doesn't break down. What is wrong with these carmakers and the government?

My biggest kick came when they wanted to tie my phone into the radio. I bought my phone when I was in Pentagon City and it only makes telephone calls and can't be hacked. "What kind of phone is this?" they asked. "It's called a telephone. It makes telephone calls."

When I was on the road recently I came over a hill running 85 mph in Dakota and there was an idiot backing up in the left lane. If I had been distracted by the phone I would have crashed and been killed. Everything in the car flew forward into the dashboard.

Coils are not negative type and positive type. Many coils have polarity signs on the two low tension posts. All that's needed is to connect them correctly, also they do not need to be polarized like regulators do. The damage done by not having it hooked up correctly is that point life will decrease. Nobody here who noted their car battery was backwards seemed to have a problem with starting or running. It's almost a non-issue

I am having same problem. Rebuilt gen. New reg. Repair shop said don't use oil. Grease only on brush side bearing.

After rebuild it worked for a day. Bearing went out. At idle 14v . then raise rpms it went to 18v.

Took to shop said armature that was good was wiped out. They replaced it. Still no charge . with new reg.

With key on noticed needle move to discharge. So took ignition switch out. Back of switch loose. My guess is switch is shorting out. Will know when i put another switch in. I have spares just had to make a dummy key. To get key cylinder out. 2 tries bingo. Key needs to be in run to remove cylinder.. And with hh help going to put in starting relay.

With key on noticed needle move to discharge

Not necessarily an indication of anything wrong, it's just reading the current draw of the primary ignition circuit (the coil).

Dave. I was wondering that. If switch does not solve it. I did buy a 1 wire alternator. I just need to make a lower bracket. The alternator sits in further. Around 5/8s or so. And will have it sit higher.

Thanks

Riki,

If you charging system isn't working you need to diagnose why. It's a simple system which was in use from mid-30's to mid-60's. It is no more necessary to convert to an alternator than it is to remove the engine/trans and convert it to an electric vehicle.

If you install an alternator and it does not work just what will you do next??

thanks fred,

if I had a meter it would help, one of the things the book said was a short in wiring, so I thought solenoid, went to take out starter, the case was loose,,what the,, I was getting a dead contact when I turned key, then did it again it would turn,

so luckly nothing damage in starter, tighten it up ,with lock tight, tested it, no problems,

still charging problems, so I am at starter switch now,

one thing I didn't do when I got generator from shop is to motorize it , if it runs , generator is usally ok,

even bypassing the amp meter, wire from battery to volt reg nothing.

I need to build a rig, its simple but it just takes time,

autozone and others can't test these older ones, which is lack of foresight,

As far as I know the ignition switch has nothing to do with the charging system nor does the starter.

there was a post somewhere about burned contacts in the ignition switch, it had to do with stating, but I think something about charging came up,

when I started the car the starter turned right over , then I started to get pause then it would turn over, I know that's starting problems,

I am in process of putting in relay now, but think I will take off belt and try to run generator, if it doesn't run, back to shop.

I did find a 1955 penny when I took out glove box, wonder if it's been there since the car was built.