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I would like some advice to see if I have explored all possibilities. My fuel gauge is inoperable.
I dropped the gas tank and removed the float mechanism. I then tested the impedance within the mechanism and recorded the ranges between .10 ohms and 121.4 ohms. If course, the higher value should cause the fuel gauge to register empty.
I then took the fuel guage and attached one side to the negative pole of the battery and the other side to the input line of the float mechanism. I connected the frame of the float mechanism to the positive side (ground) of the battery.
Upon the movement of the float itself, the fuel gauge does not move. However, if I take the line off of ground and reattach it, I do see slight vibration of the needle.
I tried reversing the lines on the fuel gauge and the needle stayed stationary without any movement even when detaching the line and reattaching.
So, I wanted to see if there might be another path I could follow other than this one to test the gauge before shipping it out to be rebuilt. Thanks to all.

The gauge is the magnetic type so if you are testing it out of the car make sure the gauge unit is also grounded so both coils are in the circuit. The terminal connections do make a difference. Usually the battery side will have some kind of ink or even a stamped indication although it may be hidden under insulating material. Here is a schematic typical of gauges used at the time taken from the 37-38 Service Manual.

Not quite sure the resistance range of the sender is correct -- but it may be or at least is close. A typical range of other senders used in models having similar magnetic gauges thru 47 was 0 full and 100 empty but Packard used different brands of magnetic gauges over the years so there could be different ranges.

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I had a similar issue with the gauge in my 41' and it ended up being a broken wire on for one of the gauge windings. If you check resistance values of the gauge you will most likely find the issue. I was able to repair my gauge with some solder, a steady hand, and a ton of patience. The circled area is where I had to perform the repair.

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Thanks to both of you very much. I'll take this with me tomorrow and continue my troubleshooting. Again, I thank you.

Hi Roger,

Just went through this with my '39, so not sure if yours is same, similar or totally different. At any rate, on mine, the car had been improperly hooked up negative earth when I bought it and my gas gauge didn't work. I dropped the tank and cleaned up the wiring and refreshed the ground. After that, it 'kind of' worked but the needle flicked around and eventually it just quit. It sounds like you have your dash gauge out and have wired it properly, so based on what you're saying, it would sound like a bad sender unit. One thing I wanted to mention to you was, I went through KM Lifestyles for a new sender and supplied them with all the info on my car. Then when I received the unit, it reported backwards. They had supplied an Atwater Kent sender and my car was Stewart Warner equipped and, for some reason, the ohms values are reversed on the two brands. They did rectify the problem and remade the piece with SW compatible components and I received the revised one back yesterday. Once it warms up a bit, I'll be dropping my tank and installing it, but in the meantime, bench testing confirms it is now correct. Something worth clarifying when you go to get yours repaired/replaced. Chris.

Thanks, Chris. I'll also take that with me today when I go do some more troubleshooting. BTW, I did locate the gauge information in my 36-37 Service Manual. I had missed it initially because I only looked at the index at the front and didn't see anything about furl gauges so thought I didn't have that information,
Again, I thank everyone for your help and expertise.