Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Since I have owned my 1955 Clipper Constellation, its cigar lighter has never worked. That has been OK for me; however, now I wish to used the lighter's coil to power a standalone stereo system so that I can have tunes while I am on the road (the car's AM radio does work alright, but ...!). I have looked at the wiring diagram, but I cannot determine if it uses a fuse or not, and if it does use a fuse, what is the amperage and where is it located?

On a separate note, will changing the direction signal fuse enable the turn signal to work as it is supposed to, i.e. click down or up and turn off automatically after the turn?

There is no fuse for the lighter. The lighter socket is connected via a short wire directly to the BAT terminal of the nearby ignition switch. As to the reason lighter is not currently working, it is possible the element in the old lighter is burned out but there could also be a problem with the contact in the old socket.

One caution on using the socket for power is polarity. If your 55 is stock the battery positive terminal is grounded which means the lighter socket will not work for modern devices which need negative ground. The battery polarity would need to be swapped to negative ground which involves at the least re-polarizing the generator and making a change in the coil wiring to maintain best spark efficiency. There is no ammeter in the Clipper to worry about but there may also be an issue with the stock voltage regulator. Anything that might have been replaced in the car that could have some modern solid state components such a radio vibrator or TL switch conversion could also have issues.

Another possible issue is the old lighter sockets were somewhat larger than modern sockets and some of the modern plugs may not be large enough in diameter to fit tightly for a good ground connection of if the plug has a large diameter on the cord end, be long enough to be able to reach the center terminal. You may have to experiment to find a plug that works reliably.

On the turn signal, changing the fuse will not help the cancelling problem as that is purely mechanical. There is a mechanism on the wheel and switch which as the wheel turns back to the straightening direction, catches and releases a spring latch on the switch to let the lever pop back to the off position. On some years the column has slipped down so a large gap develops between the wheel and column and now the wheel is too far away from the switch to trigger the cancel mechanism. There could also be loose or broken parts involved. To resolve either issue will require the wheel be removed -- either to free components so column can be moved upward or to access the switch and inspect it and the wheel for any broken parts.

A lithium battery car starter is a better solution to play your tunes on the road. You can also use it to start your car or charge your cell phone.

Remember, your 1955 is positive ground so unless converted, that could be part of the problem.

Thanks for the response. As I said, I did not see a fuse indicated in the diagram, but you know that the Service Manual sometimes skips steps or assumes everybody knows about whatever. The radio work fine, for an AM radio. I am glad to know about the polarity issue. I know several people who have replaced the generator with a period-looking alternator and switched the polarity; but personally I don't want to do that unless at some point I want to add an air conditioner.

As for issues regarding the Torsion Level, please don't let me get started. That accursed system has been a bane to my existence ever since I bought that car. Ross Miller got it to work, until it decided it wouldn't. No mechanic near me knows how to make it function reliably. I bought a "control switch" from a Washington club that was supposed to make it work, but that crapped out on me too. So I just adjusted the back end of the car to be fairly level with the front end and that is that. I am not going to deal with it again.

That sounds like a good suggestion. I will look into that. Thank you.

Many lighters of that era used a special fuse that threaded into the back of the lighter. Can still be bought but expensive. I'd just install an in-line fuse. That still doesn't fix the polarity issue though.
ebay.com/itm/NOS-CASCO-L3c-L3-automobile ... 50s-buick-and-cadilac-/163527776696

I would suggest just wiring in an aftermarket power socket and set it up for 12V neg ground

The positive ground is an issue that eliminates a lot of modern electronics. I found a place in California...Woody’s Sound Shop— that I detailed in a posting last September that offers a simple amplifier unit with mini speakers that allows you to play music from your phone or MP3 player.
Very reasonable price and easy installation too.
With my impaired hearing I can not vouch for tonal quality but I installed the unit in my 55 Caribbean and it affords cruising music that I can hear.
If you check out the site, I believe he also offers a converter to flip the positive to negative ground without going through the other changes needed to do an overall system conversion. There were some comments posted about safety of converters which may be valid .
Hope this helps

I came across this video the other day from a Model A YouTube site. This may be a solution:

youtu.be/O2q2ndf7jmY