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We are talking about a 1949 super 8 touring sedan I am learning as I go boys so keep in mind you are talking to a newbie.

I've had my packard for almost a year and I drive it a couple miles 4/7 days a week. I've run through my fair share of small problems including ones that seemed earth stopping but were very simple to fix. But I'm kind of freaking out a little.

I was teaching the wife how to drive her and stalled so many times that I had to start my car with a second battery. Let assume I hooked up wrong and fried something. I charged the original battery and then I went to start it a few days later and it would hum untill I pushed the pedal and it would lose all power. I swapped a new starter solenoid in hoping that was the problem. Still nothing. But when I hook up a different battery I press the pedal and I get a whirring sound.

ANY help with this would be greatly appreciated.

If it stalls when you give it gas, then I strongly suspect a carb issue.

My 54 did something similar on the way home from a car show. Issue was a torn accel pump in the carb.

If you very slowly give it gas does it stall?

I can't even start it. When I turn the key and press the pedal to start it shorts out and loses all power with a fully charged newer battery and when I used an old half charged battery it just made a whirring sound.

You can try to bench test the starter to see if functional.

A few ideas here:

First, on the acceleration issue, I strongly suspect that you have a bad accelerator pump. I'm assuming you have not yet rebuilt the carburetor? The accelerator pump will probably be attached to the throttle lever somehow. Example on a carburetor for the 55-56 cars below, though yours will be much different. You can get rebuild kits almost anywhere, also check the Parts Cross-Reference on the sidebar.

For the no-start, try turning the engine over a fraction by hand first then try again. It's pretty unlikely but if you have a tooth gone from the flywheel then it won't engage. If not that, then I would assume it must be a solenoid issue. Did you get a 6V, positive ground compatible solenoid?

You said it shorts out when you try to start it? Did you double-check the electrical connections? Negative wire to starter, positive terminal to ground strap.

So, you press down on the gas pedal to activate the starter like normal, but nothing happens except you "lose all power"--uh, for good, or when you let off the gas does the power come back?

I had something like that on my 53 when the starter drive was bad. I'd press the gas to start sometimes and other than hearing the solenoid make its very little click nothing would happen. What fooled me at first was that the power draw was so high since the starter was actually jammed that the idiot lights would go out. That made me think the battery had suddenly failed but in actual fact the bad teeth on the starter drive were jamming in the flywheel.

For a quick test loosen the starter bolts a few turns and give it a good shake. tighten up and retry. Or, bench test it.

Man I was hoping it was that simple lol.

Quote:

Thank you, sometimes I forget the basics and just pace and cuss.

I bench tested the starter and it engages and spins right up.

Once I put it back on the car and tried to start it it didn't whir any more and now something is making a static kind of sound.

Is there any chance I put this on wrong.

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After reading your post twice to make sure I understood your problem. And looking at many of the possibilities given. And you have tested the starter. Have you tested the battery?. What I mean by testing, is to take it to an auto parts store and have them load test it. Many times in my life I have charged a battery fully only to have it act like a dead battery when starting. It will run lights, etc... but when a big load is put on it, it is wiped out instantly. It just can hold a full load anymore. Just a thought.

Dave O