Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Hi Folks; I have questions about re- polarizing the generator. I believe I need to do this. The problem is; I have done my re-search on this site, and on others and continue to find conflicting information.

I have a 1949 23nd Series Packard with an Auto Lite system. Some people say touch the B terminal to the A terminal, some people say touch the B terminal to the F terminal.

So whats actually correct for the Packard?.

Thanks for you help.

Dave O

B to A. Here is the official procedure from the 51-4 SM.

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Thank you Howard; There seems to be many opinions on which terminal to use. Maybe it makes a difference on the type of vehicle or tractor or what ever they are working with. But I only needed to get the information for a Packard. What would I do with out you sir.

Thanks Much

Dave O

I found the same thing, that there seems to be various opinions on how to polarize your generator. They way Howard posted is what I did, and is also what the shop the rebuilt my generator said. Worked for me, but I did find I had to do it a few times, but now that I'm regularly driving my car it seems to be good.

That's good to know. I only did it once, and really noticed no difference. I'll keep at it.

Dave O

Dave O

Is your generator not charging at all, or just not charging enough? Does your generator light stay on all the time? What causes you to think your generator needs to be polarized? Maybe your regulator is at fault?

I have a Delco system on my 53 Cavalier, but polarizing is the same deal, but terminals may be in different positions on the relay.

After I cooked my generator on a trip I had it rebuilt and then had a bit of trouble getting it charging again. These are the tests the guy that rebuilt my generator asked me to do. Maybe they'll be helpful??

hi its Art here,i was the one that rebuilt your generator...lets do a test which is quite easy to do,take these steps please

1.disconnect the field wire off the generator.
2-use a jumper wire and hook to the field term, than hook it up to a ground,this will tell you if the generator is working or not.
check the output,it should go to 8 volts and higher, if it doesn't than your generator isn't doing its job, i'm hoping the armature that i rebuilt is holding up.
3 if the generator is working ,than your regulator maybe giving you the issue.
4.you have a spare regulator, if that's your problem,switch them out,hook up all the wires to the reg,and polarize it,,you do this by taking a jumper wire and flashing the battery to gen connection on your regulator,,,
recheck charging system...if this doesn't help you may have to bring it back and ill have to retest and reset the regulator.

Thanks
Art

Thank you for the info. All I can offer is I bought the car. Re-wired it. Put it all back together. And the charging system doesn't seem to be charging. I did clean the contacts on the voltage regulator before hooking up the battery. I have flashed off the B to A terminal once with a spark. Today I tried again. This time I heard a click sound from the regulator but no spark. After which I tried again, and got a spark. Well I'll see what happens, and afterword I'll check the steps you advised. I personally think the car is running off the battery. While receiving some voltage it's not enough to fully charge. After every time I run the car, and hook it up to the charger. It needs a bit of charge to get it up to full.

Dave O

Do you know if it was charging before you rewired it? If you have a shop around that rebuilds generators you could either run your car over, or take them your generator and regulator and have them bench tested.

That is if you can't get it sorted yourself. I tend to work on something and when I get stuck I leave it and work on something else, such as clean something on my car instead. Then go back to what stumped me and give it another go. Yes, my car is getting pretty clean! LOL