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

Is there a wiring diagram available for the wiring for the reading lights for a station sedan. The main diagram only shows the lead wire from the right circuit breaker post.

Quote:

Does this not have what you need?? 22nd Series Wiring Diagram

I think the only available rear courtesy light or reading light diagram you will easily find that is probably what is in your car is on the left side of page 3 of the 22nd series wiring sheets that 53 Cavalier linked above.. The drawing is for a 4 door sedan and the partial wire where it says "to accessory breaker" is coming from the same breaker post where the front courtesy lights connect. The only other 22nd series drawing is in the October 15, 1947 service counselor and is for the taxi, LWB sedan, and limos. Those are variations of the same reading light circuit the basic 22nd wiring sheet on page 3 shows but are much more involved because of the extra switches and lamps in the specialty cars. .

If the station sedan has something different from the basic circuit or that light or another is also operated by the tailgate then I suspect details will only be found on a miscellaneous blueprint which MIGHT be available in the collection of blueprints administered by the Packard Proving Grounds Foundation or possibly those held by the Studebaker Museum..

The foundation and I believe the museum sell copies of blueprints so there would be no difficulty getting what is available IF they have it and IF you have the miscellaneous print number. Finding that number I suspect will be the hard part but you might get in touch with the administrators and see if they have a print search service or what else they can suggest.

I see what your diagram is showing. The only difference is my car has 2 reading lights (1 on each side.)
There is a reading lamp switch on right pillar. So the reading lights will come on with either courtesy switch?
How does the pillar switch tie into the courtesy lights?

They usually just provide another path to ground. So either door switch or the courtesy light switch acts as a ground for the bulb(s).

As Kev said, the manual pillar or reading light switch is just wired in parallel with the others. Packard was fairly consistent with their courtesy wiring in postwar years with almost all models that ran wire above the headliner having a variation of one or two basic layouts. I suspect very strongly the 48 courtesy light loom followed the same path as the 47 sedans took. If that is the case, then from the way my car was done the connections are splices made above and inside the left B pillar as denoted by the red arrows in this modified drawing I put together. One of the splices is in the main power feed wire (R-W)and goes down the B pillar to exit at the bottom and stop after a couple of inches. Purpose of that wire was to supply a cigar lighter in the front seat back. If a car did not have that option the short wire and unused connector was typically just laying under the carpet or stayed tucked inside the B pillar. The rest of the R-W power wire kept on going rearward directly to the light. On cars with 2 lights, the bulbs were in parallel. Sedans had a splice near the left light and ran wiring over the rear window to the right side. Without knowing where lights are located in a station sedan I can only guess where or how they ran the wires in that car.

The ground side and main door switch wire started at the light(s) and ran forward to above the left B pillar where a spliced wire dropped down inside the pillar. On most models the pillar switch was on the left side so another splice about a foot or so down from the top and inside the pillar took a short wire from that splice and connected to the pillar switch while the rest of the wire kept going on down to the door switch. In this drawing the manual pillar switch is shown on the left side but as mentioned, it could be on the right pillar instead. While the splice and short wire that connected to the switch would be done the same way on those cars, the splice and short wire would be done inside the right side pillar. After the first splice above the left B pillar the main ground side wire kept going toward the front and over the windshield to continue on back to the right B pillar and that door switch.

IF you only have 2 lights and IF they come on at the same time and are not operated by the rear tailgate then I suspect this modified drawing is what you have. If the lights are separate and one is operated by the doors and the other by the tail gate then you have something different. With the station sedan being somewhat of a not easily documented specialty car the drawing is jut a guess based on what Packard did in other models. You might confirm if there is any switch or light operated only by the tailgate so we can get a better idea of what we are working with.

Thanks Howard,
My car does not have a tailgate operated switch and does not have a rear seat cigar lighter.