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I wanted the separate my thread on my OD from the one on My Electromatic Clutch. The EC is now working, so, onto the OD.

To recap from my last thread: The OD did not work when I bought the car, but after replacing the Solenoid with a spare (not rebuilt) it worked, but would occasionally have a "machine gun" noise concurrent with the OD light on the dash going on and before the shifting into OD. Eventually, the OD fuse blew. I replaced it a week or so ago to work on the EC. At that time, I engaged the OD and, upon shifting into OD properly, it immediately popped-out and will now no longer make the shift into OD, but the light on the dash still indicates when the shift should be made.

Based on suggestions from the forum, I need to pull the Governor and inspect the points, and I need to pull the solenoid and inspect.

This weekend, I put the car on stands and attempted to pull the solenoid. The procedure specified grounding the AD terminal on the Governor (ignition on and OD in) to energize the solenoid to disengage the pawl.

I was unable to get this action to occur. Grounding the AD terminal seemed to have no affect on the solenoid. I decided not to attempt to pull the solenoid because I was unsure if this might cause some damage, or prevent me from being able to re-install the solenoid. It appeared that I had good contact on the AD terminal. Does this indicate/confirm that the solenoid is dead? Because my EC works, I assume the Governor works, but I will need to pull it as well. It was suggested that the pull-in contacts may be bad and that was causing the "machine gun" noise. Does this confirm it? It seems to me that I would likely hear something as I was doing this, but I heard nothing from the solenoid. Should I attempt to pull the solenoid anyway and can I do so without extending the plunger?

It seems that one way or another I may need to pull the solenoid - is there an alternate method while the OD is still in the car?

To remove the solenoid you have to rotate it about 90 deg in order to pull it out.

Phils38cpe,

Thank you. That sounds so much easier than the procedure in the manual!

No need to energize the solenoid to remove it. On the R-9 version the solenoid is tilted towards the rear of the car and the rod should come free of the pawl. To install, the solenoid must be energized as mentioned or by other means and reverse the tilt procedure.

This picturepackardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb ... ic.php?post_id=28018#forumpost28018 and this report from another forum might help with the governor wrench. He also had a 41 and was having troubles with removing governor in place without the proper wrench.

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My latest post seemed to gotten lost in cyber space. I'm not up on an R9 OD solenoid. I have an R11 any you only have to rotate the unit to remove it

Phil, You are correct if the unit is an R-11, it is just that since the Packard in question is a 1941 I am assuming it has the R-9 version hence my additional information. Sorry if I seem pedantic.

Thanks to all-
Yes, it is an R-9. This helps, since I need to pull this to see what it looks like. If I can't get it to energize, then I'll be in the market for a replacement.

One thing to look for when you reinstall the solenoid is to be certain the spacer is on correctly. The hole for the rod and the two screw holes are slighly offset and the spacer will go one either way but if on incorrectly it will bind on the rod preventing the rod from moving. The "plunger seal" within the spacer must also not be binding on the rod.

Clipper47,
This is good to know. I don't see a spacer referenced in the manual and did not know there was one present. Is it actually like a gasket material, or metal?
I assume this will all come off as a unit so I can mark it or otherwise note the correct position. I do see what looks like a small, somewhat thin gasket when I look at the assembly on the car.