Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

I suspect what you have is similar to these "universal" types currently on ebay but is illuminated when the heater is on. Those caps are usually a very light color the light can shine through. Normally the cap fits over the bulb and presses into a press fit arrangement where groves or protruding pieces of the plastic will lock in. You might try taking the bulb out, identifying the socket part and then see what looks like it might accept the cap base with some kind of groove and carefully see if it will turn. Looking at the switch in pict 3, it looks to be just on-off but in picture 4, the size of the round threaded mounting looks like it might be an illuminated type.

The type of switch depends on the heater. Some are just a fixed two or three speed, others have a rheostat in the switch body so continuously variable, and the deluxe heater/defroster combo used on some years had a 3 speed switch that when you turned it in one way, motor rotated one direction for heat and turning switch other direction caused the motor to reverse and blow air out defroster ducts.

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There were actually two types of heater switches used for 1940, depending on the heater. I'll take a picture of the switches that I have, tomorrow, and also of the heater. My front heater has a paddle switch, that has two speeds on each side of off. One side is for the heater, the other for defroster. The other type of switch, a round knob, is more common, and I believe it only turns the heater off, and on (two speeds), similar to the one shown above.

This photo shows the two different types of heater switches. These are both mounted on the left side of the steering wheel under the dash. The right one is the more common switch. In this case, it operates the rear compartment heater. The left switch is the rarer paddle switch, which reverses the motor in the Super Deluxe heater/defroster.

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This is the Super Deluxe heater/defroster.

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Note here that the air conditioner paddle switch is very similar to the heater paddle switch. This is mounted on the right side of the steering wheel.

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And here's the overdrive light (top right), which also acts as a dimmer for the instrument lights by twisting. It's said to be a rheostat, but there seems to be "clicks" for three different levels, as opposed to what a rheostat would have. The dimmer aspect of mine doesn't seem to work very well, but the overdrive light works perfectly. These have been available on Ebay often.

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If there's anything else I can help with in regards to photos of details, let me know.

And here is another with different switch but don't know the year.

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Thanks very much to West Peterson and HH56 for the good information and pictures. Apologize for the delay in responding but it seems like I can only get to these things on weekends these days!

I checked out the under dash switch again. After scouring the car, I found one of those cream colored knobs under the seat. The knob fits over the light bulb and onto the switch. As your turn the knob there are several positions for activating the speeds of the blower fan that is part of the heater complex. The light turns on when you turn the knob on for several of those positions. I was able to turn the switch off so that the light was no longer on but the body of the switch still stays burning hot. I can't seem to get it turned off so I am not sure if the switch is faulty or if the wiring is not connected propery. Need to do more detective work because I am always concerned about electrical parts overheating. I am attaching photos of the heater. Thanks again!!!

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George:

It appears that the defrost function of your heater is disconnected. The bifercated tubes that are at the rear of the heater should be connected to the defroster outlets on either side of the windshield by flexible duct tubing. Yours looks similar to the setup in my 1940 120. Once you figure out the switch function, perhaps you can also get the defroster to work. I had to remove my heater and switch, leaving the two connected, and put them on a bench to power up and work on. With a little lubrication and cleanup, mine works smooth as silk now.