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

O_D, Thanks for the compliment, but I got a lot of guidance from you and others on this site when I was needing the battery. I was told by the counterperson at NAPA that their batteries are made by Continental. Can't verify this. The two claw hammers under the sign bear the autographs of Tom and Norm from "This Old House". They will never see a nail.

(o{I}o)

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Tractor Supply has them for less than $100.

Here is an update on my battery replacement that some Packard owners may find interesting. After reading the comments that were posted I shopped around for an original looking repro battery. They probably all come from the same manufacturer and they are hand built and about $300. The lead time is about 3 weeks since they are made only after the order is placed.

Since the car show season is starting I did not want to wait 3 weeks so I checked at Napa to see what they had. Amazingly my local Napa store had one on the shelf. It was about $170. The combination of price and availability was the decision maker so I ran to the store and bought it. The original hold-down frame fit too. I questioned if it needed acid or charging before installation. The salesman said "It is ready to go so put it in the car the way it is."

The interesting part started when I put it in the car. I installed it with care and went to start the engine. A couple turns of the starter was all I got. Then I started a closer inspection. The water level in the battery was way low; below the plates. I went to WalMart and got a gallon of distilled water. The battery took almost half a gallon! I measured the terminal voltage and it was about 5.9 volts. Then I put my 6 volt charger on it with a 10 amp current for a couple hours. After that the voltage came up to 6.0 volts but the car only cranked a couple turns again.

After recalling that the battery was covered with dust from the store and the terminals had been recently shined up to remove corrosion I concluded this "wet" battery had been sitting on the shelf for maybe years. The low water and low charge means it was never maintained. Since this mistreatment will ruin a battery I took it out and returned it.

Then I called the main Napa warehouse in San Diego. They totally understood the problem and told me to come in and get one that was not aged on the shelf. The one they sold me looked good, fit right, and fired the Packard right away. I have never experienced this sort of battery problem before, but I never buy unusual battery sizes like this one. Now I know why the manufacturer of the repro batteries do not inventory complete ones. It seems to me the best purchase of an unusual battery would be a dry one where acid has to be put in before use.

FWIW, I've had the same NAPA commerical battery as JW in my 23rd Series Super for the past year. I've been very happy with it, and I had no problems fitting it in the holder.

I bought my battery from "Fleet and Farm" in Fargo ND in Sept. 2010 for about $70.

Not a bad idea when buying a lead/acid battery to check the date code first.