Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Someone refresh my memmory:

The TL limit sw. is a button type of sw. It is closed when the button is depressed and open when the button is released. No?? If so then that means that the TL system becomes INoperative when the switch is open (button released). No???

Edit: i had to delete and rephrase this question.

Edit #2: My statement above is incorrect. See Owen and HH56's explanation in the posts that immediately follow.

bhappy.
What kind of a jack are u using???? To work on these big cars one needds a good LONG frame floor jack or frame lift jack.

If u're trying to jack it up with one of those little jacks like WalMart sells it makes the job miserable. Gotta get that car HIGH ENUF to work on it. AND I HOPE U"RE USING JACK STANDS TO SUPPORT the car before u go under the car.

A big problem you will find with having a Packard worked on by anyone who is not in the old car business, or knowledgeable about Packards is that they did not always do things the way Ford, GM and Chrysler did, this makes them "weird" to many, and in "Might makes right" America, "different" is often interpreted as "wrong", when in reality it is just different.

I have to veer off and respond. Never was a truer statement made and not only in the auto industry. The medical industry has the same philosophy. Some of the ways some companies can do things differently boggles the mind--anywhere from Rube Goldberg complexity to dirt simple but the end product is the same. I worked for one of the different companies and it's a two edged sword. One edge is it gets kludged by nincompoops like Packard TL and PBs do. The other edge is that wise third parties won't touch it knowing they might be in for a challenge so we got the service call. But either way it was that stupid so and so machine and why can't they make them like everyone else.

And back to PV8's question. No. The 56 limit switches are closed normally and when the inner cam in the gearbox rotates around to the limit it depresses the button and opens the switch.

The limit switch is normally closed, and opens when depressed.

I've been just following this thread on-and-off, but here we are at 54 posts, lots of good advice by those that know this system far better than I, and yet no progress. What gives?

bhappy? Why don't you just do as Ross and PackardV8 suggested way back when; remove the T/L motor (2 long bolts) and either by hand or with an improvised tool, wind the gear box back until the compensator lever returns to it's proper position (assuming the splines haven't been sheared off inside or the gearbox otherwise damaged)?

Kill the battery, jack the car up by the frame and insert hefty jack stands, and go to it. Then let us know what has happened.

Packard V8 states that the limit switch is closed when depressed.

HH56 states it is open when depressed.

This is one reason why threads go so long without resolution, someone has posted incorrect information and nobody has resolved it.

Point made, Fred, and well-taken. But I read it as PackardV8 asking the question though in kind of a convoluted manner, and HH56 and myself both answering it the same way.

PS - I actually went down to the parts bin with an ohmmeter just to make sure.

I'll bow to Owen and HH56's advice about the limit switch position for open/closed.

Factory service manuals not only tell how to fix something, more importantly they often explain how a complex system works.

When working on a unique system like Torsion Level where even 55 and 56 vary greatly in their respective electrical configuration, on should not attempt to work on, diagnose, or advise others on the system unless you have a full and complete understanding of it. I don't attempt brain surgery just for that reason.

Think about this poor car.....if only those who worked on it along the way had a Factory Service Manual.

The car is on jack stands, the rear-end jacked up to hopefully releive some load on the links. Tried the direct battery motor hookup and I can't tell if the motor is moving the rods, no matter which terminal I power.

I am sorry to take up so much thread room. I'm stopping now and taking that break. Carry on if you want, I'm done.

I assume that means u can hear the motor RUNNING????? Those arms move rather slowly but should still be able to see the arms move if looking directly at the arms comming out of the gear box.

Quite possible the TL gear box spline shaft is twisted/broken as shown in a picture a few posts back.