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Trying to get this 53 packard started , I think its the solenoid. I have no spark to coil or wire. I think I will have the starter check too, it turns the motor but no spark. Where do you get brushes for the starter? I have new points, condser, made a new wire for the distributor to coil, new distributor cap, plugs and rotor New battery and cables. Did I miss anything.

You should have spark even with a starter that is weak. I suggest you do search on this site as it has been discussed many times before but I'll get you started...
packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb ... orum=4&post_id=79666#forumpost79666

Do you have power to the coil's ignition terminal? If so start by checking that the points are installed correctly and adjusted. You should be able to induce a coil spark by manually opening and closing the points. Your points to coil wire may be grounded.
Starter brushes can be purchased from the Packard parts suppliers such as Kanter and Max Merritt etc.
Remember service manuals are available free for download also and are a great help in diagnosing problems.

Are you sure you are getting power to the coil?? If not trace it back to the ignition switch.

Also verify your ground connection between the coil and the distro.

The coil is fed directly from the ignition switch on one terminal so you should have 6 volts present measured to ground. If the points are open, you should have 6 volts on the other terminal of coil as well. Points closed, 0 volts at the wire to distributor side but points should open when cranking and meter should jump. That is the first thing I would check and verify you have voltage and nothing has been shorted in the distributor. There have been reports of faulty condensers or the fabric covered wire inside the distributor connecting the points to the outside distributor terminal being shorted.

If battery cables are dirty or have been replaced, high resistance or too small a cable will result in a lot of voltage drop and there may not be enough to fire the coil. When cranking, the voltage at coil should not drop more than a volt if even that. Lower voltage would indicate a problem.

I agree with HH56. Check the little fabric covered wire inside the distributor. Last year that proved to be source of my problem.

Quote:

I had a similar problem several years ago. The cloth covered wire was grounded on the distributor body.

When you mean inside the distrubtor, you mean under the metal plate where the points sit. There is no wire other than the condensor wire that I hooked up under the cap that you can see with the cap off.

Is there no wire from the point set to the outside of the distributor? I'll see if I can post a photo unless someone beats me to it. Note wire from points to outside of distributor. That wire goes to coil (negative terminal in your car if still neg. ground).

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Sounds like he has the autolite type that i have, where the whole distributor housing rotates. We just had a thread about the correct assembly of those for someone else, and my thread with lots of pics:

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb ... orum=2&post_id=81679#forumpost81679

I have a autolight system. Does the outside points wire hook to the + side of coil. Thats what the manual pic shows