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I was away on a tour with the 56 Caribbean over the weekend up along the Hudson River Valley in the Rhinebeck/Hyde Park area, about 100 miles from home. While driving along, suddenly the fan belt began screeching; at first I thought perhaps a siezing water pump (had a spare) but then noticed the ammeter was pegged on charge. As the battery had just passed its 4th birthday I immediately thought of an internal short in the battery, but when it cranked the car over that seemed to be discounted. I was prepared to try the 100 or so mile home at full change thinking I'd ruin the battery (if it wasn't already) and really stress the generator, but would try it regardless. Parked the car at the show we were visiting, more on that later, and thought about it for a while. I came to the conclusion that there were really only 2 significant electrical units not protected by fuses or circuit breakers, the battery and the cigar lighter. Removed the lighter and everything returned to normal - the lighter had for whatever reason self-short circuited.

The show was on a huge lawn rolling down to the Hudson from the Mills Mansion in Staatsburg NY. About 400 cars, perhaps more, and given the distance from our usual base they were all pretty much new to us. An event not to be missed in you're in the area - this was the 25th annual.

This tour was by my local any-make club and we had 3 Packards among the 7 members, my 56 Carib, a very original (AACA HPOF winner) 54 Cavalier, and a 1941 180 LeBaron Sport Brougham. One of the more interesting Packards at the show as a 2nd Series Eight phaeton, right hand drive, sold new in N.S.W. and in essentially original condition. I'll post a picture after I resize it, along with one at one of our tour stops.

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That LeBaron in the foreground of the first picture was owned and restored by my stepfather back in the 1960s. He still regrets selling it.

Edit: I now see that you call it a Sport Brougham. Must be a different car. My stepfather's was a limousine.

Interesting bit about the lighter. Am surprised the insulation on the feed wire didn't melt or go up in smoke.

HH, it may have, I haven't been under there yet. There was however no noticeable smoke or smell. Will advise when I check it out further.

If noticed that sometimes the lighter can short itself based on how it sits in the socket. I've blown the 20amp fuse on my harness (aftermarket street rod) a couple of times. There is a fine balance between bending the socket tabs so the lighter stays engaged when pushed in, and still pops back up when ready, vs it getting stuck and staying, or directly shorting.

Was it pushed in and just didn't pop back out, or was it shorted in the popped-out state?

Dave
Unless you use it, it's probably best to keep it disconnected. The CCCA does not require that you show that it works, either.

When my dad restored his speedster, he didn't even put the lighter back in.

West, the Caribbean isn't CCCA recognized anyway (as you know) but leaving out does leave a hole is the dash with is unpleasant to look at. I may or may break the electrical connection but I will replace the lighter in the socket for appearance sake.

BigKev - if the lighter stays engaged, it doesn't short - normally the heating element will remain energized until it just burns out and then gives an open circuit. I still have to do my post-morten on the situation to see what precisely went wrong, but I had just used the lighter a few moments prior to the incident.

...or at least put an inline fuse folder in place to protect the Cigar lighter. This would save the harness in the event of another problem. Seams the prudent thing to do.

I didn't think the cigar lighter was originally fuse-protected because of the very large current draw, but perhaps it was. I'll have to check the wiring diagram.

But yes, if I don't disable it, I will somehow protect the circuit.

Same thing happened to a friend of mine, but he noticed smoke in his Olds convertible. He pulled the liter (Packard spelling) out and it was so hot he couldn't hold on to it. He disconnected it permanently.