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

My battery is bolted to a bolt on the engine ,the positive terminal that is .Is that a proper ground? is there a ground strap from the bbody to the frame ?
from the battery to the frame ?
engine to frame?
I wonder if these may have been omited at some point

I hear that impropper grounding can be the source of innumerable problems with the electrical system ;which I have had since starting on the project ,dim lights regulator problems generator problems etc

I just read about pertronix 6 volt positive ground points replacement systems Ive put them in my 60's 12 volt projects with good result ,and along with the powergen 6v alternator am concidering circumventing all of the electical problems

Battery ground went to block. Believe 46-54 was usually on one of the bolts under generator holding generator bracket to block. Any convenient good solid paint free connection to block will work as well. You do want it to block though. If you want to add a strap between engine block and body, feel free. Napa has them. I don't remember if one was used on yours but was on V8 models. Not much use running anything to frame since nothing electrical on yours. One to body may not help your issues but wouldn't hurt either.

I believe we have at least one member using the 6v Pertronix. He had some issues with engine stalling but unknown if that was resolved or if ignition or fuel related.

My 52/200 has a postive ground to the engine. nothing more.
seems to work fine. My next project is to make sure i have the proper guage cables etc. And i won't consider ever converitng the car to 12 volt. I can't tell you how many
'experts' since i bought this car in july have told me i have to replace to 6 volt syst. with a 12 volt.

I've never seen any car or lite truck with NO ground strap from body (usualy firewall area) to engine. No such engine to body ground strap runs a large risk of poor performance from electrical items that are grounded only the body. I have seen a few applications where there was a ground strap between engine and frame.

Remeber that the engine and trans is mounted of RUBBER mounts.

Many (maybe all) voltage regulators are grounded to the body part it is mounted on. Be sure there is a good ground at that point. Many Dleco regulators, i'm not sure about other brands have a steel sleeve thru one of the rubber mounts. So an engine to body ground strap becomes important.

I am not familair with this particular year of Packard. If there is NO PRODUCTION body to engine ground strap then there will be a engine to FRAME ground strap and maybe a body to frame ground strap near rear of car..

Does the idiot lite EVER AT ANY TIME under ANY condition (such as ignition key ON and engine NOT running) shine brite or is it always dim???

IIRC u indicated in an earlier post that the blower motor caused the idiot lite to shine DIM. Very likely the blower motor has very dry or otherwise bad bearings or other internal problems causeing extreme current draw.


DO NOT ATTEMPT TO START THE ENGINE with following diagnostic:
disconnect battery terminal at battery. Connect AMMETER (NOT VOLT meter) between battery cable and battery post. Turn on heater motor. read ammeter. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO START ENGINE THIS WAY!!!

Check blower motor FUSE to determine if it is not higher amp rated than recommendded.

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You're right about the need to have some kind of connection. I don't remember seeing a strap as the V8's use but I think Packards version to accomplish the same thing on those cars is a ground wire from generator frame to the L headlight terminal strip mounting screw which bonds into fender. There is another wire that picks up at the same screw and goes to voltage regulator ground which is also integral with the mounting screw into the body. If either one of those is disconnected or missing, might cause some issues.