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

Service Letters and the later Service Counselors were a once or twice monthly publication with changes, additional instructions, company info etc. Bulletins were more emergency items issued as needed. If you go to "Literature and Manuals", and then on the right side, "Service Counselors and Bulletins" you can download what we have. Most are available from mid thirties on.

Also remember to look at those issued later than your year. If problems were found a suggestions on repair could be made a year or two after the fact. The Service Index on the left menu is a comprehensive effort that Brian put together in cataloging all the counselor articles and bulletins by subject.

Service Counselors were the successors to the earlier Service Letters. They were periodic bulletins correcting, amending and adding to information in the service and parts manuals based on running experience with the new vehicles. In later years there were also Technical Service Bulletins covering similar topics.

Hi and thank you for giving me this information. The regular service manual is comprehensive on the wiring for the hydro-e, but I am following the wiring for a *1951 Packard hydro-e-system, and so far the wire color codes are closely the same. I would really like to see specifically for *54 hydro-e-system and will go there soon. Will get back to blog on this soon! : )

June 1, 2013 update on hydro-e-lectric window project. The left rear cylinder and spring lift is reinstalled in the car. Unexpectedly I was agonizing over how to get the new cylinder installed while at the same time pressing down on the lift arms to extend the spring enough to "just" get the top end of the cylinder to stay in place, when all of a sudden I got the answer--look down from birds-eye view and it all comes together. So the left rear door now has the cylinder lift frame bolted in (no glass yet) Observing how to attach the 3 wires to the door switch it was noticed that one wire was missing--that being the yellow wire from the door switch down to the new cylinder. For some reason ONLY the driver's door had this wire-the other three doors did not.(??) I removed this one wire and sent it to Y-N-Z Wirez and had 4 new 14 ga. wires made for the switch/cylinder hookup--loop one end, douglas the lower end. Back to you soon with photos as I begin the same process on the driver's door. ***note, I am trying to get all 4 lifts installed, wires hooked up to each door switch JUST so I can test the condition of the pump.

Good progress, and congrats on the "Eureka!" moment in figuring out the spring attachment. Why not make the wires yourself? It is not a difficult job, and much less expensive.

(o{}o)

July 21 update on hydro-e System project: this is a continuation of my 1954 Cavalier hydraulic window project which began following the Texas Packard Meet. Another car was out of my way in the garage for a while so I got back to this project in the Texas heat. With my Harbor Freight fan almost on high, I managed to get the last two cylinders clipped into their frames and all four lifts AND glass reinstalled in all four doors--in four 3-hour work days. There is not enough room here to tell you everything about those lifts, but if you are observant and have no distractions the reinstallation is absurdly obvious. I don't want to ever do this again, but I can rewrite the certain sections of the service manual regarding hydraulic windows. All four doors were cleaned thoroughly at the bottom and sprayed with OSPHO to help detain rust growth. Then began the reinstallation: 1) lifts go in first and stood behind its platform 2) wing glass must go next 3) window glass next holding onto the top of the glass while you reach with the other hand and bring the lift frame up and onto its platform 4) tighten those four bolts 5) work the wing glass into place and secure it with the only bolt at the bottom. **With this part of the project done I am moving to installation of the double rubber hoses at each door. Left rear door already has the hose installed, but it will need changing. While working with the window lifts it became clear that the two hoses that Steele sends you is enough to do 4 doors. If you try to use 23" of double hose conduit it will seriously crowd the area of the window lifts. The 23" hose should be cut into half (hindsight), because rubber is only needed between the door pillars to cover up the electrical lines and hydraulic hose in that single area. Inside the door the only issue is to secure the hydraulic hose against vibration.

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Think I see a couple of the holes for the upper braces but can't tell from the finished photos if any bolts are in them. Maybe you hadn't got around to installing the braces before the photos but hopefully the braces didn't disappear over the years.

There is an article detailing a glass breakage problem and fix on page 32 of this bulletin. Believe the the same items held thru 54.

https://www.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/SC/SC-VOL25NO8.pdf

Good point on those braces--if you mean the cylindrical braces for the two front doors, going through the frame of the window lifts they are in!! What is not in, and I'm not sure right now how to install them, are the two wedge, two-bolt-hole braces for the front windows. These braces seem to be for stopping the down travel of the big window glass. I need to get the glass up a bit in order to attach them to the door. I did not have any such braces for the rear doors. My saving grace for reinstallation of these hydraulic lifts was the fact that I had placed all parts in plastic baggies (OCD) and labeled them for each door back in the 80's when I got side-tracked. **in the photo where you see (2) red arrows pointing to indentions in the door frame, this is the birds-eye guide for verifying the (2) guides on the bottoms of the window glass.

Today's segment of the Hydro-E project deals with the installation of the dual conduit hoses from Steele, in the left rear and driver's door. Also the first photo shows those metal braces for the two front doors that appear to be for stopping the down travel of the windows (previous posting). In the left rear door the double conduit had to be cut approximately in half in order for the electrical wires to reach up to the window switch hole in the door. This was not hard to do, using a utility knife, but it had to be done very slowly so as to not cut into the new hydraulic hose and the electrical wires. Photos will show that this has been done and the left rear door "conduit" is now snugly in the vertical pillar. And the new hydraulic hose replacement for the metal line is tied in and runs to under the front seat. Same now with the driver's door: only this time a slit was made in the double conduit for the electrical wires to reach up to their post, and the new hydraulic hose has the full 23" of conduit for insulation and protection over to the new cylinder. Both sets of the electrical wires were re-wrapped with electrical tape for protection. Next work session to repeat this procedure on the right rear and right front doors. When accomplished, the hydraulic hose installation will be finished. Much WD-40 was used to pull the new hose through the conduit.

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The items in the first photo are the anti break braces. They bolt to the door inner panel and have a slight pressure against the side of the regulator so it can't move or twist excessively when door is slammed. There should be a bit of felt cushion or antisqueek on the side touching regulator. The bulletin also suggests a dab of lubriplate on the regulator as added measure.

The glass down stop is the regulator. When the window cylinder is all the way down, the two bolts holding window frame to regulator are loosened and glass moved up or down in the slots until the top edge is flush with window opening. Top stop is the two "hooks" on the inner panel just below the window opening. A pair of screws in two long slots. Those stops are moved up or down to catch the glass frame and prevent the cylinder from driving it too high. They are adjusted so both are at the same height & catching glass evenly so it is not cocked or twisted when in the up position. If the down end slots are changed the top end needs to be checked.