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

Okay so when I test it it goes from low to high fairly quick and then back to zero.

But as far as charging it with resistance or whatever I'm not exactly sure which setting I should use on my digital multimeter I will send the picture that as well so maybe you guys can tell and tell me which one it is lol kind of feel like an idiot for asking but I guess it is what it is..

I don't know if you kind of figured this out by now but I'm actually dealing with a no spark issue so I just replaced the plug wires the spark plugs are new and there's a couple of wires that I want to replace so they look a little broken crap it's actually the wire that goes from this condenser capacitor whatever it is to the side of the distributor

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Parts shows the 1110841 distributor is correct for several 53 models. If there is a chance it is a former military vehicle it is possible that condenser might be something of military spec or possibly a previous owner needed a distributor and found a donor vehicle in a junkyard. Without seeing the breaker plate inside the dist can't say if a typical replacement condenser from Napa would work and mount in the same place but if it would mount a new condenser is inexpensive and worth changing anyway.

Make sure you do not have a shorted wire in the dist. If it is the type dist that has a fabric covered wire between the points and outside terminal, those wires are notorious for the fabric insulation rotting and a chunk falling off letting the wire short somewhere.

Before going much farther test for shorts. Put the meter on volts, one lead to ground, the other to the coil terminal coming from the ign sw. You should have around 6v with the ign sw on. Put the lead on the other terminal connecting to dist. If the points are open you should have the same 6+ volts and if the points are closed, close to zero volts. Crank the engine and the volts should swing from 6 to 0 as the points open and close. If nothing moves and volts stays high, either the points are not closing or there is an open wire. If it stays at 0 there is a shorted wire or condenser or the points are not opening.

If you have a voltage substantially less than 6v say around 5 or slightly over when cranking, there is a voltage drop that needs to be found and corrected or the spark will be very weak and may not be strong enough to jump the plug gap. Voltage drop is usually caused by dirty connections, too small of battery cables, a battery not large enough, improper timing, or a dragging starter that is pulling too much current.

Okay thank you I will do that here's a picture of the inside of the distributor also the bracket that holds the coil has another bracket that holds the capacitor or condenser but here's that photo

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If you want to keep that look

You take out the center stuff and drop in a modern condenser
/ Capacitor.
They work the same. Then seal it back up.

You can do the tests on the coil electrical and make sure all that looks OK. If your existing condenser does not show a direct short stick it back in and try again. While open or wrong value condensers would cause excessive burning of the points, only a direct short would cause a condenser to be responsible for no spark.

One other thing you might do is run a point file or some coarse grain heavy kraft type paper between the points to remove any oxidation that might have been deposited. Do not use sandpaper or anything where grit can come off and embed in the points. Sometimes a long sit can allow condensed oil vapors from the engine to come up inside the dist and deposit on points to act as a very good electrical insulator.

If you want to try a new condenser others with 53 models have added modern cross info to the parts xref and say a Napa RR174 or an Autozone U1511 is a replacement for many of the 53 condensers. Looking at your dist and the dist in service manual I would say this is possible. Don't have a Packard of that model to say for sure but for $10-15 might be worth checking into.

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Thanks Howard I appreciate that I will more so I will actually tomorrow get the condensers from probably the AutoZone cuz it's closer than Napa at this point especially closer from work and Napa is not.
So in the picture that I posted there's a wire running from the top of the points that runs down to the side where the condenser would Hook from you know outside the distributor can I just take that wire off and just leave it like that with no wire obviously I'll have to hook the condenser out to the top of points where it's supposed to be I just want to make sure I can just leave that that side post or whatever that is right there without having to take it out as long as the wire comes off

I'm actually to be honest I'm kind of glad that I can get a condenser either from Napa or AutoZone does that means that I could potentially get it to fire up tomorrow after lol that would be so amazing actually kind of looking forward to it and then I can put a put the manual fuel pump in it when it comes in

Assuming the coil is good and the points are ok - good chance!

Yeah I the original coil is no good that was pulled out I don't know when but I tested that and that's not good the coil that's in it which I took out cuz I replaced the plug wires and stuff I think it tested okay they can test it good but I did pick one up from AutoZone anyways just to be on the safe side so in that one itself says that it should be the the primary should be I don't know between one and 1.5 I think it's within range the secondary is between I think it said five point zero to 9.0 or something I really can't remember what the specs are but it did test within the range and the one that was previously in it I believe tested in the same range as well so I'm going to use the one that was in it and go from there I know the plugs are good although I'll pull them out anyways just to see what they look like but those are new plugs and I replace the wires plug wires it wouldn't surprise me if it needs a new cap and rotor the points I was told were replaced no I'm not sure I can't really tell cuz I don't know anything about them so but the ones that are currently on there look like they've been replaced new or newer. the set of points that are sitting on the fender look like they're the old ones but those ones still have the felt on them the ones that are currently on the vehicle don't have felt I don't know if that means anything or not but we're going to find out and I'm going to like I said I'm going to pick up a condenser tomorrow so fingers crossed lol. So the inside of the cap those pins were definitely corroded or had something on them they took a piece of Emery cloth and cleaned them and the rotor the end piece is it's not swear it's kind of round on one side and there is black stuff which I'm assuming is probably carving on both sides of the rotor it's hard black I've tried to clean it off I can scrape a little bit of it off but not much even with the emery cloth it doesn't do much

That looks like a radio noise suppressor.

There are two cheap ways to test those things. One is buy a multi-meter with the capacitance testing function. I have a KAL (poor man's Sun) 3001 which cost $30 bucks on junkbay. Another is to test the resistance and use a chart that gives the capacitance for the reading in Ohms.

Bottom line for these condensers is if you look in the specifications, they give the capacitance in micro farads (.18-.28) and you can put any old electrolytic capacitor from junkbay in there to make the car run. The purpose of the thing is to absorb the voltage spike from the collapsing magnetic field in the primary windings when the points open. Not the best method, but it was cheap.

I suppose the can types sold for the distributor are somewhat heavier duty than those used for a radio or TV.