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The BATT light on my instrument cluster remains on with the engine off and the key removed. This is causing current drain which causes my battery to go dead and require external re-charging with a 6v charger.

Is this symptomatic of a bad ignition switch?

Appreciate your thoughts.

1954 Packard Clipper Super, two-door club sedan, 327ci/165hp L8.

Thanks Again!

Ign switch failure is not uncommon with 54s but if the ign switch is bad then a few other things would most likely be energized all the time. Is the gen light the only thing that stays on or does the turnsignals and reverse light also stay active and will they work if the key is off. If the bulb is good the oil indicator should also be on if the switch is bad and car is sitting.

Is the charging system stock with generator or has it been changed? Any other electrical accessories been added directly to the ign switch?

I'll bet you will find that the generator is getting hot even while the car is sitting. The symptoms you describe tell me the cutout relay in the voltage regulator is stuck closed. The battery is discharging (rather briskly) through the generator. You might be able to separate the points, file them and have it work OK, but usually you have to put on a new regulator. I hope that you have not burned up some windings in your generator by now.

Your ignition switch is almost certainly fine.

Excellent observation. The battery voltage is being fed backward thru the bulb causing it to light.

With the cutout stuck closed, voltage that is normally not there except when the generator is charging is present on the GEN or ARM terminal of the regulator. One side of the bulb is connected to that point. Voltage feeds back thru the bulb to the junction at ign switch. With the ign switch off it finds ground by going in series thru another component connected to the same terminal and you have instant light.

In this case, if there were enough voltage left in the battery turning the ign sw on should extinguish the light because equal voltage would again be present on both sides of the bulb. It would act the same as when the car is working normally except the light is opposite to what is expected. Without an ammeter you would never know there is a problem. If it were an LED bulb you would not have the light on because those can't function with reversed polarity so you would just have the dead battery.

These observations are all very helpful. With the engine off and the ignition key removed, the BATT light is the only light that comes on. It does not come on all the time when the car is off, only on intermittent occasions.

Also, the BATT light is symptomatically not extinguishing normally as engine revolutions are increased. Lately, I have to 'gun' the engine (in neutral) while driving to get the light to go out, as if a contact somewhere was stuck, and gets 'unstuck' as a certain rpm is achieved.

It's a shame since I replaced the voltage regulator within the last couple of years, and I would not expect it to go bad so soon. I believe it is an American made unit.

Also, it appears that the ignition switch has been replaced at some point, exact vintage unknown. I suspect the original 1954 unit went inoperative some time ago.

These symptoms seem to have coincidentally occurred around the time my overdrive stopped working, and I am trouble shooting that problem as well.

I will scrutinize my voltage regulator for probable replacement.

Thanks to all again for your help.

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