Packard53 is giving u some good advice on the oil. If i remember rite, u said in another post some weeks ago that u r running 20-50 oil. Thats TOO heavy unless u're SUSTAINING 140-180 mph in 100+ degree ambient for many hours on end. The Packard V8 runs in the neighborhood of 180-220 degrees which is relatively cool to average.

JoeH: I will be the first to admit that I am no mechanic, and give very little advice on mechanical problems, but will throw in my two cents.


It seems to me that you oil pressure is way to high both at idle and at cruising highway speed. It seems to me that you pressure shouldn't run much over 45 or 50 lbs at highway speeds. I think at 65 lbs of oil pressure it is simply blowing it past the rear main oil seal. One question for you concerning this high oil pressure, what weight of oil are you using in the Packard. If your running anything more than 10W 40 weight oil, drain the pan and change oil to 10W 40 this will also give you lower oil pressure. Also to get some lower oil pressure you may have to play with the relief spring on the new oil pump.

John F. Shireman

Of the other people running an Olds oil pump, has anyone found their rear main seal leaks after installation? That has been my experience thus far.

When I installed the Olds pump, I also installed a modern, neoprene rear main seal. This has proven to be an acceptable replacement for the rope seal, and I have confidence in it.

After I first put the engine back together, on a 30+ mile test drive I discovered the rear main seal was leaking (more like pouring). So I tore it back down and double checked installation of the seal, but could not find anything wrong. So I reassembled the engine, and now find it is still leaking.

This time I did the test "drive" with the car still up on ramps. Warmed up and at idle (45psi of oil pressure indicated), there is no leak; at 1300 rpm there is no leak. However, at sustained 2000rpm (65 psi indicated), it begins to leak in less than a minute, at a rate of about one drop every three to five seconds.

Looking at a spare engine, it appears the lube oil coming out the rear side of the main bearing returns to the sump via a slit in the bottom of the main cap. That slit, measured from out side is about 1 3/8" long X 1/4" wide. This measurement is deceptive though, since it is much smaller on the inside, plus the rear edge of the main bearing fills in some of the inner side of the slit.

My hypothesis at this point is at sustained higher rpm, the slit in the main cap cannot dump the lube oil being by the main bearing fast enough; the cavity fills up and builds pressure; itthen begins to push the oil past the seal.

My plan is to increase the size of the slit as much as possible with a dremmell and try it again. (But I am getting VERY tired of removing the oil pan.)

What say ye Olds pump wizards? :)

Joe H

Joe, Thank you very much for all this information. While i don't have an overheating problem on my 47 It does get quite hot during parade or stop and go traffic in summer weather and this fan seems to be very effective. Can you tell us where you bought it?

TEMP TEST RESULTS
Between Original standard 4 blade and 5 blade flex fan on 1940 Packard 120 8 Cylinder.
All readings were taken immediately upon returning home, with engine idling and garage door open to outside. Note - engine block, head, and radiator had been flushed. All readings were taken after flush.

ORIGINAL 4 BLADE FAN -
Air temp 78 degrees - water temp 178 degrees
Air temp 94 degrees - water temp 196 degrees

NEW 5 BLADE FLEX FAN -
Air temp 78 degrees - water temp 172 degrees
Air temp 93 degrees - water temp 176 degrees

While the air temp was 1 degree cooler, a water temp reading was a full 20 degrees lower
I had to bite my lip installing the un-original new fan, after the tests Im glad I did it. I used a standard kitchen meat thermometer and let it rest in the radiator for 2 minuets before recording the temp.
The increased amount of air blowing across the engine and being sucked thru the radiator is dramatic. I have no way to measure it but it must have doubled.
Im considering PROBLEM SOLVED
Now on to the next problem

Almost completed temp test - should have results late today.
Mal Ozstatman from Australia came by today and took some pics of the car to take back with him. Very nice man, wish he could have spent more time with us. Could have put some Bratz on the Barbie but he had to go.

The best, safest thing you can do is what I did:

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/

It's well worth the money.

Ron,

No worries, remember the only dumb question is the one not asked.

As far as mechanics go in the Southern Califonia area, there are folks that will work on them, but they typically dont come cheap. Custom Auto Service in Santa Ana specializes in Packards.

Also some of the Hot Rod shops also have mechanics on hand that work on older engines. But they may have a long lead time in actually getting to your car.

John, those are great. Can you leave those comments on the acutal picture? When you view those pictures, you can click the comment button and add that info directly to the picture. That helps me to keep track of everything.

Thanks.

BigKevin: Image 1585: 1941 110 Club Coupe

John F. Shireman