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

Recently acquired an all original '51 300 with 327 5 main and Ultramatic. I've only driven the car a handful of times. Last few times I have driven the car, by the time I get home the lifters are ticking. It wasn't doing this when I bought it. Any suggestions as to causes and/or corrections? Do I need additives? Lead substitute for the gas?

To start, I would suggest you check the oil pressure with a mechanical gauge just to make sure all is well on that front. If the pump or bearings are worn or the oil pan has a layer of sludge on the bottom, oil pressure could be affected. If you do not know the history of the car it could be worth dropping the pan and checking a few things. Some have found a thick layer of sludge blocking the oil pickup screen. Am sure someone can probably provide a better answer on any additives but I remember a think honey like product called STP was frequently added back in the day to quiet noisy lifters. Whether your car would need or benefit is a question better answered by others.

The question on how the oil filter is plumbed would be next. Packard had some issues with noisy lifters but by 51 it had been well sorted out as long as the final revision of plumbing the filter was followed. The filter should have been standard from the factory on your car but there is always the chance it was added at the dealer. There are two plumbing methods that were used. One has all the flow for the lifter gallery going thru the filter. This was OK on solid lifter cars but there was install instructions shipped with the optional filters wth that method shown. After all their efforts since 1940 to get the filter plumbing to work well with hydraulic lifters it is kind of odd they issued that bulletin showing the method that caused so much problems. Yours should be OK but check anyway.

If your car has all the flow for the hydraulic lifters going thru the filter there is a possibility that a clogged filter or one with a too dense filter media could be lowering the flow and pressure to the lifters. The lifters could be starved and unable to keep pumped up. Hydraulic lifter cars should have a small pigtail connecting the two side ports so the lifters get full pressure and flow directly from the pump. The filter then gets a portion of the output and dumps the filtered oil directly into the crankcase.

Here is the illustration showing the two methods of plumbing. I added what was done for the hydraulic lifters. Basically that was keeping the pigtail and dumping cleaned oil directly into the crankcase instead of the upper lifter gallery feed port.

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