Re: Packard Oil Filter Housing Mystery Part

Posted by HH56 On 2018/11/4 12:17:40

There were many versions of filter assys. Packard used at least two from the factory in prewar cars and dealers or corner garages could have installed aftermarkets. Kind of hard to guess what is correct.

You need to examine the bottom of the canister carefully for any protrusions around the center pipe that might have supported or captured a washer. Over the years they could have been worn and flattened but there should be traces. If it originally had a bottom spring, those were typically captured in some way. If it did have a bottom spring and water sat in the canister the spring could have rusted away.

As a last resort, you might measure the element height and find where the bottom is going to sit in the canister with just a bit of tension on the cover spring. As I recall there needs to be about 1/8"minimum clearance between the element circumference where the sludge could slide down into the bottom and be trapped. More is OK. Filters available today may not be exactly the same as Packards so once you determine where the filter bottom will sit and the top spring can compress enough to add a bit of tension on the element you could fabricate a spacer or a spring for the bottom to support the washer and element at that position.

There should be no drilled holes in the center pipe that low but check to make sure oil cannot exit a hole somewhere top or bottom and bypass the filter element when it is in position. The only exception would be a second version prewar factory filter that fed from the bottom and used a bypass valve. I believe those had some kind of spring loaded mechanism in the center tube. When the element clogged pressure would move the mechanism and uncover a hole which would then allow oil to flow out the center tube and bypass the element.