Re: Packard overheat

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2010/7/8 8:22:06

Most likely the two events are connected, though two separate problems are possible. If the timing of the "would not start" was very shortly after the boil over, a bit of vapor lock would be a likely suspect and if so, after the car sat for a while to cool, it should restart though it might take a bit of cranking to get fresh and cool fuel to the carburetor. If it wouldn't start even after cooling down, some suspects would be a distributor condensor or the ignition coil, or possibly points as a result of a condensor failure, neither coils nor condensors like repetitive "hot" experiences. Classic symptoms for a failing coil are - runs great until it gets hot.

I don't suppose you had antifreeze in the car, but in a climate where it's not needed, plain water is a better heat transfer medium that any mix of water and ethylene glycol, though don't expect a cure-all.

I have sympathy for you, hot days can really be stressful to old cooling systems unless kept in top form. Part of the problem is that the gradual degradation of cooling systems is a slow but constant process as scale builds within the water jackets and radiator tubes gradually become restricted. It goes unnoticed as long as there is enough cooling reserve capacity above and beyond the demands, we never notice it until all of a sudden in a stressful drive and weather, woosh!