Re: Successful Packard Hunt

Posted by HH56 On 2012/10/11 22:22:44

I would check some things fairly soon. It will require a disassembly of the BTV. The condition of the pot metal casting would be one. If it has developed pits up in the casting top around the seal area as is pretty common, the fluid can be seeping around the seal. The piston could have also developed a corrosion ring where it has sat against the seal lip and is leaking. Of course, the seal could also be hard or cracked.

There was a discussion last year on the reservoir gasket. Packards lid is the same original item as was used on the first BTVs which had the relief port opening slightly below the top of reservoir lip. The later BTVs had the relief port casting all the way to top. Gaskets were designed for those but for use with a lid either having the raised bubble over the relief port or the elevated tube. Other mfgs used one of those styles. Packards old flat lid and the high relief port in combination with the full gasket completely blocks the relief port. Any fluid that leaks past the seal has no where to go. Leaking fluid is forced into the vacuum side and if the vacuum side seal is leaking, there is no way to draw air from reservoir so it pulls fluid. Some original never touched units have been found with the problem so apparently it wasn't recognized as a problem before time ran out.

Solution is to either flip the gasket 180 so the port area of the gasket is at the front or cut the gasket over the port so there is an opening into the reservoir.