Re: Proud New Owner of a 49 Packard Club Sedan

Posted by HH56 On 2018/9/4 18:53:11

1. The 22-23 series 48-50 can be a bit prone to running hot. The radiators were adequate but some feel the air intake area was somewhat restricted. If the cooling system is in good condition and engine timing is OK they will run cool. Make sure someone didn't skimp on the size of the radiator during the recore Some have tried to have very inexpensive recores done with the thickness or number of cores in the radiator cooling area actually reduced on top of what some felt to be an adequate but marginal radiator in the first place. There is also a brass water distribution tube behind the water pump which can be clogged or in some cases, if an aftermarket steel tube was installed, rusted away. Those tubes are frequently ignored when cooling issues are looked into and have caused many cases of overheating. Several have had issues with the vacuum advance diaphragm leaking so the advance was not working thus affecting the timing. Vacuum leaks elsewhere also can cause the engine to run lean.

2. The overdrive knob should pull all the way out. There is a wire core inside the actuating cable which can rust or bend and prevent the knob from moving. Also road debris, mud and rust can seize a rod which slips inside a tube at the clevis down on the side of the OD which prevents the lever from moving. Also check the cable housing at the rear of the knob bracket. Frequently the crimped connection holding the cable to the housing splits so cable pulls away. If that happens no motion is transmitted down to the OD lever. The wires on the switch don't matter side to side. It just breaks the power to the OD relay so the relay cannot energize when the knob is out. It is normally open until the knob is about 1/4" from all the way pushed in. If the battery is draining the switch could be shorted but if stock wiring it and the relay should be powered from the ign switch and off when key is off. Having the drain stop with fuse removal would indicate a bad relay or else a miswire keeping the relay or solenoid energized.

3. Heater ground is just the wire terminal under a sheetmetal screw into the firewall a few inches away from the motor.

4. Foglites had their own switch. No relay. If the car was not equipped with the lights the switch was usually not there and the knob was held by a fixed stud to keep the position. If a customer wanted the option later then the stud was removed and switch mounted and knob reattached to the switch.

5. The oil gauge is electric thermal type and the sender for the 22-23 series is bimetal heater type instead of straight resistance which was was used in later cars. The original senders may be hard to come by so it is possible someone has tried to install a later type not compatible with the gauge. In either case there would not be any rubber tube connected with it. How about a photo and maybe we can see what is going on. The oil filter is the bypass type and gets oil from a tee fitting on the bottom port on the drivers side of the engine where the sender mounts. If the car has solid lifters it is OK to put return oil back into the top port but if the car has hydraulic lifters then the return oil is dumped into crankcase. There is then a 4 way fitting on the bottom with a small pigtail tube which connects the bottom and top ports so the lifters get a good supply of oil to stay pumped up.

6. The 49 radio is a single large unit mounted entirely in the dash. The prewar radios were in two pieces -- a control box mounted on the firewall connected by wires and mechanical cables to a small head in the dash which only held the knobs and buttons.

7. Your car did not originally have a starter button but it was sometimes added by independent garages for someone who had issues with the regular starter. Sometimes the original starter circuit was bypassed entirely using only the button and other times it was left intact and both could be used. The actual switch is a black oblong object on the back of the carb which has two wires connected to it. The accelerator linkage and a mechanism in the carb closes the switch when the accelerator is pushed to the floor. When the engine starts vacuum lifts a steel ball in the carb mechanism which prevents the switch from operating again until the engine is stopped and vacuum is gone. The accelerator starter by itself was not much of an issue and other cars - Buick for one - used it longer than Packard did but there are adjustments that could be needed. I think the biggest issue is if the engine quits or starter miscranks so engine needs more than one or two tries to restart each time the accelerator is pressed more gas is pumped in the carb to the point engine can flood. That is why many added a pushbutton.