Re: V-8 oil pumps

Posted by Tim Cole On 2016/7/25 17:31:43

What I've found interesting about those motors is when I took apart a blown engine the culprit was number 8 rod bearing which is closest to the oil pump. That's a little counterintuitive. The Super 8 will send number 2 rod through the hood, thus the old timers always trying to crank up oil pressure to the point it wears out the timing and oil pump drive gears.

The theory about the good line and the bad line has also been used on the 359 straight 8.

Perhaps there is a casting problem that causes an internal leak. The way to find that is to block off the passages and put the thing in a water tank. But better hire a machinist with a lathe to do it. The Olds pump fix supports such a notion as it simply throws more oil at the problem.

I don't know where Packard got the idea they were the world's greatest motors. Heck the Winton 2 stroke cycle diesel was better than anything Packard did. The diesel radial was impressive, the twin six was great, and the speedster eight a virtual perpetual motion machine, but the rest was not that extraordinary. I can tell of exploits with the Caddy 12 that put Packard to shame.

Here in Detroit we see this kind of stuff all the time. The engineers come down and look at accelerometer readings and scrap the stuff. They don't put out a crazy memo telling dealers to switch to 20w-50 oil, install a Packard oil pump, run a quart extra, or start blocking off passages.

From Packard's standpoint I don't think they had the money to fix those motors.