I checked everything you guys said to look at. The head nuts all had 2 to 3 threads to go before they would bottom out not counting the washer thickness. I have the heater bypassed and the radiator has a new core that,s been leak tested to 10 PSI. Filled the radiator back to 1 inch below the cap seal with water and got all the air out. Then drove the car for 1.5 hours checking for leaks and saw none also pulled the dipstick several times saw no sign of water on it and not really foaming . The breather had a little blowby and not much from the crankcase tube. The oil pressure stayed at 38 to 40 PSI at 55 to 60 MPH that leads me to believe it,s not being diluted by water. Retorqued the cylinder head hot and had no movement on any nuts "this was the fourth time I have retorqued it hot"

I let the car set overnight and checked the water level the next morning in the radiator it was down a 1/2 inch. Then put the front tires up on blocks so the oil would drain to the rear of the oil pan. When I cracked the drain plug saw no water come out then let the oil set overnight. The next morning when I slowly poured the oil into a clean drain pan saw some water in the bottom not much. Not sure where to go from here.

I finally got the engine back in the car and filled with water 1.5 inches below the radiator cap seal . I drove the car for 1 hour never saw much smoke / blowby oil pressure and water temp looked the same as before. Then let it set over night just like I had before when I checked the water level the next morning it was down 5/8 of a inch. Jacked it up and drained the oil saw some water in it when it first came out . Let the oil set overnight then poured it into a different clean pan and saw water drops in the bottom of the pan.

Not sure what I am going to do at this point if I tear it down and look for a different block or engine. If I go with a different engine is a 1948 to 1954 correct for a 288. Machine shop Dave wants me to try and find a dye I can put in the water and run in the car and would show a leak when it gets in the oil. I checked with my guy at NAPA thats been their for several years and he does not know of anything like that. Any thoughts as what to do next?

Just wanted to do an update for now. The last 3 days I did they same engine running as for time and speeds and the next morning checked the water level in the radiator. It stopped going down and stayed at 1 5/8 inches below the radiator cap seal also had no water in the oil when checking the drain plug.

At this time I have decided to put the engine back in the car so I can drive it and put it under load. This will take me a while to do and get everything back on the engine so it will run and drive. Again Thanks to everyone for all your help. Hope my next update will have good news with no water loss.

Today had removed the 160 degree thermostat and installed the 180 so I could get the engine hotter. I ran the engine for 40 minutes at different speeds no load "still on my test not in the car." I also have a big floor in front of the radiator so the engine dont get to hot. I check the temp with a gun and never saw anything above 185 degrees. After I shut it down retorqued the head per the Packard service manual , some turned 1/8 to about 1/4 of a turn. When I rechecked them their was very movement if any at all.

I will drain the oil in the morning and hope to find no water in my pan. Then I will check the water level in the radiator and hope it did not lose any or very little. Their were very few fumes from the breather on the oil fill when running ,their were more fumes from the crankcase rear valve cover opening. I believe their were more at idle then at higher engine speeds if I remember correctly. Hope if its still losing water it not as much and not getting into the oil. I will try to do an update later tomorrow. "Thanks to all "

I dont know if my last post went threw or not. But ran the engine yesterday and let it set drained the oil and let it left the water in the radiator. When I checked the oil later saw no sign of water in the oil. I did the same thing today and again let it set with the water in the system. Had to leave for 5 hours and just got back home I just loosened the oil pan drain plug and saw no water at this time.

Sorry I had not looked here for a week or so. I have the engine back together and on my test stand with out a ton of detail I have ran it for 35 to 40 minutes at different speeds then let it set overnight." I measured the water level when I filled it before running it and got the air out." The next morning after running it measured the water level and it was down 5/8 of a inch. Just going out to check for water in the oil pan after letting it set another day. I will do a update later Today.

I did use a inspection camera / borescope in the water passages and in the intake and exhaust on the side of the block. They can be deceiving if you have not used one inside an engine. I have used them a lot at Caterpillar on engines and some what knew what to expect. What I saw most was the white residue from the block sealer and lots of areas with stalactites.

It was supposed to be 160 to 200 F sorry.

I was just getting ready to update. We put air pressure to 70 PSI with head and pump on ,then magnafluxed & dye penetrated every thing. Filled engine with coolant and left at 70 PSI then built a tin cover around it and the top. Heated it with a Master heater and ducted the heat under the block for 1 hr temps got to !60 to 200 F and " still no leaks ". Dave thinks the sealer worked I'm not as optimistic .He is going try and polish the crank and have me put it back together "new gaskets and bearings" then run it on my test stand longer. " Any thoughts from you Packard Guys"

You are correct on it being a double action fuel pump my car is only using the top half. When I got the car 1 year ago they had installed a electric fuel pump and I have left it that way until I got everything else corrected and working. It does have a line from top half that goes to the manifold and the other goes to a vacuum for the wipers. I will be going back to Daves tomorrow my machine shop and look and see if anything is close to a water passage. As for it being able to pull water in from somewhere else I dont know. Maybe some of these Packard guys that know way more about these engines then me would be able to answer your question. Thanks for your input.