Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Good afternoon all..

Our 1949 Packard 288 has decided to eat vacuum advances. It has ruined several. When they are installed, they seem to work for a few miles/hours and then they fail. They were purchased from a reputable Packard supplier. I'm beginning to think that the AutoLite Distributor might be the problem. Has anyone experienced this problem?

I have also had the suggestion that I find a Delco Distributor which was also specified for this engine. Does anyone prefer the Delco to the AutoLite?

Any suggestions to find the cause of this problem would be appreciated.

Thanks, Ernie

Usually these vacuum chambers last decades. Is you breaker plate binding? This is the only thing I can think of that might hasten failure. There is nothing in the design of the Auto Lite distributors that would cause this kind of failure. I consider the Auto Lites to be better than the Delcos. Just my opinion.

Just had a thought: Back in the day we used to bend a trap in the vacuum tubing to the advance chamber to keep gasoline from collecting in the chamber which would cause the diaphram to to fail. The trap was 'U' shaped and was higher than the bottom of the carburetor bowl, as I recall. Still doubt this is causing your problem.

(o{}o)

Thanks, JW. I'll check the breaker plate and see if there is any indication of fuel in the vacuum advance. Ernie

If the units that are failing are older NOS units, I'm not at all surprised, seen it many times. Half a century or more in age, perhaps aggravated by poor storage, takes it's toll on the flexibility of the rubber diaphragm. NORS or rebuilt units are a far better bet though the supply of NORS units has pretty much dried up so rebuilt cores is about our only alternative these days.

And I agree with JW, though both perform OK I consider the Auto-Lite units to be more elegantly designed and manufactured. A diaphragm with fresh rubber should easily last many tens of thousands of miles.

Yes, Check that everything moves easily with the advance disconnected. Seems odd that you'd have several fail that quickly without something else going on, but I suppose anything is possible. I've never been able to confirm this, but I've always heard that the NOS Autolites are more prone to fail than the NOS Delcos. Rumor is that the Autolite used a slightly different material. I've sold many NOS Delco advances and have not had any fail. Haven't sold as many NOS Autolites. Best bet, get yours rebuilt. Let me know if you need help.
-Jason

Good Morning Jason...Do you have a rebuilt Delco Distributor in stock, tested with the vacuum advance and ready to go? Or an AutoLite for that matter?

If I pulled the Distributor and sent it to you, how long would you take to rebuild the one I have?

Thanks, Ernie

Good Day all...

We solved the distributor problem, but Miss Prudence was still running warm/hot so we removed the head and noticed that the head was leaking compression between the cylinders but still holding coolant pressure (16 lbs for 12 hours) around the outside. Torque was at 65lbs on all of the bolts.

We have a new head gasket but we need to know the stock thickness of the 1949 288 head from the deck to the top of the head bolt hole and how much can be removed before valves or pistons start to hit the head.

Could anyone with this information please leave it on this page or call me at 602-679-4252 and let me know.

Thanks very much

Ernie

Quote:

I posted this question on another discussion thread. Forget the data in the reply. Seems this would be invaluable general purpose information we should have.

(o{}o)