Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Spent to day running errands with three of my granddaughters!

We have been having days about 90 degrees, with stifling humidity.

The a/c is simply great. Keeps the car cool when idling and is fine when running. Didn't seem to remove as much humidity as modern, but taday is muggy so who knows. Point is comfortable.

The issue I see is still engine heat. My crude judgement is that the car is too hot when I get lots of low load pinging, which I got a little bit of this afternoon. My car has a 160 degree thermostat (new). Runs cool when air is off; needle comes up to 10:30 or so. With air on it goes to high noon, which is right on the edge of comfort. Any more and the pinging begins.

That means that in traffic I just turn on the electric fan, which makes a lot of noise. So far, when they ask, I tell them it's the turbine, which astounds them. FYI, my car has the Packard six blade fan plus the electric. The part in front of the radiator is huge; second biggest available from Vintage air. Probably a factor in being comfortable, but doesn't help cool the engine.

<My cooling system has been professionally cleaned and pronounced fit, FWIW.

Don't know what I might have done different that would affect this.

Naturally your thoughts are welcome, but I posted this for folks think about adding air.

If I had the money, I'd give more thought to a four row radiator....

What is history of radiator?????? Mite want to look into fab'ing a fan shroud like many modern cars have. Fan shroud is what i have in mind. Just hav'nt got around to it yet.
I' running a MECHANICAL tempgauge. Factory and electric gauges are ok for some applications. Notfor diagnostics nor when anything is.in question. Its all in the numbers.

Radiator has been pronounced fit by radiator specialists. As noted earlier, water pump vanes are fine (and metal, not plastic). Block has twice been professionally purged. Not sure what else there is to do.

Any suggestions on where to possibly get a radiator shroud? Or would that conflict wit the efficiency of the electric fan?

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Hemming's Classic Cars ran the history in an article about 6-8 years ago. I can't think of the exact issue but I can look for it. I was a very good historical piece and included all the different styles and types and the pros and cons of each.

1. If the radiatoris not puking out any coolant there is not likely to be a problem.

2. Ur relying or making decisions based on readings from junk equipment that was jaunk the day it was new. I.e. factory electric gauges.

3. The pusher fan is very likely more of a hinderance than a help.

There is an excellent article on the history of the radiaton in the October 2006 edition of Hemmings Classic Cars. On a related matter, the February 2005 issue has an article on the Thermostat. Both are presented in the "Mechanical Marvels" section.

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Why would a pusher fan be more hinderance? At low rpm/speed it moves more air for cooling, or am I missing something?

For what it's worth, my '56 Patrician has a/c which I rebuilt last year using a Sanden compressor. The existing condensor and evaporator were flushed and reinstalled. The temp guage in the car usually sits around the 1/3 mark and will creep up to 1/2, or just over, on a hot day with the a/c on and then sit around that mark. It only has a 4 blade fan but I have fitted an electric pusher fan which comes on automatically when the a/c is switched on. I'm guessing here but I think the overheating issue could be to do with radiator capacity rather than condition. According to the fellow I bought my car from, he had fitted it with what he called a factory heavy duty radiator which Packard produced for a/c cars. I had a leak repaired in the radiator when I was rebuilding the a/c system and asked the repairer about this. He agreed that it was a heavy duty radiator but said that compared to a modern radiator, it would be nowhere near as efficient. He said it's all to do with the number of cores and especially the number of fins per square inch. John

I'm judging overheating by the fact that when the heat guage reaches 12:00 the car wilkl start to ping a bit. Subtle, but pinging.

Running on 93 octane (Costco usually) plus a bottle of gunk brand lead replacement.

No radiator puking of any kind.

I was told locally (and possibly here previously) that the timing could need adjustment and that timing affects temperature. If that is correct, what do ask for from the mechanic?

Also, will shrouding be a plus or a minus given the fan arrangement? I can foresee situations where a shround would be an obstruction more than a help.??????

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Better read your owner's manual on that point. Also, if your car hasn't boiled over, it isn't overheating.

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While spark knock (pinging) can be the result of excessive engine operating temperature, it can also be caused by over advanced ignition timing. Timing issues could arise from improper setting/operation of centrifugal and/or vacuum advance mechanisms, as well as incorrect base timing of the distributor. (BTW, lean air/fuel mixtures raise engine temperatures and are also more prone to spark knock.)

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Tell your mechanic your whole story. If he's a good mechanic, he surely ought to be able to properly diagnose and repair. If not, better find a better mechanic.

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Not sure what you mean by that. Yet, IIRC, there was no fan shroud used (or needed) in conjunction with the factory and aftermarket A/C systems on these cars back in the day.