Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

I solved my pinging problems in several of my cars by moving to Union 76 gas. Mid-range or "Plus" no less.

I may be wrong, but with gas I think the old addage "You get what you pay for" still applies.

In somewhat random order:

Never had a problem with Costco gas. Labeled as 93 octane and (I am told) on the BMW good gas list. I see Costco as reliable and ethical....

As to shrouding: If shrouding is added, it is normally to maximize efficiency of the standard fan, so it pulls more air. Since I also have a pusher fan in front of the radiator, how does it impact the airflow from that fan? Might it make the whole arrangement less effective? From the pusher perspective, it impedes air flow.....

Motor will be retimed tomorrow.

Radiator cap is for three pounds; it will be replaced with a 12 pound unit asap. Haven't had any puking, but perhaps this change will offer some advantage....

In normal use, I think the unit should run fine without the electric fan; I see that only for emergency use under very difficult conditions.... Ideally...

Side note: My car does not have the solex glass. You really feel the heat on a sunny day, going from cool to warm when the sun's angle changes, as in turning into the sun. Surprising; much less noticeable modern....

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Anything in front of the radiator will impede the flow of air through that radiator to some extent - including the condenser for the A/C. Yet, I know of at least one model of vehicle manufactured in later years that, when ordered with A/C, was also equipped by the factory with a front-mounted, electric-powered, auxiliary cooling (pusher) fan. That was in addition to the stock engine-driven fan, AND an optional, H-D radiator with an additional row of tubes. IIRC, that pusher fan only came on when the compressor clutch was energized. BTW, the Packard parts book shows a different radiator for all V8s with A/C, but I have no info on the details of its construction.

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A 3# radiator cap is incorrect; parts book shows that 12# was factory install on all V8s. However, a higher pressure cap won't make the engine run cooler, but only raises the point at which the coolant will boil (overheat).

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The lack of tinted glass could be a problem. Clear glass is used in a greenhouse to retain light and build more heat for plants in cold climates; same thing happens to the interior of your car. The additional heat that you feel means the A/C compressor has to run longer, and the engine works harder under that additional load. Although A/C and tinted glass could be ordered independently on these Packard, I can't recall ever seeing any other car shipped from the factory with A/C that wasn't also fitted with (optional) tinted glass.

One of my 56 Patricians came from the factory with clear glass (no A/C), and I'm tempted to replacing all with tinted. NOS side glass was still available 25 years ago, but there are glass vendors, today, who can cut new laminated flat glass, if needed. I've also heard that some can even apply the correct etched OE manufacturer's markings. Used tinted backlights (rear windows) aren't terribly hard to come by, but prone to damage in shipping because they are made of tempered glass (and the only such piece in these cars). Tinted windshield is the tough one and came with filter (the shaded band across the top) - blue or green filter in 55 (only) - or without. Not sure of the rhyme or reason for that.

The pusher fan:
I dont know how yours is installed. Heres the catch. Most pushers are installed DIRECTLY AGAINST the radiator. but the Packard has a diagonal rad support brace that interferes with such an installation. Therfore less effect of the pusher fan. Further more the pushe fan is more of a hot rod application than what would be appropriate for wide range of PASSENGR car operation. Modern apps of the pusher are , in allthat i have seen, are mounted Directly against the rad, not 2 Or 3 inches from it and do not have a engine driven fan. Ther are other issuesinvolved here too. If the pusher displaces less air than the engine fan then the pusher becomes a RESTRICTION.

The pusher has its place. Mostly for difficult or extremely compact engine compartment configurations that are primarily of modern cars.

ANYTHING in front ofthe rad is a RESTRICTION!!!!!!!

I would not immediately be suspect of a pusher fan causing any problems. But at the same time i would not put much faith in it.

Try this:
Fire up your favorite smoke and blow it into the front of the grill while engine and pusher fan are running. Look at where the.smoke goes.

The pressure cap:
The higher the rating the higher the BOILING POINT of the engine coolant. There fore the hotter the engine can run before the rad pukes out coolant.

But that presents a problem for cooling systems as they AGE which means that the various parts weaken which means more prone to failure such as leaking.

The problem her e is that there is no problem. The cooling system is not puking any coolant. Prognostication is made based on readings taken from a piece of garbage factory gauge.

The ping if slight, is not a worry. Play with the timig a little bit maybe or recurve the distributor. Quite frankly if the ping is minimal or only under short intermitent engine load conditions then nothing to worry about.

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The factory-installed gauge was never intended as a precision instrument, but to provide at-a-glance recognition of an out-of-line condtion. Not sure about other years (or brands), but the gauges in the V8s - except for fuel level - appear to have been purposely designed such that the needle was centered when operation was normal. This was better than a simple telltale light.

The ONLY vehicle I ever owned that offered precise readings was an 88 Riviera with digital instrument cluster. Except for vehicle speed, the cluster itself only provided simple bar graph type of display, but you could get a numeric readout from the touch-screen control panel. That panel was primarily used to control auido and HVAC, but if you knew which combination of buttons to push, you could also get on-board diagnostics, moinitor various engine management sensors and turn related solenoids on/off. Thanks to that complement of equipment I was able to diagnose a sticking thermostat as I drove along.

Of course ANY readings are contingent upon a proprerly operating sensor/sender.

Yes, because this car isn't puking fluid or boiling over, it is NOT overheating, but that doesn't mean there isn't a problem of the engine running too hot - something which cannot be diagnosed remotely, but requires the laying on of hands.

One might do better to use an infrared thermometer than any gauge, provided they know where to point it. I imagine there are several hot spots in the block that might prove to be falsely alarming.

It's important to note the distinction between "overheating" and running warmer than normal. In my experience with a number of 55/56 Packards in my area, also supported by Ross' comments a while back, these cars do much better in hot conditions than the in-line engines and true overheating or vapor lock are far less common but running warmer than usual in stressful conditions is to be expected.

Noting BH's comments about the precision of temperature gauges, you should view the gauge as useful in showing changes in conditions and not absolute temperature. My 56 with a 170 deg. thermostat will normally run with the gauge at about 10-o-clock; yours may or may not be similar but most owners report this. On a 100+ degree day crawling along in a July 4th parade in torque converter for a hour or so, it may get to 1 o-clock and checking the coolant at this point with a glass/mercury laboratory thermometer in the radiator tank shows about 190 degrees, warmer than normal but not "overheating" in the usual meaning of the term and significantly below the boiling point.

Going to the PAC National at Gettysburg a few years ago, myself and another 56 Carib were stuck in a traffic jam on I-78 and spent 3-4 hours in 100+ degree heat in blazing sun; both our temperature gauges got nearly to the "H" but no vapor lock and no coolant loss - again, warmer than normal but not overheating.

The "pinging" you notice with an engine running warmer than normal is entirely to be expected. If it's severe, kick the timing back a few degrees; otherwise, assuming you're using at least 93 octane gas and you have little or no pinging under normal conditions, I'd not be concerned about it.

Pat - Firstly, a 3# radiator cap? Never heard of one. Maybe it is a 13# cap, but hard to read the "1". Interesting that even if it is a 3# cap it is not losing coolant out the overflow pipe. Secondly, look into clear UV protection window film. It is said to be as effective as the tinted type window film. You might prefer this type film over the tinted type to preserve the stock appearance.

(o{}o)