Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

The way that the T/V is designed it would be very difficult to suck up brake fluid into the intake. Some other power brakes had the vacuum come in at the bottom of the canister. Bendix came in high on the side. To see how difficult it would be try this.
Fill a glass half full of water.
Hold a straw 1/4 of the way into the glass so that you have a 1/4 air gap between the end of the straw and the top of the water.
Now try to suck up the water through the straw.

When you discover that you cannot do that, try this

i have a tradlevac apart on my workbench right now and i think the only way it would suck up the fluid, is if the master cylinder seals were leaking badly, allowing lots of fluid into the vacuum chamber end. but still, mtheres not enough fluid in the resivour to fill the vacuum chamber enough to reach the vac tube. however i could see if a mechanic or owner was to notice he was losing fluid, and just keep re filling the resivour, then enough might get built up in there. i would think this could cause the rough running, but not catastophic brake failure.

on second thought, dosnt the vacuum line run thru the vacuum tank on the inner fender?

There is a Tee fitting somewhere around the booster. The tank is at the end of the line but not directly inline.

Packard V8 Thanks for the response. I have a 1955 5582 Patrician (auto) power steering and power brakes, no AC. Frame off restoration in 1990 last driven in 2000 so I was very cautious and trailered her everywhere. Before anything was done I started the motor and rejoiced when it started the first time and ran smooth, (only drove on and off the trailer). Our troubles began after the first oil change, when a very liquid gasoline mixed oil and (MMO?) was discovered in the crankcase when we started changing all the fluids. The lifter noise just went away after a couple of oil changes, MMO finally OEM (still not driven just up and down off of the rack). Once the TL and brakes were rebuilt, hoses, wheel bearings, new fuel pump, a small leak on the carburetor was fixed, the wipers were lubricated and hoses replaced, finally one more oil change was made just to flush out anything else out. The lifter noise started up again but disappeared. The brakes were jumpy but the master looked good and my first test drive was made (you read the story), the engine ran smooth although the transmission was a little stiff but also smoothed out. Then I stopped for gas, added five gallons of high test, drove about two blocks and the engine just slowly stopped. The TL stopped working and when finally restarted the lifter was making noise and the engine was rough and more and more pressure was necessary to stop the car (the pedal was never dropped to the floorboard I know the difference when my 57 Plymouth Plaza lost her brakes). I believe that some of this is all interconnected and if you fix one thing others may follow. I know we should have dropped the pan first, however it took forever to get the set of gaskets and by the time they were received the noise went away at that point it wasn't broke. Tomorrow I will make the decision to drop the pan and see what the problem is, today I did yard work, clearing a space to place my new Packard planter (just kidding, maybe).

Wait a minute on pulling the pan. How many miles are on the engine???

Does it sound like just one or two lifters or does it sound like 8 or more????? More pronounced from the LEFT side of engine??????

Packard V8. The lifter noise is on the left side facing the engine towards the back. The number of miles on the odometer is 55k but it does not work and two Packards were used to restore it, the Doctor who owned it drove it from 1990 to 2000 and also had a 39 and I have tried to find the name of his mechanic to ask what combination of oils did he use. Flushing the engine is always preferred and dropping the pan is a real pain, what other alternatives would you suggest? Lots of old fixes have been discussed from one quart MMO, one quart diesel and fill up with oil.

one quart diesel/ one quart mmo/ 3quts oil worked for me!

So according to your description there is only maybe 1 to 3 lifters that are noisey at the passenger side rear corner of the engine.

Probably not a strong reason to pull the oil pan just yet. Most likely it's a just few sticky lifters in this case. Try some of the snake oil remedies but GIVE THEM TIME to work. Probably 100 to 200 miles of driving.

Best method i've used is to pour a pint of lacquer thinner into the crankcase with good clean oil and drive it about 100 miles at city driving speeds of say 30 - 40 mph or less over a period of 2 or 3 weeks. If this does not free a sticky lifter or sticky relief valve in the oil pump then the parts will ahve to be replaced.

Only thing I can add to the various snake oil treatments is pop a rocker cover or somehow make sure the engine doesn't have any layers of sludge to speak of when you put cleaning stuff in and start driving it. Still painful to think about how I know this.