Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Good Morning...I agree with 901. Coil for sure and the condenser as well. The condenser will fail more often than the coil will. Good to keep a spare condenser in the tool kit/spare parts that stays in the Packard. Ernie in Arizona

A bad condenser can cause rapid burning of points, and so can a bad coil, so check your points carefully even if they are new.

Thank you all for the help. I will change the condenser, it is fairly new, but you never know. the coil is definitely going to be changed. I just need to find one with the bottom input.

just read your thread and saw where you said that you put a piece of sheet metal in where the heat riser is to keep heat off of intake.actually just the opposite will happen. its like having the heat riser stuck on all of the time. the stuck open heat riser may give you cold start issues but giving more gas will overcome that,however a stuck closed heat riser will kill car when hot by creating a vapor lock condition as gas will boil because of excess temp in carb area of intake. remove the metal and see if that doesnt help. you may have other problems. generally though points and condenors show up more on cold starts than hot. not saying they cant have hot issues but generally show up when engines are cold.

I think I'm looking at the heat riser wrong. When I say "open" the flap is allowing exhaust to go up into the intake cavity heating the intake. The piece of sheet metal blocks the exhaust from going up and heating the intake and carb. When the car is running you can put your hand on the intake. We blocked it off so as not to boil the carb. Should I be saying that the original riser is rusted closed?

If the original heat riser is stuck in the position that directs heat up around the intake manifold plenum, it is stuck closed, which is typical. If you leave it there, and also block the exhaust flow up into the manifold, you may have a severely restricted exhaust, which will cause overheating and poor performance. A diagram would be helpful.

Without pumping the gas pedal hold it to the floor while cranking the engine. Always works on my 237 c.u. six

Instead of waiting to find a coil like the original with the wire connection on the bottom, just buy a 6v coil and strap it to the original with velcro or tie wraps and make temporary connections to prove/disprove the condition of the original coil.

Let us know the result.

Bob

John Ulrich sells a coil with input on the bottom like original, but a $25 coil for proof of concept makes sense. And yes, pedal to the metal and don’t lift up or pump when starting hot.

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I will give this a shot. (Palm on face "duh")