Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

OK men, I did as I said I would last night and I think it's probably time I pulled my head in, or at least research issues more thoroughly before commenting.

I ran the motor for a few minutes and then followed Ricki's advice to remove the ceramic filter. However, apart from a small release of pressure I was surprised (pleasantly) to find the glass bowl was full of petrol which means I hadn't observed everything closely enough. It still looks like the fuel level only goes up to the bottom of the ceramic filter when the motor is running, but this must be some sort of optical illusion with the filter hiding the true fuel level. Because of this and because the glass bowl and ceramic filter looked nice and clean, I decided to put it all back the way it was. Even so, I did crack the fuel line to let any air escape but all I could see escaping was petrol.

I also inspected the fuel levels in the inline filters while the motor was running and interestingly, they don't seem to fill up. I've attached some pics (sorry, clarity is a bit suss) about all of this, but I have to admit that in the interests of preserving my fingers, I turned-off the motor for the pic of the vertical inline filter above the fuel pump. The level shown is pretty much as it was with the motor running.

Finally, I took her out for a short spin and everything seemed to be working properly, with no fuel leaks that I could detect. I'm now of the view the fuel system to the carby is pretty good, and the only change in prospect is replacing the flexible fuel line to the pump when the new one arrives. Thanks once again for all of the advice. Regards, John

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Regarding your bottom two pictures, i can't tell you how many random projects i've used those on where they don't appear to fill up. The air is trapped in there and so the gas keeps going through the filter, but the air just sits there and makes it look like it's not. If you were to take the outlet line off and pump some fuel, you MIGHT coax some of that air out, but it's always been there in those type of filters for me, and never given me any issues whatsoever.

john,

has anyone brought up, vacuum tester? open line at filter, hook up hand pump vacuum pump, and put line out in container, and pump up gas. that air bubble has to move.

don't think it would help ceramic,, but you should get air bubble out.

rik

ps if gas won't go by pump (fuel) then go below.


pss...have you tried to fill bowl before putting it together? (glass) bowl. or soak the ceramic in the bowl? with gas, then top off, and put it together.

Thanks Riki, I too would prefer to get rid of all air in the system but it doesn't seem to be making much difference where it is. Nonetheless, I'll have a go at bleeding the inline filters as soon as I can. I'll keep you posted. Regards, John

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Sorry Owen, I'm not an expert and don't have a perfect 20-year plus memory. There was no "casting" in the bowl cover, the filter press fit onto a metal tube (the filter was only open at one end). This setup provider a much larger, finer filter area than a ceramic type. It was OK, but still a hassle to remove the bowl for replacement.

The bowl filter is a sediment bowl no matter where it's placed, (hence you clean what has settled into it once in a while, as you noted). I don't know about 1939 filters/bowls or double action pumps, but I suspect that those bowls were placed on the intake side of the pump to act as a pre-pump filter, as is recommended today with electric pumps. Some mechanical fuel pumps come with a bowl attached, glass or metal (1947 Dodge, for instance), which I doubt has any other filtering properties than to catch sediment and water.

The presence of air in a glass sediment bowl/filter is an interesting phenomenon, but solving the question of why it's there isn't very helpful: as noted in my last post and again in a later one--even translucent in-line filters show "air space" and work fine. I'm sure there is air in the metal in-line filters as well, but we just don't see it.