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The trans fluid cooler is kinda buried on the V8s, below the p/s pump. An owner might not even know it had one unless they changed the radiator hoses themselves.

While the cooler is shown the factory "powerteam" illustration, I didn't know what that was, in my intial explorations (over thirty years ago), until I studied the shop manual and parts book and my dad explained it.

Perhaps Packard decided, later, that it was safer to use the external cooler as a breach of the in-radiator type usually results in coolant being introduced to the transmission which causes problems. Permanent-type antifreeze solution tend to ruin the clutches even in moder cars.

I plan to retain the OE cooler, but may add an auxiliary cooler such as what is available, optionally, on late-model GM G-vans.

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Wether the oil cooler is part or the lower tank of the radiator or an external one like on a Packard makes no difference regarding oil and coolant mixing. If either leeks the result would be the same.

kev, when you did your brakes did you get part number 202719...i almost missed it. it is the rubber plug that covers the access hole to adjust the drum brakes on the back of the backing plate. it does not show it in the plate diagrams for 55, although it is in the part number list under 1.502. it does show on the 54 plates though. wonder why Packard did not put it in the 55 plates....weird.

Yes, the brake hardware kit I bought came with new adjuster hole plugs. I also bought new adjusters.

In modern radiators, the primary trans cooler was a tank within one of the radiator tanks, and the seams in the cooler tank tend to spring a leak before the radiator tank does. It is not an uncommon occurence - even in late model vehicles.

I've not cut one of the Packard external coolers apart to inspect it, but thought it used a convoluted piece of tubing inside the tank to carry the ATF. While I suppose the tubing could develop leak, in due time, I've not had that happen with any of my three running cars, but will check the cooler before I fire any of 'em up again.

You are right BH, leaks do still occur in modern cars. My '97 Mercury had the tranny cooler fail inside the radiator and I ended up with a transmission full of water. After a complete flushing by Mercury, and an external cooler all was well.

Wow, you must have caught that just in time, Don.

I've heard that the coolant will breakdown the agent that bonds the friction material to the brake bands (if any) and clutch plates, necessitating a complete overhaul.

I religiously watch fluids, so the instantly empty radiator fill tank screamed emergency. The rest was clean. When I pulled the trans dipstick, it looked like it read empty. The water thinned it so much you couldn't read it. I still have the car, and the tranny is about the only thing that hasn't failed!

Big Kev,
Thank you for all the pictures and info. My best suggestion for when you replace the wires is to blow-up the wiring diagram to about 400% or about the size of a beach towel. I did that when I re-did the wiring on my 1951 300.
all the wires were in place,but the ends were missing the
cotton insulation. Rather than replace all the wires, I untaped the wires, cut out the uninsulated, crinped, and resoldered the bad wires, reinsulated with a lot of the plastic shrink insulation from Harbor Freight.And, all the electrical works. The only problem is getting wires with stripes. I used pin striping to do the striped wires. If you read the colors scheme, the Packard engineers did not place wires of similar colors too close together.

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Ya, and so I ass-sumed that Kev's cooler was an auxiliary type-- in addition to the usual in-radiator kind.

Good info on trans coolers, though. Last time I had a failure it was not inside the radiator, but in a pressure line from the tank, an event that even an external cooler would be vulnerable to . You can about imagine the mess and smoke screen, but the trans (96 Dodge) wasn't hurt. Don't know how much pressure in those lines, but when da fitting goes, it goes BANG, and is not cheap to replace, either.

So tighten 'em tight!

I'll get off Kev's thread now.