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It's interesting the fact Packard decided to replace the entire compensator assy rather than just the valve. I too would be curious about the differences in the two valves that are cited.

As to data on other makes, I think that is one of the open questions. As others have pointed out, millions of these were sold and used on other cars. Do they have the same failure rate as we seem to -- or because there were so many sold, do those that do fail just get lost in the big picture? It will be very interesting to see what, if any, responses Fred gets to his survey.

There have been several mentions of problems on various other forums as pointed out earlier on another BTV thread. It must be enough of a rate or a desire to upgrade -- in Chevys at least -- because some aftermarket vendors have done a modern replacement kit for the cars. Unfortunately, because of our location their retrofit won't work for us.

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Excllent point HH56! Which raises a question to Ross:
Where does the BTV mount on your 56 Olds???/ At the toe board like the Packard or high on the firewall like the 55-56 Chevy????

"I don't know the specific working pressure for the BTV, but would guess not much more than 1000psi (likely not enough for disc brakes)".


BH

FYI I have had a disc setup on my 56 for app. a year and no problem of BTV not operating the discs properly except when it had a total failure which was no fault if disc brakes system.


Bill

Howard, that looks like an excellent solution (at least for Chebby owners). I wonder if the vendor/fabricator would be interested in offering one for Packards?

I realize that Craig and others have offered their own one-off solutions, but many of us would more likely go for an "out of the box bolt-on" replacement, especially with the dual master cyl upgrade. Might be something for Kanter, MM and other vendors to look into.

IIRC, it was asked & believe the answer was this company at least, was not interested because of the demand being somewhat limited.

Rowdy -

I'm glad to hear that your disc brake set-up was compatible with the BTV.

I just don't have enough concrete, specific data about the PSI developed by the BTV and that required by the calipers to to satisfy my concerns. I can only suspect that disc brakes would require much more pressure than drum brakes - not only due to the larger diameter bore/piston of a caliper, but because drum brakes are self-energizing and calipers are not.

However, I probably shouldn't have even brought that one point up, here, as the purpose of this thread is to study the BTV to get to the root of the problem behind reports of failures following rebuild.

Others are free to do with their cars as they see fit, but as long as quality parts are available that provide reliable service, I'd rather stick with the BTV.

Unfortunately, we haven't found our answer, yet.

When I last had my brakes done (last summer) much was made of the age of the brake fluid and whether it was type 3 or type 5 or something else.

As it turns out, I have type 3, which was drained and replaced.

I'm curious if the type of fluid and the age of the fluuid are in some way factors here? I'm not mechanical and I kjow nothing---but it seems like a variable that werits consideration?

Packard has nothing specifically saying to replace the fluid in the OM or SM. Only to check level every 1000 miles and clean or change the power brake air filter at 10,000.

It has been suggested by several that changing every couple of years probably wouldn't be a bad idea for cars that sit long periods or don't get driven much. The DOT 3 & 4 fluid tends to attract moisture and without the benefit of getting hot regularly to "boil" it out, could deteriorate fairly rapidly. Did you have any solid chucks floating around in yours when it was changed?

A solution to this problem would be a diaphragm air lock seal for the reservoir similar to that used on modern cars since about 1972. I'm surprised none of the professionals of Packardom have offered one as an accessory to retro-fit for the BTV. NOT a major effort i wouldn't think.

Probably not a bad idea but not sure how you'd do one and still be able to fill in that location without it being a major pain. The airtight membranes I have seen have been under a large removable cover held on with the various clips. Maybe you could form something cylindrical along the line of a glove finger or bellows and sealed to the bottom of cap. That could protrude down into the fluid and still be flexible to allow for expansion and level changes yet still come out with cap for filling and checking. Fred has mentioned possibly making an electronic level indicator, so perhaps a membrane could be incorporated with that.

IMHO, if a Packard period accessory remote fill kit were to be reproduced, it would probably even sell to the purists. Have a fill cover for the BTV and another, if different, for the manual setup. I think a thin flat accordion type membrane could probably be incorporated into that which would be out of sight under the lid. As many of us are approaching geriatric status, the kit would make life so much easier and for all of us, there would not be too many excuses for not noticing the fluid level disappearing.