Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

I was recently surprized by my 16 year old grandson who asked me if he could borrow one of our Packards for prom night. I said to pick out the one he wanted and he chose our 48 Super 8 sedan which had not been out of the far corner of the garage for a couple of years. It was past time to get it out for some exercise. Well as the old saying goes " It ran when parked ". After airing up the tires, charging the battery, replacing the battery cable ends. changing the carburetor, and replacing the fuel filter it was time for a test drive. The car ran better than I remember. When stopping it had a severe pull to the left. Time to check the brake system. Since it was pulling hard left I started with the left front. Did not see anything alarming so just a clean up and wheel cylinder rebuild. Now for the right side, I found the wheel cyl. to be froze in place and the primary brake shoe missing most of it's lining. The lining had been coming off in chunks. I cleaned up that side, rebuilt the wheel cyl, and replaced the shoe with a slightly used one. I could only get a few drops of brake fluid out when trying to bleed the right cyl. No matter how much pedal pressure I applied the fluid only oozed out. I then removed the rubber brake hose and found it to be defective. I dissected the hose and found the entire length to have a hole smaller than the size of a wooden thoothpick. The small diameter hole was consistent the length of the hose. I replaced the hose and now it pulls to the other side. I ordered another hose to replace the left side. The cause of the hose shrinkage is reported to have been caused by moisture in the system. Now I believe you should flush the brake system every few years. I have been driving Packards since 1980 and this has been a lesson learned. Packardtaximan

That's a new one. Didn't realize water could do that to a hose. Could see where petroleum could swell the rubber and maybe since it couldn't get larger because of the reinforcement around the rubber, it choked off but that's a first for water. How about the back hose?

With all new hoses and cylinders, my '48 super eight stops straight and on a dime. Most people forget the hoses- they are cheap, and readily available at NAPA.

I took the sections of hose to the automotive instructor at our Junior College and he said that he had seen this problem many times and the water mixed with the old brake fluid breaks down the rubber compound. We are going on a driving tour in the morning and I am taking the old hose to have a chemist look at it. We'll see what he has to say. i am replacing all three brake hoses. ($12.99 each from O'Rileys)