Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Yow, yow, yow!

The new Fuel pump and the fuel hose has been installed.

I hit the road with my 56 Clipper Deluxe finally !!

After a small first 2 miles test trip everything looked great. I did a check up if there where no leaks of fuel in the engine bay and if all the rest looks fine. I was OK!

I let cool down the engine.

Then I made a 2nd test trip this evening, a bit longer this time... now I drove 5 miles... .

So right now two things I want to ask to you:

1) Is it normal that a vapour smokes out of the mushroom formed 'exhaust' at the front of the engine?

2) The temp on the top of the radiator rised to 130? F, the cylinderbanks left and right are equal hot at a temp of approx 150? F. Is it normal these temperatures rises so quick at such a short roadtrip?

The temp is equal at the top and at the bottom of the radiator housing, the hoses at the top and at the bottom are identically hot, the radiator core becomes egally hot over the whole surface ( I suppose the radiotor works correctly ?)

The temp gauge had just passed the 'cold' marker.

The RH cylinderbank made some smoke on top, I think maybe the gasket of the valvecover isn't fully tight because at front and at rear this bank some oil/grease is visual!?

May I make a 3rd test trip a bit longer now?

Maybe stupid questions, but I wanna play it safe !!

Grtz,

Xavier

Thanks !

Xavier, Sounds like everything is running fine and no the temperature is not too hot for warming up on a summer evening. A little "blowby" smoke is normal especially if the car has been sitting for a long time. Just don't hit the autobahn and try to hold it at 140kph or race the bullet train from Brussels to Paris just yet! A few longer trips are definitely in order at a moderate highway speed of 80-100kph.

The mushroom shaped object is the oil filler cap. It also contains an air filter. Air is supposed to go into this filter, through the engine, and exit by a pipe at the back of the engine called a road draft tube.

It is not supposed to smoke, however when an engine gets worn pressure can blow past the pistons, pressurizing the crankcase and causing this smoking. It is called blowby.

This is nothing to worry about unless it grows excessive. If the engine has been out of service for several years a little blowby on first starting is normal.

When driving down the road, the fumes escape under the car.

Your car should have either a 160 degree (winter) or 180 degree (summer) thermostat. This means, 150 degrees isn't even warmed up.

I suspect your thermostat is missing or stuck open. Normal operating temp with a 180 thermostat would be 180 - 200 degrees, possibly rising to 210 or 220 on a hard uphill pull on a hot day, or when idling in traffic on a hot day. With a good 7 pound radiator cap this is no problem.

There are products like "Rislone" or "Bardahl" that might help the oil burning problem. I don't know if these products are sold in Europe, but there should be an equivalent. Look for a thin substance that says "frees sticky lifters" or "frees stuck piston rings" on the label. Do not use the thick ones like STP at this time.

It is possible your engine has not even warmed up yet. On a big car like that it can take 5 to 10 miles to fully warm up, and 50 miles to get into its stride.

The symptoms you describe are nothing to worry about. I would add the Rislone and try a longer trip, such as 80 to 100 KM at speeds up to 90 to 100 KM Hr.

OK!

Thanks for the information.
Nice to hear that everything should be fine with these symptoms.

The 'smoke' coming out of the oil cap, wasn't that much, but I smelled it and when looking well, a small amount of smoke was visible. Smoking a cigaret gives more smoke than what came out of the cap.
I was just a bit worried about this.

Next time I'm at the car accessory shop, I'll look for that Rislone or Bardahl product.

There is a ticking noise at the RH cylinderbank, my service agent says that it probably will stop when the engine fully become loose after several miles use. Can it be solved also with this product?

Next weekend, there is a big American car meeting in Antwerp at the docks called APOW, meaning American Power On Wheels ( info and pics at APOW SHOW ). This is approx 120 kilometres ( 75 miles ) away from here, I think I will take the Firebird there, maybe a bit to far for the Clipper's 3rd trip... .
But next edition I will take surely the Packard to that meeting, because PAckard is very rare in our country.
A few years ago there was 1 '56 Packard Patrician at the meeting. Knowing the fact that APOW normally counts approx 2,000 US cars, Packard has a serious minority... .


Xavier

Your ticking noise in the rh cylinder bank is the typical Packard V8 lifter noise. These engines are notorious for that, because the oil pump is inadequate to supply the proper amount of oil to the engine without adding a bit of air into the mix. I highly recommend to Olds oil pump conversion on ANY and ALL Packard V8s. The other "fixes" don't work as well as the Olds oil pump. All the other "fixes" are moot with a high volume Olds pump on the engine.

Hey Pack,
What year and or model number is that Olds oil pump?
I think my '55 Clipper Super needs all the help it can get.

Xavier, This is just one guys opinion but I would be careful using Rislone or Bardahl in your engine until you determine how badly the sludge build up is. I have used Rislone many years beginning over 40 years ago in many of my cars and think very highly of this product. If the engine is clean there is no problem but if the engine is dirty with old oil sludge buildup this product will dissolve this old crud and may cause more problems than if simply left alone. Over the years I have seen engines that ran relatively fine until this product was added and after the old crud was dissolved the engines became noisy and burned oil more than they did before the Rislone was added. If the engine is clean inside I would agree with Rusty that it might be a good idea to quiet lifters and help keep the engine clean but if it is a very dirty engine then you may be asking for trouble. Sometimes it is just better to leave things alone.

Xavier -

I would forget about taking the car to a show next weekend.

By all means install an oil pressure gauge and monitor the pressure reading when the engine is cold, then warm, and especially when the lifter noise appears.

I would also recommend you drain the oil, then insert a piece of coathanger wire, with a small loop formed on the end, through the drain hole and sweep it around the bottom of the oil pan. If you pick up a lot of sludge, you might want to take the time to remove and clean the oil pan. If you do remove the pan, you may also want to check the main bearing clearances.

If the pan seems clean, you could try a bottle of STP engine oil additive as part of your oil change. Rather than removing and cleaning the hydraulic lifters manually, I have found that STP will help clean out "varnish" that may accumulated over time and can cause some lifter noise. A couple of oil changes with this product cured the lifter noise in one of my Patricians.

Just keep taking things a step at a time; let us know what you find.

Hello,

Thanks for the extra info.

The engine oil has been replaced only a few weeks ago, the oil we filled it up now is 20W50. I think I will use the car for small trips and replace the engine oil within a few hundred miles. Then I can check if there is dirt at the bottom.

I will wait with adding extra products until this checkout has been made.

Can the ticking noise cause some problems for the engine?


I suppose it will take its time to get the engine complete free of its sleeping period.

Thanks.

Xavier