Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

WELL I CAN SEE THIS IS A KNOWLEDGEBLE GROUP HERE, AND I AM HAPPY TO JOIN THE TROOPS HERE, AND HOPE TO GAIN YOUR RESPECT, possibly isolate the knock by pulling wires while running.pull the pan and pull the head,push that one piston out,could be a wrist pin knock,and those could last forever.

just my 2 cents.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions, we shall see what we shall see tomorrow.

good luck morgan!

As I recall a wrist pin gives a sharp double knock and if the spark plug is shorted the noise will be louder. To change a rear main seal the oil pan must be removed and if that can't be accomplished without removing the engine well..

One other thing I've experienced on the straight 8s is that if the fuel pump goes bad or the wrong one is installed. A clicking sound that mimics the lifter noise can occur.
At least it is easy to check. Hopefully it is your problem. It's not that costly.

Yes, the rear seal can be replaced without pulling the engine but it's not a fun or quick job to do.

Do I understand you correctly that coincidently with this noise, the engine has developed a roughness at idle and rocks back and forth in the mounts?

Are you feeding fuel to the car from a bottle or using an electric pump at this point? You are still are not using the faulty mechanical pump are you?

Of all the advice that you've gotten so far, by far the best is to drop the oil pan and see what you've got. In addition to having bought and started bringing this car back in 2004, I remember these cars and their well-known oiling problems. Anecdotally, about the best that you can expect from even the newest of the Packard V8 oil pump designs or modifications is about 75,000 miles - and that may be pushing it a bit. Unfortunately, when I had my engine rebuilt, I did not know about the adapter kits and Melling high volume oil pump modification. I have one, now, and before my car has 25,000 miles on the rebuild - with its PI, "remanufactured," oil pump installed - the adapter kit and new pump will be in the car. Yes, it's a PIA to drop the oil pan but, if you have a leaking rear main seal, you're going to have to change it anyway and, while you've got the thing in the air with the pan off there will never be a better time to FIX a well-known and recurring problem with these cars. If you wind up having to go to the shop with it and replace the rear main seal, it would be a good idea to go ahead and obtain the adapter kit and Melling pump and install them. NONE of Packard's nor any of the ensuing band-aids tried in the years since they went out of business has succeeded in actually FIXING the engine's oiling problems. The adapter and MUCH more efficient Melling oil pump is the only viable permanent FIX for the problem that I know about. Just good insurance if you plan on using the car for anything other than pulling on and off trailers several times a year.

Just my two-cents worth on the subject - whatever your problem turns out to be. It's hard to tell how many miles your car has on it since its restoration - or what kind of engine work was done on it. The Packard V8 has ONLY ONE major problem in normal driving and that is the CHRONICALLY RECURRING oiling problem. Different set of dogs if you intend racing it but, then, big Packard Patricians with Torsion-Level suspension, power brakes, power steering, power seats, power windows, air conditioning and more useable space than most modern SUVs weren't really designed for that anyway.

Thanks again for running the possible scenarios with me. Thanks also for conforming the the rear engine seal can be fixed without pulling the engine. The second question is yes we have not yet pulled the fuel pump and based on the photos in the manual it is the correct one however it may not be the problem as the carburetor also could be leaking.

A leaking fuel pump diaphram can discharge gasoline directly to the crankcase, a leaking carburetor can only do so indirectly via leakage past the rings of that fuel which isn't burned. So if your motor oil reeks of gasoline, I'd still suspect the fuel pump and wouldn't run the engine any further until the situation is resolved.