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my '41 120- won't start. I have had lots of help from AACA techncal forum, but no start yet.
basically the car ran fine after engine rebuild for 2000 miles. Now it will not start and floods when I try. I have spark, good compression, timing same as when running, and obviously, fuel. Could the timing chain sudenly "jump"? Distributor has not been removed . On a rare occasion, a single ignition might happen while trying to start, but the engine does not run.
Is any one aware of problems unique to these Packards that I should be checking?

One thing on 6v ignition systems is they are somewhat unforgiving of poor or dirty connections or too small a cable or wire in the primary circuit.. Also low batteries where lots of cranking has lowered the voltage some or too small a capacity battery for the amount of current the starter needs are known issues.

If the starter is pulling a lot of load on a tight engine and wiring, connections or battery are marginal the voltage at the coil can very easily drop well below 5v. If that happens the spark is weak and sometimes can't jump the gap. Am assuming the car is stock and the positive ground is still present. The coil has reduced efficiency if the polarity is reversed and with the armored cable connected coils the only way the coil is correct is if the battery ground is correct. If a modern coil is present, for best efficiency make sure the coil is oriented properly. If the battery + is grounded then the coil + needs to go to the dist terminal.

One problem I had on my 356 after a lot of cranking is the plugs became fouled. Even though new the long cranking and exposure to raw gas moistened and put an oily film on the plugs so they did not spark. Taking them out and drying restored them and the car fired right up after I put them back in.

If you have an R9 overdrive, one problem some have experienced is something kept the ign cut out circuit active and grounding the coil so no spark. Another had a shorted wire in the circuit. Might be worth a check if you have OD.

Ign condensers are another known source of problem. Several have had similar symptoms where the car ran fine and then suddenly nothing and found the condenser had failed and no spark. Sudden failure on coils too if it is the old original coil.

There have also been a couple of cases where the engine was running on old gas. It caused the valves to stick and after a shutdown the valves were stuck so badly the car did not start again without valve service. That problem was diagnosed after everything else had been changed or ruled out and was done after the owners were convinced to do a compression check.

Thanks.
I believe I have covered all areas EXCEPT the R9 OD issue.
That area is of particular importance because I have had intermittent problems with OD engagement and kick-out.
I will address that issue as soon as I am certain that I can exclude all OD related electronics from the circuit.
That is certainly a Packard - specific problem (even if other brands used the R9 OD)!

A source of a lot of trouble over the years is the armored cable leading to the coil. They are simply breaking down and the the voltage is leaking away.

With your points open, measure the voltage at the moving arm of the point set. It should be not far off from battery voltage.

Quote:

Ross, is it Packard-specific?



source: Ford accessories list 1914

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since you mention flooding have you checked to make sure carb float is not stuck open?

FOLLOW-UP:
Thanks for suggestions.
I pulled every wire I could find to isolate the R9 Overdrive from the car's electrics: still no start.
All voltages measure as expected.
I have continued to worry about the float, but I must note that that the carburetor has been evaluated by 2 local guys who are "in the business" and then the whole carb was "rebuilt/restored" by a group who restores carburetors for a living and was recommended by a Packard supplier. Unless the Packard has some unique problems, I don't know how to proceed with the float issue.
So, is there any problem unique to Packard carburetors of that era that might be missed by knowledgeable people?

Most strange and I don't have any real suggestions. Don't know of anything that is specific to a Packard that would keep it from starting.

On a rebuilt engine I would have assumed they changed the timing chain so I wouldn't think it was stretched enough to jump. Believe the sprockets are both keyed so not a likely problem unless one of the keys was left out. That could be easily verified with a timing light so if the timing hasn't changed and you have spark and fuel, that only leaves compression or fouled plugs. Easy to pull a couple of plugs just to rule that out which would leave the other problem that some have run into being stuck valves.

Those with the sticking valves have been the most interesting. Symptoms just as yours. Engine ran fine. Shut it off and a few days later went to start and nothing. One posters valves were stuck so tightly it took heavy persuasion to remove a few. If you have completely ruled out everything else a compression check might be worthwhile.