Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Now what is this? After I came back from a 2 week business trip the morning after I got up I started up the Patrician to warm it up and take it around the block a bit - I don't want it to sit too long without action.

He started up just fine, idled beautifully. I was actually really surprised after a 2 week slumber.....then, IT happened.

1.youtu.be/qPNNS6h3Y_Q

Not sure if I can embed the video or not but the link above is a quick clip. Suddenly the car started idling very rough. I gave it a little gas just in case is wasn't getting enough, didn't help. It backfired and eventually knocked out. I haven't been able to restart it since. It tries like heck, but just isn't "catching."

Took off the air filter, no obstructions, the glass bowl has fuel in it. Brought a friend over who is more knowledgable than I. We checked the battery, it was sitting at 12.3v so clearly that was fine and the generator was working well when it was previously idling because the battery tender had been off of it for nearly a week.

We hooked up a spark tester to see if that could be it:

2.youtu.be/MUATFmMojUs

We thought it seemed a little dim and that it was a little odd that the light seemed to almost always be on, but we're both used to newer cars so we weren't sure if that was a quirk or maybe we have an electrical issue here.

Any of you out there have a theory on this? The fuel tank is new and from the outward appearance so is the fuel pump. I'm flummoxed and would like to trouble shoot and repair this on my own.

Old coils and condensers are notorious for suddenly acting up after a long sit and resurrection. Even if not the problem now they could be down the road and it would be a good idea to have spares.

Also check the voltage at the pink wire on the coil when cranking. It should be near 12v when starting is attempted. As soon as the engine starts and you release the key or anytime the ign switch is in the run position it drops to around 6-7 volts. If no 12v, a contact in the solenoid or a disconnected green wire between the ballast resistor and solenoid would be suspect. The coil gets a higher voltage to provide the best spark possible when starting and if it is not there the engine could exhibit those hard starting symptoms. It drops down to the lower level when running to avoid burning the points. If it has little to no voltage when key is in the run position the ballast resistor or the ignition switch itself is suspect.

When you were working under the dash before, any chance the wiring on the back of ign sw was bumped and compromised?

EDIT: If the ign key was left in the run position for a long period of time and points were closed all that time the points could have overheated and been burned or oxidized. It might be a good idea to use a contact burnisher on them or use some thin cardboard or even fold a strip of rough paper from a paper sack into a narrow enough length to slip between the points. Hold them lightly closed and pull the paper thru to clean them.

Deeper and deeper we go, I'll have to check all of that out now - and here I was hoping it was something simple lol.

There's always the possibility that my ham-fists could have bumped the back the the ignition switch, but my hand was actually opposite of it and even after that incident I has been driving it around a bit - so it would have been a delayed action.

points and cond are brand new. fuel pump and tank are brand new. instead of everyone guessing simple diagnosis by competent mechanic will quickly yield results

I believe your 55 Patrician has the Delco ignition system. It may be that the resistor rotor has failed. Easy enough to check, just pop the distributor cap and take a look. If it is bad, replace with a straight non-resistor rotor. These resistor rotors fail without warning.

(o[]o)

Cap and rotor are new as well, Fred really did so much great stuff for me when I purchased the car.

It's an old car, things are gonna go wrong and that's just part of the ownership experience.

While I was hoping to fix it myself, perhaps it is for the best I have it flat bedded to a mechanic or find one that'll come to me to resolve it. Shouldn't be too hard, I'm smack in the middle of Jersey and right across the river from Bucks County, PA. The place is crawling with old cars that come out for the New Hope Car Show.

As much as I'd like to learn to do it myself, I don't want learn at the risk of screwing something up more and then pay double to get it right. Pay to get it correct once, understand what needed to be done, and in the future be able to do it myself. No big deal. A lesson learnt!

That's a good plan. Tough to diagnose from afar - find a good mechanic.

So I've got two options on mechanics: one 10 minutes down the road who can't see it for maybe 3 weeks - but all he does is cars of this vintage - and one 30 minutes away who my father uses for his MG, but could potentially see the car much sooner.

I'm leaning towards waiting the 3 weeks for the closer guy because the other guy worked on my 1994 300D and 2013 S80 and both times he made the same mistake (didn't put in enough oil). Though both times he claimed confusion over the fact that both of those cars took more oil than American cars, I'm worried what else he might miss.

Not to impugn him, he's a really nice guy and has been in business longer than I've been alive.....but that could have been a serious situation had I not checked or the cars not warned me.

No matter, though, should be right as rain for early Spring, and it'll force me to finally get to work on my brakes on my 1985 380SE!

Did you check the timing? Maybe the dizzy wasn't tightened down good and has slipped.

I did not - I'll take a look at the shop manual and if it doesn't appear I run the high chance of screwing things up further I'll take a look. This is probably a good point to mention I'm expanding my mechanical knowledge, so I'm purposefully approaching things with much caution b/c I'd rather admit I don't know what I'm doing, then THINK I know what I'm doing haha