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I bought my '39 Six in March of 2016 and one of the first problems I encountered with it was stalling for no apparent reason. The car would start, idle and rev fine, but as soon as it was driven anywhere, the first stop sign encountered, it would just 'coast to a halt'. If one turned the key off and sat for a minute or so, then floored the car and turned it over, it would 'catch', sounding like a flooded engine; then one could put it in gear and drive some more... until the next stop sign!??!?! I posted numerous queries on what this strange phenomenon could be and received different answers. I proceeded to go over everything and have done the following:
Rebuilt carb, (Carter WA-1) no change; new electric fuel pump with pressure regulator, new plugs, wires, points, condenser, NOS distributor, new coil, new voltage regulator, checked compression (100-105#'s in all 6 cyl's, wet & dry) timed engine to 6 degrees, vacuum advance disconnected and plugged) and have idle at around 700 RPM. The car came with a new stainless gas tank and I have had it off to check for crap in tank (none) and replaced all the fuel lines as well as installed an inline fuel filter. Thinking maybe the problem was heat related, I just performed a major cooling system overhaul with re-cored rad, new (not rebuilt) water pump, new T-stat and a complete engine flush. Took the car out for a drive today and before it even got up to temp, I stopped at an intersection and the thing quit. Same old story: shut off the key, wait a minute or two, put the gas pedal to the floor and hit the start button. It fired right up again and I drove it to the next place I had to stop and as soon as I put the clutch in, it died.
To say I am frustrated with this is the understatement of the year for me! I don't know what else I can do. Can anybody give me any advice??? I really thought the carb upgrade would make a big difference. The carb on it when I got the car was from a '56 Bel Air and I ordered the Carter WA-1 from the 'Carburetor Exchange' in Del Monte CA. They told me that their rebuilts were bench tested 3 different ways before being shipped out and that they should need very little adjustment. This made absolutely zero difference to the way the car ran. Could I have something like a cracked head or block or something internal in the engine?? I just can't get over how good it starts cold, runs beautifully and smoothly (no black or blue smoke) and has great oil pressure and passes the compression test, yet it stalls???!!?!?!?

I'm out of ideas and options.

You have gone to extreme measures to correct the problems. This is so frustrating when nothing seems to work. Not much more that I can offer except to check the distributor vacuum modulator chamber to see if it is not leaking. A leaking chamber will cause the ignition timing to be retarted and cause a lean fuel mixture which will deal all kinds of overheating problems. Please report back to us what you find and the cure to the problems. Good luck. JWL

I'm wondering if you have a bad wire connection. Start with your battery cables and work all the way to the engine and look for a loose swedge between a wire and the crimp connection. Another possibility could be the ignition switch shorting out. Good Luck...Ernie

Hello Packard newby.
Had similar problem with my 115c, turned out to be the distributor plate that holds the points was loose.
Regards Pepe

I vote for something electrical. While I am no diagnostic mechanic, I've heard this over and over too. There is a certain 40-120 conv.sedan owner who has fought this for a couple years, both on this forum and the PAC forum. Honestly I have lost track of where he is with it now...not sure if he gave up and set the car on fire or not.
Anyway, I vote for bypassing "hotwiring" past the ignition switch including the shielded cable, trying a different coil, coil wire and checking everything in the distributor as has been mentioned. Something as simple as the spring that is supposed to hold the carbon to the rotor may be weak. I'm not saying that is the problem, just that it must be something "simple", yet overlooked, 'cause the car otherwise runs fine, no bucking, backfiring, roughness, richness, etc...

If you need anything, lemme know.

DAF

We're experiencing something similar and have been diagnosing by replacing parts, a kind of expensive way to go. We save the old parts because they're probably still good.

A new fuel pump arrives Saturday. It's a VERY frustrating experience.

The only real clue I see in what you tell us is that in order to do a re-start, you much floor the accelerator which unloads (opens) the automatic choke, correcting an over-rich situation. Whether that has anything to do with the cause of the initial stall isn't obvious but it is something you should look into, a fuel problem is my guess.

If you haven't checked your intake manifold vacuum at idle, how about performing that test for us? You're looking for 18-20 inches of vacuum with a rock-steady needle.

You say you push the clutch and it dies, could there be a wire that grounds out when you push the clutch pedal?

Hi Dave,

For what it's worth, I am not a big fan of automatic chokes and when I ordered the replacement carb, I had the option of auto or manual choke and chose the latter.

The vacuum issue is 'on the docket'... will report my findings.
The more I think about the ignition switch possibly shorting, the more it makes sense to me, as, if I lose spark and the fuel is still flowing, it will flood the engine and stall it.

With carbs having been switched and zero difference to the problem, I am reticent to think it is carburetion.

thanks for the input to you and all who have weighed in, Chris

Reasoning this through with all the 'Packard minds' online contributing really helps guys, - THANKS!
I finally have a guy helping me who is competent and he is of the mind that whatever the problem is - it is fuel related. He removed the new spark plugs and they were absolutely black with soot and my oil went from new to black very quickly. I thought this was maybe a result of the car being run more and picking up 'old dirt' in the crankcase, but now - not so sure.
Another thing: we teed a fuel pressure gauge into the line yesterday and it started at 4 PSI and at some point stopped showing any pressure, yet the engine continued to run. This coupled with the blackened plugs and the flooding and I think it is possible the float system in the carb is not working properly. This decries my earlier theory that once the carb was changed, it should eliminate that as a problem, but my friend says he has had more than one carb 'out of the box' that did not work properly. Also, to properly describe the stalling issue, it doesn't sputter or 'conk out', it just slowly 'coasts to a halt', if that makes any sense. Then to restart, I have to wait a minute or so and floor it, and it starts exactly the way a flooded engine starts. If it is being over-fueled, the wait could be the hot cylinders getting rid of the raw gas enough that it will start. Before anyone says it - I KNOW this is a bad thing for cylinder walls, fuel in the oil, etc., and once I get this sorted, I will again change the oil.
I have thought through the ignition switch shorting out and the electric fuel pump is on the ignition circuit and it is steady without cutting in and out, so I am leaning more to an over-fueling issue at this point.
My friend seems very confident that we can suss this (me, not so much) and he is very dogged and systematic when it comes to tracking down an issue. Wish us luck?!?!?!?!?
Again, thanks for all the input.