Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

I am using Evans waterless coolant and car tends to run hot when not moving, as expected, and would like to install a cooling fan on radiator - can anyone suggest a brand/product - it looks like a 16" will fit on radiator side (pusher), not enough room to install on the engine side (puller).

Before I made any mods, I'd try running a 50/50 mix of a name-brand "green" antifreeze and distilled water. If you live in an area where freezing weather is not an issue, a mix of 60% water with 40% green antifreeze is even better. Evans coolant is a specialized product that offers no advantages in older vehicles. The 1937 120 non-pressurized system works best with conventional antifreeze and clean water.

An electric cooling fan can help cooling (a little) at idle and very low speeds, but it will restrict air flow at higher speeds.

Keeping the radiator clean inside and out will help, and keeping the engine in good tune will help. Ignition timing and distributor performance are important, as is the proper operation of the intake manifold heat system.
Anything that restricts air flow through the radiator, such as lights, badges, license plates, etc, is to be avoided.The fan belt needs to be the correct size and properly adjusted and free of oil, but not run too tight. A belt that is too tight can damage the water pump bushings.

If you're overheating while sitting, I'd check over everything before throwing parts at it.

1) Check timing. Late timing can cause overheating that may be masked when the car moves and air is forced through the radiator.
2) Belt and Waterpump. A slipping belt or a water pump with loose impeller clearance can cause decreased cooling at lower RPM.
3) General radiator heath/flow rate.

Another great source of heat--and mediocre performance --is a worn timing chain. You can get an idea of that by turning the engine backwards with a wrench or by rolling the car and see how much of a revolution it takes before the distributor begins to turn backwards.

Heed BigKev, Ross, and other than the distilled water adviso, TX. Evans Waterless Coolant is another of those expensive marketing ploys aimed squarely at fearful car collectors and those wanting to reinvent the wheel.

Meanwhile, do n o t use distilled water. It is ion hungry, leaching minerals like lead, copper, etc. from your radiator and cooling system. Reverse osmosis water is best. Available at Whole Foods, Sprouts and other places for 49-50 cents a gallon.

For a factual summation of cooling system preservation, see the cooling tech link on www.no-rosion.com. Use either their corrosion inhibitor with reverse osmosis water, or Red Line Water Wetter with reverse osmosis water. Nothing else. Avoid antifreeze like the plague, unless your car will be exposed to two consecutive nights of a hard freeze (30 degrees), or has air conditioning. In the latter case, even in LA or Phoenix in August, you need 15% antifreeze.

Basics like this have been covered many times on these forums. Use the search bar Kev installed on the upper right of this site's homepage.

Again, just the above. Nothing else. No soluble oil, an outmoded practice leaving a heat transfer inhibiting film on your cooling system passages, as does antifreeze, as detailed decades ago by a Chrysler engineer writing in the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Newsletter. Packards are just cars, not magic, special, or night and day better than many other makes. The same rules of viscosity, heat transfer, power-to-weight ratios, CD ratings, torque curves, efficiency apply to Packards.

The principal difference in Packards was their chassis through the '40s used fine-threaded bolts where others used coarse, and roller or needle bearings where other makes got by with nothing or a plain bushing. Some of this over-engineering is fine, some might've been because Packard lacked the engineering army GM had able to deduce enough to maintain dependability and car life. In the day, a Packard given equal care would not last longer than a GMobile, Pierce-Arrow or anything else at similar market price.

Packard never built a better car for the price than your 120. Only the wood in its body prevented Consumer Reports from giving it their Best Buy rating, as they did the 120 or its Clipper variant every year 1938-47.

Excuse this missive's length, but some of us who've owned Packards most of our long adult lives are able to maintain perspective. So often, basic questions like yours underscore some idea that Packards are "special" or different. Your 120 is as much a GM product as Packard. Its engine is pure Pontiac, but viva la difference in execution. My '47 Super Clipper is a Buick Roadmaster according to East Grand Avenue. Its 356 is an enlarged 120 engine with hydraulic valve lifters and four more, and unnecessary, main bearings because Packard thought in 1940 if they didn't so include, their remaining competitors would pounce on that in their marketing. If you want to split hairs, Pierce's 385-ci eight and 462-ci V-12 were better than Packard's and Chrysler's 385s, and Packard's Twelve engines. Engines, not talking chassis. From 1939-on, all Packards but 446 leftover Twelves were junior based. Just as all Cadillacs downsized in '36 increasingly sharing other GM line components, most Lincolns '36-on "Ford-and-a-half" Zephyrs.

To paraphrase, "And a junior shall lead them." Your Packard was the best. So reverse osmosis water w/ either of the above brands, full synthetic 10W/30 motor oil--not Diesel oil, 10W/40, not "Classic Car Motor Oil," no added ZDDP. Gl-1 lube in transmission, GL-5 in your differential.

Keep

it

simple.

Follow your owner's and shop manuals.

The car has been tuned - rebuilt carb, points/condenser/distributor cap/rotor, and timed. I agree that liquid water is the best heat transfer medium but it also causes corrosion, scaling and electrolysis of the metal surfaces and degradation of the cooling system. I have seen cracked cylinder heads, blocks where the buildup of deposits in passages created hot spots that resulted in delta temps that resulted in cracks. I understand that if you have additives in your cooling system and routinely flush your system to remove corrosion deposits, etc. you can minimize corrosion damage. Additives breakdown and systems are not always flushed - one does not know the care and attention that was given to old engines 60-70 years old. I am willing to run with a higher operating temp in my cooling system with Evans knowing that I am minimizing further corrosion and buildup of deposits. I have had success with Evans waterless coolants in my 58 vette, 78 vette, 63 RR Silver cloud, 60 cad and 63 cad.

Mine had an overheating problem when I got it. It did not like parades, and after a long run, when you shut it off the temp would climb till it would bubble over. driving down the road it was OK. Got talked into a valve job, solved all the problems. The guy that did it found a problem with the head gasket. His guess is that who put the head the last did not do the required follow up with Head retorqueing that is why the gasket failed
Just did a 2 1/2 hour parade in 92 degree heat, no problem, got to 180 and stayed there
Good luck with it
W

As others have said, the cooling system will work as designed. For parades and traffic jams in very hot weather, I installed a 6v fan. There are fans advertised as 6v, but they are 12v. They run, but not as they should. Mine is a Maradyne Electric Radiator Cooling Fan with a 6v 40amp Relay for fan control, plus an override switch to shut the fan off on a warm day and many stops, so the battery doesn't run down.
MP-166-K6 Radiator Fan 6v $155.
MFA104 Fan Mounting Kit 45.
LAW 89105 20 amp circuit breaker 16.50
COL 3031 Inline fuse holder 14.
BUSS AGC10 fuse 2.50
HAY 3653 Thermostatic adjustable fan control 55.
GM 12513020 seal material 30.