Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

My transmission cooler is at an angle, but when I look at pics of other other cars it seems to be straight.

Is this simply because the hose from the cooler to the pump is too short? Seems to me that the cooler should be straight and outlets lined up, that is, no offset.



Is the cooler correctly bolted on?



I think my lower rad hose is a bit kinked, not good for flow!

The bracket is bent. Probably done to make too short of a hose fit.

This "little" rad hose/clamp project is done!

Cleaned, straightened the bent bracket and painted the transmission cooler. The cooler is in pretty good condition, which is probably because the car always had antifreeze............can't use straight water in my part of the world!

I used the original style Corbin Spring Clamps instead of the screw style hose clamps. Still looking for the correct on for the water pump, but at least it doesn't have a screw type clamp on it.

Warmed it up to check for leaks and to let everything soften and settle into place. Tomorrow is supposed to be HOT, so I'll take it for a drive and make sure there are no leaks.

PACKARD PRO TIP
Do not bolt your cooler on before attaching the transmission lines. Attach the transmission lines first, then put the short piece of hose in place while you move the cooler into position. Bolt the cooler on before tightening the clamps for the short hose.





The lower elbow being cut to the correct length makes it fit much better. The old one would have been restricting the flow a bit.

Your cooler appears to be in excellent and very clean condition which is unusual! As I had collected a number of them over the years, a while back I sent them out for cleaning, pressure testing and to replace as needed the hose flanges.While they are all in excellent condition, they are not as beautiful as yours!

Incidentally, in cleaning all these, I noticed different numbers between them and wonder why when all are off 1951-1954 senior Packards.

The one on my car was a NOS one still in the box that I got from a member here where my original one was found to have Swiss-cheese ends.

But it was from a commercial chassis application as the transmission fitting holes were larger, so I had to use an adapter fitting to adapt them to the standard line size.

It had larger diameter internal tube's as well compared to my old one.

That’s interesting! I never had a commercial with Ultramatic so didn’t know that the cooler was different and only recently learned that the master cylinder casting on those with Treadlevac was different too with a larger bore. I put one from a 1952 Patrician into my 1952 Henney-Packard Nu-3-Way with LevelDraulic which weighed 6200 lbs and it stopped on a dime.

I am continually surprised, and pleased, to discover that so much of my car has lasted better than others the same age. It was obviously cared for a treated the way a Packard should be.

This is the model info off my cooler.

At least one of mine has the same number but I can’t find the detailed photos of them to verify the others.

From my project blog: