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

Yesterday, Sunday 4th, I replaced the leaking waterpump in my '38 with a rebuilt one. See Canberra Swap Meet post from last week for the story. Now although the car is a '38 I believe the engine is a '37 which went into the car in WW2 @ Darwin when the '38 blew it's original motor on the mail run it did every 2 weeks from South to North of the country and back. Saying that I was also told that the waterpump was a '38 because these were bigger?(and better than the '37?). Anyway there was a leak detected in the waterpump back in May and at that time a bloke in the Packard Club here rebuilt one for me. And in which he installed a Mazda bearing/seal in place of the packard bearing. The Mazda bearing/seal is fully sealed as I understand it.

But moving away from the above - there is a picture below of the 2 waterpumps with the old faulty one - left, and the rebuilt one - right. What I'd like to know is: Why does the one on the right have an oil cap, to lubricate the bearing I presume? While the one on the left from what I can see has a Slot and Clip arrangement? Does the Slot and clip serve the same function? And how often do you lubricate the bearing? With Soluble oil?

I'm asking this because I'm just curious as I don't believe with the setup I now have that I'll need to specifically do this now.

PS - Couldn't get pic to load so see the link below to web album pics of the very exciting waterpump changeover!

picasaweb.google.com/ozstatman/Changeove ... erpumpsON38PackardEight1stNov4thNov

The pump with the oiler uses "open" bearings with oil seals, and requires periodic lubrication. The one with the "clip" uses sealed bearings.

Dave,

Thanks for that. When did the change to a sealed bearing occur?

And as Pre-War Forum Ambassador you're doing a great job. Thankyou for taking on the role and sharing your knowledge and experience with the rest of us.

I believe I'm correct when I say that all the 37 models, 110, 120, Super Eight and Twelve all used pumps with ring packing and oilers, and in 1938 the 110 and 120 converted to packless pumps with sealed bearings; the Super Eight and Twelve retained the old style pump thru 1939.

G'day Mal, I have been thinking about that by-pass hose from the head outlet fitting to the rear of the head and I am not convinced that it will make the engine run cooler at all, as it simply by-passes the radiator and makes the pump less efficient at getting the water to the top of the radiator. I have always felt that one of the Packard Plusses was a decent size radiator. A simple experiment of blocking off the hose would test the theory, except that your car has a temperature gauge fitted in the hose itself, whereas Packards ran their gauges from the rear of the head. See if one of the guys in Sydney, Wade or Peter Lewer has an infa-red thermometer and check front and rear head and block temps after consecutive couple of minute runs, with and without the bypass operating. I am confident that it will run much cooler if the coolant is running through the radiator core. It would also be better to get the blocked-open shutters working as it will certainly run too cool in winter, use more gas and sludge up the motor. Best regards and love the detail pics of the pumps. Peter

Thanks Peter,

I knew you'd find the pump pictures fascinating, given your close attachment to the exhaust gas displacement principle of engine block and radiator flushing. Fascinating - there's no other word for it.

All the best.