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

Thanks guys... I've been reading a bit about the oil bath and it sounds like it's heavy duty even by today's standards. Being in the deserts of central Washington I guess I'd be prepared for dust storms and the next volcanic eruption!

Some people enjoy working on their cars and maintaining them as was suggested by Packard, others don't enjoy that type of work and prefer instead modern "upgrades" or having others do the work for them. I'm of the former group, and each person needs to decide where they fit.

That said, the oil bath filters were a very large advance over the oiled mesh type and are quite effective, but probably not as effective as modern pleated paper filters. Packard generally recommended that the mesh-type be washed and re-oiled every 1000 miles with good reason and I suspect a lot of folks aren't particularly religious about that recommendation, but they should be as of course abrasive dust intake is a major cause of cylinder wall and ring wear.

I don't know just when oil bath filters became available on Packard, the earliest reference I have is in the 1934 Service Letters where it's identified as a new option. I've looked for one for decades to replace the oiled mesh filter on my 34 Eight, but never found one. I try to wash and reoil my 34 filter annually, the oil bath on my 56 Packard I do every other season.

Just to note, when I changed my 51 from the mesh type to the oil bath type I picked up 1 mpg, from 16 to 17 in mixed rural/interstate driving. and yes my mesh was clean and oiled. I usually call those things bird strainers because that's about all they will keep out and are the reason so many straight eights show early upper cylinder wear.

It's a matter of preference for each owner, but I have the wire type with no element. I'm having a K&N filter made to fit inside the housing.