Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

There are floor pans being advertised on ebay, but I understand they are not like NOS.

I bought those ebay pans, they will work, but are not exact factory duplicates. The are bascially generic pans that will fit any 51-56 Packard with a little work.

Its Still been too wet to get anything done on my patrician, and on top of it my little chevy just decided to freak out. Does anyone here know anything about 89 Cavaliers, because if i cant get to work i cant fix up my Packard.

Its a 4cyl 2.0L 5speed Throttle body injection Chevy Cavalier, So what happens is youll try to start it, and it will turn over, but after about 3 or four seconds itll just stop, I checked the battery and its charged, so i went to look at the fuel injector and it seems to dump obcene amounts of fuel (enough it will pool on the choke) into the trottle body. and that about all i could tell.

Sounds like a problem I had with a '88 Beretta I owned (same engine and setup I belive). It would run for days, then all of sudden would die in the middle of driving. Then it would not restart. Come back a couple hours later and it would start up again. Run for days and then do it's thing again.

Long story short, it was the drive control section of the ECM was bad, and every so often it would freak out. I replaced the ECM, and the problem went away. Now that being said, yours could be the ECM, or a a bad/sticking injector.

Those kind of problem can be hard to locate when they are computer related, and the only way to check for sure is to plug it into the dealer (or another shop so equipted) computer diagnostic equiptment.

One part that was commonly stocked on GM dealer shelves back in the 1980s - moreso than an ECM or even a fuel injector - was the coolant temperature sensor (used for the ECM, not the temp gauge).

Perhaps that was because one or two parts fit many models, regardless of the number of cylinder, but if that sensor puts out the wrong value, a wide variety of symptoms can occur ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. Poor cold operation is usually a dead giveway, but that could also be due to a computer. Before you do anything else, however, inspect the wiring in the engine bay for rodent damage.

The coolant temperature sensor is probably the least expensive parts you can throw at those cars, but you really need a factory shop manual or equivalent to do a proper diagnosis on any electronically managed engine - EFI or carbureted.

Good luck!

My e-brake doesn't seem to lock into place, you can pull it out and theres enough tension to hold it there for a bit, but it'll either pop back in after a while or if anything touches it at all it just releases. And i as wondering how easy of a fix that is and what to do about it if anyone knows. I've looked through my parts book and shop manual several times and it doesn't seem to have any refence to the e-brake.

A few possibilities. In the engine compartment where the mechanism is, there is a small coil spring that pulls the latch against the ratchet which may be missing or damaged, there may be a wire from the rats nest bunch in that area out of place pushing against and preventing the latch from engaging fully, or the latch may be damaged or sticking.

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I took a look at it yesterday and the latch is badly worn down. Would i be better off replacing the whole assembly or just the latch itself?

The 51-56 (Packards and Clippers) all use the same assembly. As far as I know, you have to buy the entire assembly. But I have seen them for less than $100. If you can find someone with a parts car, I am sure you could get it cheaper than that.

Big Kev is right about replacing assy. Latch is either riveted or pressed on in mfg and don't think you'll find separately. One slim possibility is taking assy and see if a welder can fill it in and grind to original without destroying it..Again though, thats only a guess as to possibility since I don't know if it's just ordinary steel or something special-- and the cost for that may be more than another one would be.