Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Both #1 and #2, only after I eat beans..

NO
NO

And what is the real question you are asking?

2009 affirmatron
2007 negatron

No
No
-stock fuel system, no electric pump.

I know this is an old thread, but I thought I would share my experience on my '51 300.

The Previous owner told me "Don't shut it off at the fuel pump, or you'll be stuck there" I drove this car home about 400 miles. I didn't turn it off at the pump, but did when I went into the convenience store (out of habit). And sure enough, I had to sit there for 2.5 hours until it cooled down.

After reading all the vapor lock/ percolation threads, I started to hunt down the problem. The P.O. had already installed an electric pusher pump to unsuccessfully combat the issue. I then proceeded to insulate all the fuel lines and add heat shields and everything I could think of to combat the problem. No. Luck.

Finally I said to myself "this can't be the problem, what else could be affected by heat?" Well as it turns out my first guess was right. THE PRIMARY IGNITION COIL!

Autozone just happened to have the coil in-stock. I stuck it in and the problem went away forever. It never was vapor lock at all. Moral of the story is; How old is your ignition coil?

The post war ign coil seems to have been reported a source of many intermittent problems. Don't know if this was common in other makes since in many cases they used the same unit. It may be a Packard problem because of the coil being so close to if not directly mounted on a heat source in most instances.

Dave,
A coil is something I tend to not see or think about. They don't need servicing, adjusting, or lubricating. They don't move, make noise or need fluid level checks.
They are rather central however to ignition, start-up, and combustion. All of which are required for operation of the vehicle.

Glad you shared the experience. Makes us all more aware.

DanL

Dave Merrick, correct!, that's the classic symptom of coil failure and it has often been confused with vapor lock. And I don't know if there's really a tendency for it to be more common in postwar models. The prewar cars with the coil or coils mounted directly on the cylinder head certainly had common coil failures as the cars reached old age.

Don't believe in it. No such thing.

I'm not one to preach safety issues but as a side note:

It is illegal (in most areas that i know of) to pump gas into a vehicle while it is still running. There is some degree of danger to it depending on the vehicle and circumstances.

Under no circumstance should one refuel engines with gas tanks that are close to the engine such as lawnmowers, motysickels etc. It is EXTREMELY dangerous to do so on those type engine applications.