Packard Forum Index » General

PackardV8 Quote:

Yes, full heat.

Craig

Thanks Craig. At this point i'll have to bow to your hill climb test and work toward eleminating the mechanical fuel pump in favour of a full time high pressure electric pump and regulator. Which means NO CHEAPY regulators, no cheapy electric fuel pumps.

Not sure what the 6 volt owners will do.

Maybe easier or cheaper to find a retro-fit modern gas tank with built in electric fuel pump that will fit.

"Most members posting here have ignored my post to that effect and are chasing the hot coil/vapor lock demons."


Perhaps, but prelim testing on the 50/2bbl had shown recently that when it's good and hto and doesnt want to restart, manually holding the choke closed (or almost closed) caused it to fire and run smoother.

Too lean can cause a hot no start issue.

Still suspect the carb has a clogged passage or issue or vacuum leak somehwere, just havne't found it.


In Re: the 77 trans am...depending on the motor condition, a stock pontiac V8 with stock mechanical pump in good condition should not overheat or experience vapor lock, even on a hill climb. A nicely built one would tear up that mountain like a bat out of hell. "Modern" V8 issues usually manifest themselves after people swap so called performance parts in that aren't a good match for the car/build, and bring up small issues like fuel stravation or hesitation or general engine hiccups. Granted, there are cases of any brand car, new, having issues fomr the factory even when the 77 was new. However, by then, 99% of all cars were pretty much reliable in 99% of conditions in stock form.

cortcomp Quote:

It wasn't a Trans Am, it was a base Firebird. The engine and driveline was a dead stock Pontiac 350CID, but well worn. The same car made it "over the hump" and back many times, just not on what happened to be the hottest day of the Summer.

I'd guess you've never been in the Nevada high desert under such conditions. People routinely and stupidly die out here because of the heat. There are even bus tours from Las Vegas to Death Valley through Pahrump in the Summer just so foreigners (usually Europeans) can experience it by temporarily stepping out of their air conditioned bus.

Craig

The worst i've been through there was late august, i'm told we missed the largest heat wave of the summer by a few weeks or so, but it didn't matter, we still had Packard 327 and it did great up and down the hills. Because it was in the back of a Chevy FI pickup on it's way home

Sorry about the trans am/firebird mix up...i know to most they're not, but they're the same car to me, my bad on the mix up.

You don't have to go to great lengths to convince me how people will get themselves into trouble, people assume there are gas stations and walmarts and cell coverage everywhere and it just isn't the case.

My point about the Pontiac is that, like you said, it was well worn. If it had the care and manic maintenance that many of our Packards have, it could have well made it with no issue even without the pusher pump.

The difference here is that most of us have new or reman everything: carb, ignition components, fuel pumps, lines, heat shields and some even total engine rebuilds. We should not be experiencing the same issues as a well worn later model car with 10% ethanol when most of us aren't running gas that bad and in conditions that bad.

Like Fred says, it'd be nice to work through and find a common culprit instead of a band-aid. If it is a gas change, do we need some minor jetting adjustments? Are most of us missing heat shields or running lines too close to hot surfaces and not realizing it?

I know we brought up the coils, but they're an easy switch and for those of us that have swapped coils, i don't believe it's made a major difference.

I'm glad the diesel blend is working for some. Even if we don't have a widespread solution yet, it's nice to know we might have a workable band-aid.

TO CORTCOMP:

Hot start problem which is overcome by holding choke closed and then results in smoother running sounds like a result of a vacuum leak. Yes running a cor too lean will cause it to run hot adn yield a hot start issue by the engine getting too hot, but holding the choke closed will not cool the engine off.

To Packard V8

The need for a high presure pump inside a modern tank which is installed in a 56 Packard seems to be a solution searching for a problem. There are MILLIONS of older cars running on mech fuel pumps without a problem. In the past 2 years I did 30,000 miles in my 78 Buick and just theis weekend wnet to Providence and back n a 72 Dodge Dart.

We have sold tens of thousands of new and rebuilt mech fuel pumps over the years and while a very small % get returned which are defective,the most common cause of a "bad fuel pump" returned to us is rust/silt in the pump.

If you are going as far as replacing the tank/pump why not just put a Chevy 350 FI in the car, or better yet put the body on a Caprice cahssis and get rid of that damned Bendix Treadle Vac, the pesky Torsion Level and all those other "probelms".

Lets all get real here and work on reasonable solutions to real problems.

Happy Motoring

Well folks, I think we have beat this horse past the point of glue. Lets move on to better, and friendlier topics without getting beat over the head with manuals and subject to torture by clothespins.