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i know some one will be able to explain this to me real easy.
in the fender well on my '52, near the aentenna for the radio there is a tank like object. Kind of long and narrow with rubber tubing. the tubing goes to the engine, under the carb , on exhaust. so i think this has to do with vacuum
. the tubing looks ok. i think at some point i should replace it. does this have any bearing on the workings of the wipers? i do believe one tube must go to the trans. am i correct?
thanks in advance for the lesson. i tried a search but came up zero.
have a great packard day.

At first I thought it would be the vacuum reserve tank; assuming your car has power brakes its purpose is to provide enough vacuum for one or more brake applications after the engine has shut down or stalled. But you say it's on the passenger side? Is you car RHD? I believe the vacuum reserve tank for LHD cars was on the driver side, inside the front fender well. It's vacuum was drawn from the intake manifold and included a check valve to retain the vacuum after engine shut-down.

Perhaps you can provide a picture? And the exact routing of the lines?

As O_D mentioned, should be on drivers side if brake reserve. Nothing to do with the wipers or trans. Trans has no vacuum connections and wiper supply is from a port on or near carb or intake manifold to fuel pump upper vacuum section and then out pump to wipers. If it has a windshield washer there will be a connection at wiper motor top opposite the supply and that vacuum line goes to bottle lid.

If you have power brakes, a vacuum diagram for the brake system showing the reserve tank is herepackardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/SC/SC-VOL26NO5.pdf on page 18. No diagram for the wipers as I recall.

thanks guys. tank is on drivers side near the radio aentenna. i will check more tomorrow. off to work now.
i should have checked the one line more complete b 4 i wrote this question. see, never assume, this is like being a detective. it probably goes to the brake. which is cool because i did not think i had power brakes.
more later and thanks

hello guys.
yes, i do have Packard Easamatic
brakes. Cool. I did not know i had them. I opened the file you told me to read and that is what i have. thanks

and i got my heater fan to work today. new switch and fuse.
so now i need to get the wipers in better working order.
they go up when you turn them on and stop at the top and stay there. they will go down when you turn them off. but that is all they do. better than nothing i guess. I followed the steps here to lubricate. i did it twice and this is the best i get.
Have a great packard day guys. i wish i could stay home from work today and just play wwith the car. more tomorrow.
th

If you have good vacuum to the wipers, doesn't sound as if lubing wiper motor will do much more so a rebuild is probably in order. There are some hard rubber vacuum port selector sliders which can warp & dry out or the leather seal on paddle can leak. From the symptom, it kind of sounds like the reversing valve may not be switching or is leaking.

Out of curiosity, if moving the blades manually--no vacuum--, when nearing almost the top of sweep and almost the bottom (not park position at full down but a couple of inches up) there should be a small click coming from the motor as the reversing valve snaps to direct the vacuum to the other side. If you hear that snap, then something is most likely leaking, if not hearing it then a spring may be broken or the valve stuck. Either one will probably need a rebuild and since the motor has likely not been touched in 60 years, not a bad idea anyway.

Ficken wipers comes highly recommended for the rebuilds.wiperman.com/ They have done many for members here with high marks and decent turnaround.

hh56. you are a wealth of information. yes, i think a rebuild is in order. and i do not hear a click.