Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Here are the basics:

1940 120 sedan
Rebuilt starter, brand new battery, new solenoid, good grounds, good cables. Engine has a new head gasket, and the car was just running in November. It stays garaged, as it is being restored.

We are considering the idea of a 12v conversion, but would rather keep the car pure and original. Any ideas out there?

Also, when it does run, once it warms up, it stalls and dies, like it starves for fuel. Has a new gas tank with electric fuel pump. It gets plenty of fuel. The climatic control was one notch rich (stock setting), I adjusted it to about three. It seemed to do okay after it got up to operating temp. But once it cooled down and we tested it again, we had the same issue. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Once we get it to stay running, and we drive it around the block, the car falls on its face in second gear. It has a slight miss at idle, very noticeable while driving, especially in second. The wires are OEM style, but they are arcing to the block. My experience says this isn't normal.

And finally, the Aero-Drive is jammed, luckily not in gear. How is this repaired?

What gauge are the battery cables? Anything smaller than what was stock will cause it to crank hard. Also, did you put fresh fuel in it recently, or is the old stuff from November still in there? It's possible that the gas has went bad, this newer stuff can go bad rather quickly as compared to 20 years ago.

Turbopackman is absolutely correct re: battery cable gauge (size). If that car came with a braided ground cable make sure it has a good one now. You can still buy braided groud cables from NAPA, Tractor supply, etc. in many different lengths.
Make absolutely certain that someone before you did not put 12V cables on the car--they won't do the trick.
You might also consider getting an Optima 6V battery after the one you have dies. They put out a lot more amps than the lead acid 6 volters we're getting these days.

Remember, these cars started every day, winter and summer when they were new, and properly maintained they should continue to do so on 6 volts. Battery cables should be O gauge at a minimum.

I will check the cables tonight, the ground cable isn't a braided cable, so I will try your suggestion and buy one from Tractor Supply. The battery is an 800cca 6V. Brand new as of November. IF I recall correctly, these cars DID come with a braided ground. I worked on a '39 Six and it had a braided ground.

Not to flog this subject unnecessarily, and of course a braided cable from a view towards authenticity is nice, but your battery is beneath the seat and the cable isn't visible anyway; much more important are current-carrying capacity (0 gauge or better) of the cables and a very clean ground connection. If after satisfying the needs on proper cables and clean connections the car still cranks slowly with a good battery, I'd pull the starter motor for a checkover.

Owen Dyneto--the reason I espouse the braided cable is not for the sake of authenticity, but for the superior current carring ability that a braided ground offers over most round cables. You would need double or triple "ot" fine-wire round cable to come close to handling the current that a braided cable offers. I've seen ot, double, triple ot welding wire used, and that's fine, but the braided cables were used by Packard (and many others) are not some obscure thing you have to pay botique prices for, nor are they hard to find. I've had this very discussion over on the AACA website, and there is a "wirez is wirez" attitude some folks have. I've seen the difference on more than one 6V vehicle.

"wirez is wirez"? I agree, totally untrue. We are buying a braided cable tomorrow. I noticed tonight that while we were cranking it over, the ground wire got extremely hot, and when i touched the battery terminal, it almost burnt my hand. I checked the fuel, it smelled a bit like turpentine, so we went ahead and flushed the filter and carb, and put fresh gas in it. this seemed to help the firing. It almost caught a few times, but it's just not there yet.

Quote:
"If after satisfying the needs on proper cables and clean connections the car still cranks slowly with a good battery, I'd pull the starter motor for a checkover."

The starter has been rebuilt within the past year and has been tested time and time again with no issues.

We are getting a 1000 cranking amp battery and a braided cable tomorrow, we'll see how everything pans out from there.

I think the "hot" cable tells you all you need to know in terms of a diagnosis. And don't forget a clean ground with sufficient area to it.

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Have you checked the heat riser thermostat spring and trap-door to make sure they are operating correctly. My '54 was missing it's spring when I got it. Not sure what the configuration for that thermostat spring is on the prewar models, but I figure it must have something similar.