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So this is my first posting and I am in need of some advice on where to begin searching for the problem I am having with my standard 8. I recently had it in a garage where a electric fuel pump was removed and a rebuilt fuel pump was installed in addition to a rebuilt Stromberg carburetor. As well, the automatic choke was worked on and the valves were adjusted. When I purchased the car several years ago it had gone through a rebuild and I reviewed the receipts to verify. The care supposedly had only about 100 miles or so on it when I purchased it. When I took it out of the last maintenance event the car ran well but still had a very slight miss. Got it home. It sat for a few weeks. Went to start it and it ran rough and did not want to stay running. I thought it was the choke not opening but even fully open the car runs rough. When I rev the engine it bogs down. Began by checking all the wires, cap, coil wires to make sure they were tight. Systematically began removing the plug wires and found that the third cylinder from the front appeared to not be firing. Checked the plug and wire both are good. Soooo....Im assuming its in the distributor or coils or the advance is not working properly. (Possible short somewhere?) Car starts and idles ok, slight miss. Spark to that third cylinder seems weak and intermittent by comparison to the others? I would appreciate any input. I've read that a vacuum leak could be an issue as well. I've also read that a service bulletin by Packard indicated the distributor should be grounded to avoid weak spark. Would I see weak spark in all of the cylinders or just one. If its just one cylinder, is it possible the mechanic didn't set the points correctly? He installed a dual point Chrysler mod I believe from Max Merritt... Sorry, know this is a lot but want to give as much info as possible. Thanks.

G'day Dan(626guy),
to PackardInfo! But I'll leave it to the experts to advise you in regard to your problems.

Instead I invite you to include your '34 1101 in the Packard Owner's Registry alongside your '29 Standard Eight Sedan already in residence there.

The weak spark to #3 spark plug only is puzzling. I recommend to start by checking the #3 distributor cap terminal very carefully to make sure there is no conductivity problem there. If that appears to be OK I'd swap the #3 spark plug wire with another wire; if the problem remains at #3 then you'll know for sure that the wire is good. Try swapping the spark plug; if the problem remains then the plug is good. I'm not familiar with the modified points installed but if it still uses dual coils I recommend swapping the coils around. If the problem remains at #3 try swapping the condensers. If there's no change then it doesn't appear to be an ignition component problem and more extensive engine diagnostics are called for.

Grounding the distributor is certainly a good idea, but as you point out if the lack of a ground is the problem then weak sparking should be occurring at more than one cylinder. It would be good to check the vacuum but I'm not sure this condition is consistent with a vacuum leak. A vacuum leak could not cause a weak spark. I hope you can get to the bottom of this problem quickly and it can be repaired easily.

JUST ONE MANS OPINION
being just #3 i would

1st - when the suns gone down pull the DistCap cover and c if u have any fireworks going on
2nd - swap #3 wire with #6
3rd - swap #3 plug with another
4th - ck the inside of the Cap for carbon tracking and/or corrosion on term #3

BTW - Its an Eight. NOT a Standard Eight. Believe PACKARD stopped ref to the smaller eights as Standard in '32. Im sure if im wrong with '32 someone will correct me.

Assuming the conclusion that it's just a weak spark to #3, I agree with Packardbarry and Don, it's most likely between the spark plug and the rotor, most likely the distributor cap, and you can ignore the points, condenser and coil as suspects.

But I really wonder about that conclusion when I read that you say it wouldn't stay running and bogged down when trying to accelerate - those are not symptoms I'd expect from simply a weak spark to 1 cylinder -heck, even a car with a completely dead cylinder will idle adequately though a bit roughly and accelerate nearly normally. Even with one dead coil those cars will idle smoothly and accelerate (though with little power) on just 4 cylinders. So I suspect the main problem lies elsewhere, not to exclude that you might also have a distributor cap or wire problem. First thing that comes to mind is a large vacuum leak; there is an available plug for testing vacuum in the fitting adjacent to the Bijur jar; connect a vacuum gauge - you should expect 18-20 inches of vacuum at idle. If the vacuum is lower than 17 or so inches, check all the usual places like the intake manifold gaskets, the Stromberg automatic choke gasket, carburetor base gasket, main vacuum take-off line gasket on the intake manifold, vacuum booster section of the fuel pump, and the metal and rubber lines associated with the wipers, Bijur and power brake control valve.

AND the Intake Manifold Dump CHECK VALVE

Finger over the end at idle will tell u if its closing.

Thanks gentlemen for all of the great suggestions so quickly! I will begin following your instructions and see where it leads me. Owens suggestion about the vacuum brought to mind another point. When I advance the accelerator quickly I occasionally get blowback or popping sound through the carb. Would that be suggestive of a vacuum leak? Your right in that the car idles, starts and runs rough. It is the poor accleration and the fact that it occasionally wants to die that makes me wonder if its more than just poor fire to one cylinder. Further, it smells very rich when running. I assumed again that one cylinder intermittently not firing could be the cause of the rich smell but could a vacuum leak do the same? Regardless, Ill check for a vacuum issue as well as run through the distributor and coil suggestions. Thanks again for the help.

I will definitely include it in the registry if I can ever get my head out from under the hood! Its on my list. Thanks!

"I will definitely include it in the registry if I can ever get my head out from under the hood"

Dan,

Ministrations to your ailing Packard to return it to full health of course take precedence!

You may have more than one thing causing your miss and running problems. A compression check will verify condition of cylinders.

(o{}o)