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Fellow Packard owners - I am a fairly new custodian of a 1931 833 so before I start making mistakes I felt it best to ask the men who own them.

When I first acquired the car 2 years ago it ran like a top, no overheating problems. I did the worst thing - I let the car sit for about 10 months - and just took it out today after checking all fluids. I have many other antique cars, so I am not totally dense, but the Packard is the most lavish and advanced. The car I have is an older restoration, probably in the early 1980s.

After running the car on the road for about 5 to 10 minutes, at local traffic speeds, the engine started boiling over. I let the car sit, started it again, and the same problem. I do not have the louvres on the radiator. I assume there is a thermostat and I suppose the thermostat is stuck from sitting? Hope it is that simple.

Before I start taking things apart, I respectfully ask men with more knowledge than I what should I do first, step by step, so I dont screw anything up.

Thanks,
Don

Two things:
#1, thermostat stuck
#2, coolant leaked enough to cause an air bubble in the engine. Looks full but isn't.

Unless it's been modified, the only thermostat you should have should be the shutter thermostat (Pines Winterfront).

Don,

Since you didn't have trouble before the car sat I'd check the following:

1. Is the radiator belt adjusted tight?

2. Are the Pines radiator shutters opening fully?

3. Check ignition timing, retarded timing will increase temp.

4. If checking the above doesn't solve the problem drain the system and back flush. If you have the original style honeycomb radiator these are more susceptible to clogging due to the smaller water passages that the tube and fin design.

The best way to back flush is to use compressed air in addition to water.

I've made up a fitting that connects into the bottom radiator pipe and has a connection for water and air. I flow the water first then slowly open the air fitting. The combination of water and bubbling air works well on dislodging accumulated rust and debris. If you do this be careful not to pressurized the radiator with more than 5 psi otherwise you risk damage. When I first tried this I had a pressure gauge on the fitting so I would know when to limit the air going in.

If you have a lot of debris you may want to remove the water jacket plate and clean this out. You can also remove the shutter stat mounted on the radiator that controls the radiator shutters to gain access to the top of the radiator tank. Usually the top of the core here is caked with debris.

If you pull the water jacket plate off check the water distribution tubes in the plate to make sure they are not rusted out.

Regards,

Dave

32Model901 gives good advice. Just as an afterthought, the professional flushing guns that accept both a garden hose and compressed air fitting with a trigger to activate and a stepped nozzle to fit various size radiator hoses is a VERY handy tool to have. They're seen occasionally at the larger car flea markets for $15 or so and well worth having, even if you use it with success just once. Good thing to keep your eye out for.

K.R. Wilson made a good radiator flushing nozzle, with air fitting and stepped nozzle per Owen's previous post.

See:

krwilsontools.com/pages/tools/miscellaneous.html

Rad flushing nozzle.

Gentlemen:

Thanks for your excellent explanations and advice. I'll report back how I made out. Thanks again,
Don

Quote:G'day Don,
to PackardInfo, and I invite you to include your '31 833 in the Packard Owner's Registry here, together with a pic, any known history and how you acquired it?

Hi Don,

I hope this doesn't sound silly to you or the rest of them but how far up in the radiator do you fill it with coolant/water?

When I inherited my car back in '96 I would keep filling the radiator all the way to the top and had the same thing like you happen to me it would boil over. So the next time I went to fill it up I only filled it to where the coolant/water just covered the top of the fins and the boiling over subsided. This may or may not be your problem but it worked for me from boiling over.

Ed - based on your last name, I suppose you are the expert in this matter!!
Thanks,
Don