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

My 34 standard has a over heating problem.I have cleaned the inside of the water jacket.cleaned radiator.rebuilt water pump.When I take the heater hose of I get no water coming out if it if I rase it to the top of the radiator like the pump is not pumping.Could I be missing something in the pump.THanks Tim

G'day Tim,
to PackardInfo. Sorry to hear about your overheating problem but will leave it to the more knowledgeable here to offer opinions and advice. Instead, I invite you to include your '34 Standard Eight in the Packard Owner's Registry here on PackardInfo.

Tim, make sure you have enough water I the system. I drilled an 1/8" hole in my thermostat before I installed it to make sure I didn't have air trapped in the system.

If no water is touching the thermostat, it may not open at all.

I'm dealing with a '48, but the principle should be the same.

Joey, the principle of operation in the 34 is quite different for the postwar cars. The thermostat mounts in the top radiator tank, it's simply immersed in the water and is not in line with any water circuit. As it heats it operates a linkage system which opens the radiator shutters, thus allowing air flow thru the radiator.

These prewar seniors are pretty immune to overheating, the radiator is of a very generous size. Is it possible your water pump rebuilder failed to properly affix the impellor to the shaft?

Thanks, Dave. That's good to know. You learn something every day if you remain humble.

A thought - Is the thermostat linkage connected, or connected properly so that it opens the shutters?

My 34 standard has a over heating problem

A little more information might be helpful for a diagnosis. Overheating always? Or just a road speeds? Only in stressful conditions like hot days stuck in traffic? Define overheating - to what temperatures? If you're relying on the temperature gauge, have you verified it with a thermometer or IR temperature gun?

Fan belts tight (pump is on an eccentric mount which tightens the belts by rotating)? Are the shutters opening? The Fulton Sylphon thermostat is rated for 160 deg. F. and at that point the shutters should be fully open.

It will steam out the radiator if you drive 50 mph in about one mile.the shutters are stuck open.I have taken the heater hose of the top of the head the water will not come out if you raise it above the radiator like the pump is not pumping.Is there anything around the impeller to make it work?

The pump impellor sits in a cavity cast into the engine block. Hard to envision anything could be wrong there.

Tell me about the current setup of the oil filter heat exchanger mounted on the front of the water jacket side cover plate. Is it still intact? In order for coolant to flow thru the water distribution plate the heat exhanger muct be intact. Specifically, if you block off the water flow thru the oil cooler, then no coolant can pass thru to the rest of the distribution jacket.

I can't comment on your heater hose question as my 34 has the Kelch hot air heater and I don't know how your hot water heater was connected - I've seen several differnt arrangements of water take-offs and returns. A photo of the heater connections might be helpful.

Dear wedrivethemall:

I assume you can blow through the heater hose going to the cylinder head. Sometimes those valves are clogged or soldered shut to prevent leaks.

The check what OD said about the oil cooler housing is an easy test. Take off the radiator hoses and fill the system with a hose via the motor outlet. If it backs up easily you have a flow problem. If you want to use a block off plate the water jacket needs to be modified from the backside to allow flow.

I once dealt with a case as follows: The temperature gauge would read 160-180 and it would spout water out the radiator. My inclination was cracked block so I called around for a place with a five gas emissions analyzer to test for CO in the radiator vapors. I got absolutely nowhere because nobody understood what I was talking about. "You want to test whaaaat?"

So I bought some CO test strips from McMaster-Carr, put them under plastic cup sealed to the top of the radiator, sealed the overflow tube with a cork, and ran the motor.
When the test came back negative I fixed a hole in the filler neck, made a new seal for the radiator cap, lowered the overflow tube (it was even with the very top of the filler neck), and let the coolant seek it's own level.

Sometimes these old motors have have problems when the coolant level is too high. I dealt with a Caddy 12 that did the same thing for years. If you filled the coolant too high it would spout out the radiator cap until it got to a certain level. The temperature gauge never got very high. It could have been cavitating, but it didn't use water and so the owner jut drove it that way.