Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Exactly so, my '51 Packard 200 was running hot w/o boiling over, temp gauge always in the upper 1/4 (hot). The change was relatively fast from middle heat range on gauge to hot....probably had the condition for 6 mos. I did all of the diagnostics and when I checked the vacuum advance.....no advance....so I sent the vacuum advance to Jason at AER and it came back looking new and working. Now the temp is back to the middle of the gauge and "Black Beauty" (the '51 Packard) is once again "COOL"

A leaking vacuum advance has the affect of retarding the ignition timing. This contributes to a hotter running engine, not to mention the performance that suffers. Good catch and a good idea for us to not overlook this with an engine that runs hot.

(o{}o)

Had my car out today. It's 29C or about 80F. Short run through town...ok. Out on to the highway for some speed. 60 - 65... temp needle did not get completely past the 1/2 way dot. Pulled off the highway and took the two lane home. Needle moved back over top of the dot and stayed there. Figure 180F was likely my max temp. Oh what a happy day!
I'm runnin'

Gentlemen: Found a possible contributor to my issue of the engine running hot. A piece of exhaust pipe bent rather poorly. It looks like someone tried to bend it by hand, and in doing so, collapsed it somewhat. In installing new exhaust pipes because I knew they were not correct for several reasons, I re-discovered this piece of pipe. I had forgotten that it was there.

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Good catch! A restricted exhaust is on all the usual lists of candidates for overheating contributors.

Better check the ignition timing.

Rechecking the timing is on the list when spring rolls around and winter projects on the car are completed and all this stuff is gone. First picture is my son digging out the shed to get more gas for the blower and the second is my back door this morning. No cooling issues if I were out driving now!

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Looks like my house! We got 16" today. Snow is certainly not my preferred method of fixing overheating either.

Thought I would post this picture. Some have told me it's not required. A very experienced Packard person that I was directed to and called said if I could market it as a kit, I could sell these. It took some fiddlin', but I got it fabricated and installed. Just waiting for the snow to clear and the salt to get washed away to go for a test run to see how well it works, but most of all, clearance so it doesn't scrape under acceleration/deceleration.

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Looks interesting. I've often wondered why Packard never felt the need for a shroud -- even with the fan several inches away from the core -- yet most of the other mfgs did use something Be awaiting the final report as to how much it changes things.

Have you noticed much variation between the temp gauges. I see you put your extra sender in the hose above the thermostat. I didn't need a second gauge quite as much since the 21st is already mechanical but a second opinion is never bad. Debated as to which location would be better. Finally elected to put mine below so it was mostly out of sight. Downside to the way I did mine is the original bellows type thermostat has to be replaced with a capsule type because the sender stuck out a bit and was in the path of the bellows. Maybe not a bad thing changing thermostat types if you believe the Gus story reposted a day or so ago.

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