Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Went to a lovely outdoor wedding near Rockford (about 75 miles) where the bride was delivered in a magnificent 1956 Patrician. Fun time!

Until next morning, when the car wouldn't start.

Carb was rebuilt this summer by a reliable mechanic. 93 octane Mobil. Complete tune about 250 miles ago. Temp about 44 degrees.

Wife claims she did what I do; put gas down to set choke, let gas up and crank. Somehow the car was flooded and despite several cycles of holding gas down and waiting 15 mins between tries was firing on one cylinder too few and would not run.

Eventually, a good Samaritan removed the air cleaner and stuck a screwdriver in the carb, where several magnificent backfires later it ran like a Swiss watch and pretended that nothing was wrong.

QUESTIONS:

1.) What procedure would you use to start the car.

2.) What should be happening in the carb; should the choke be fully closed at the start?

P.S.

Mileage is about 10 no m,atter what I do. this seems mighty low, so any suggestions would be appreciated. Exhaust is clean to see but leaves black soot on tail pipe.

Your starting procedure is correct. Your problem sounds like a stuck "ON" (always full rich) power valve and/or power piston. Certainly, the 10MPG and black soot in the tailpipe indicates that. Flooding at cold start with choke full on also indicates this since this would be a "double rich" condition.

Have someone who knows these carbs and knows what they are doing remove the 4GC and check/fix the power system.

Craig

Quote:

Aha! Very useful tips; many thanks! It seemed to me that acute flooding at what is a relatively benign temp was unusual.

Have we ever achieved consensus on what road mileage should be? I tend to be gentle with the car, although around here the tollway traffic bears a marked resemblance to a nascar road circuit. 70mph is routine; more is not unusual. Coming home today was bumper to bumper at 70 in construction zones (which is the entire tollway...)

My 55 Pat gets 15-17MPG on the freeway, 12-13MPG around town (stop & go). I don't "hot rod" it, but you have to go 70-80 on the freeways around here to not be run over.

Craig

with my 56,

i see if it will fire first, if it fires then you used the left over fuel,

then i hit the carb,,

i do this to non fuel injected engines

I have 4 old cars.......What I have learned in starting them is crank the engine before touching the gas pedal........then...... while still cranking depress gas pedal. It's an easy fix to flooding issues until you are able to adjust the choke with confidence. Hope this helps.

The technique I've worked out on my 56 Caribbean (dual quads) is that I always just lightly touch the gas pedal to reset the choke before starting EXCEPT when wanting a restart within 20 minutes or so of a shutdown after a long, hard and hot drive. In that case I just crank the starter without touching the gas - otherwise I've got to floor the gas pedal to unload the choke to get it started. With these two methods I pretty much get instant starts all the time except after long storage (14 days) when I have to crank a bit to fill the carbs.

I had a similar problem with my '56 Patrician after I had the carby rebuilt. The problem turned out to be exactly what Craig is suggesting. In my case a small hair or whisker, probably from the carby rebuilder, had lodged in the seat of the power valve which wouldn't allow it to reseat and seal properly. It was fixed simply by removing the hair. No prob's like this since and mileage has improved significantly. John