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Just purchased our first Packard...a '38. Appears to have a more modern engine (288 Thunderbolt) and carb (Carter 118-68).

Drove fine when it first arrived, now when parked after a short drive (10 miles) it doesn't want to start. If I prime the carb it will start and run again.

Anyone have a suggestion? Thanks,

Since priming seems to solve the problem will go under the assumption lack of fuel is the culprit and not flooding or electrical issues.

A question would be what you use to prime -- gasoline or starting fluid. If gasoline then I would look at loss of fuel or problems in the carb as a potential problem.

Todays gas seems to be quite volatile and is frequently reported as "boiling" away quickly after sitting in a hot carb over a hot manifold or leaking into the intake manifold. That could be part of the problem. You might verify if the bowl is dry after it sits awhile before the restart is tried. If you remove the air cleaner and move the linkage or have someone press the accelerator while looking down the carb throat you should see fuel forcefully squirting into the throat. If you do then the carb at least has some fuel but if nothing comes out then bowl could be empty or the accelerator pump is not working.

It it is empty and there are no signs of any leakage, many have added an auxiliary electric pump near the tank which can be switched on for a few seconds before a start to prime the fuel system and ensure the carb is filled.

If you are using starting fluid, ether is much more easily fired than gasoline so a hot engine could be compounding electrical issues. A hot engine causes some drag and needs more current to turn the starter. Any poor electrical connection or too small a cable or insufficient battery capacity can make what was a marginal system on a cold engine pull so much current on a hot engine the spark is unable to fire the plugs adequately. Gasoline may not fire but ether usually will on a car with a marginal spark.

G'day dumper,
to PackardInfo.

I invite you to include your '38 Packard in the Packard Owner's Registry.

Gas boiling away or porous castings are myths perpetuated by those who don't understand automobiles and rely on voodoo science to analyze problems.

If a casting were porous the gas would be leaking out onto the manifold while running and perhaps catch fire. If the FP were defective the car most likely would not be able to drive the 10 miles.

Most likely problems:

1. Choke is not closing after sitting

2. Accelerator pump is not working. When car is first started the choke is closed tightly enough to suck gas into the carb throat. After it is driven and the choke is wide open, if the accel pump is not functioning there is not enough gas in the throat of the carb to start it. Pouring gas in the carb fixes that. When the problem is encountered see if the choke is wide open, pump the accelerator and see if there is gas squirting into the throat.

The gas is most lkely boiling out of the carb. If it has a GLASS fuel bowl type filter near the carb then after shutting down the enginne watch the fuel in the glass bowl.

If the car is running fine otherwise then there could not possibly be anything wrong with accelerator pump. If something wrong with accelerator pump then there would be significant hesitation when ever the gas pedal is pressed down (even just a little bit) while driving.

AS long as the engine is little more than 1/2 way warm then the choke doesn't need to close unless it's a cold day.


I have problems with gas boiling out of carb on at least 4 of my vehicles with carburetors. Especialy the motorcycle. The 56 Packard will do the same on hot days.

Also check the heat riser on the exh manifaold to make sure it is not stuck closed.

Bottom line:
Look for a heat problem. Altho even curing any heat problemss may not solve the boilingg of gas from carb completely. This is NOT an uncommon problem with modern fuels.

Maybe block off any EXHAUST HEAT passages that may travel (usuaaly to the base of carb). I'm not real familiar with this particular engine construction. But in general there is usualy a cavity in the intake manifold that allows exh gases to pass near the carb. It was needed in the old days with old gasoline formulations. It also needed today under cold weather starting but can easily get away without it. Or maaaybe put a restrictor plate of some sort to only allow smaall amounts of exh gases to enter.

Also see reference material at the foot note of each of my posts labeled "Vapor Lock demystified".

Good heavens - I am embarssed - having to pick on Kanter again !

I noted in an earlier post this evening how grateful we should all be for the Kanter people - their outstanding, responsible business practices & their knowledge.

So it really bothers me to pick on them a second time in one evening ! And I hope this dosnt discourage them from coming in here ! We often learn more from people we disagree with !

But the fact is - they are mistaken about fuel boiling. My suspicion is that a properly functioning electric fuel pump would solve his problem.

The simple fact is - modern fuel has a MUCH MUCH higher "Reid Vapor Pressure" than the of gasoline that existed prior to modern fuel injection.

Virtually all modern cars are fuel injected, and that means virtually all modern cars get their fuel under pressure from high-pressure pumps, typically located in the gas tank.

The more you pressurize fuel, the less it can boil away. So modern fuel engineers are free to provide a MUCH more volatile fuel. Makes for much easier starting on really cold mornings.

Again, my recommendation to ALL cars with carbs. and the old style "suction-type" fuel pumps, is that you mount an electric fuel pump as close to your fuel tank as possible, at the lowest point in the fuel line as you can.

That will save a lot of cranking. The electric fuel pump will immediately get gas to that empty carb. bowl. The old style "suction-type" fuel pump mounted on the motor, TRIES to suck enough fuel thru the lines, to get enough fuel into the bowl of the carb., to get the thing started. But it may not..especially since SUCKING fuel effectively lowers its pressure, making it more likely to "vapor lock".

For those who want to know more about the issue of "vapor lock" (which, again, is nothing more than the simple boiling away of modern gasoline in our old unpressurized fuel lines) I recommend you "google" the issue into the "SAE JOURNAL" ( a publication of the Society Of Automotive Engineers - excellent source to learn much technical information, often presented in layman's language.!)

G'day shinyhubcap,
to PackardInfo.

I invite you to include your Packard/s in the Packard Owner's Registry.

Okay, so first things first: that engine and carb (which is probably a Carter WDO or WGD, 118-68 is the casting number on the metering rod cover, not the carb number) -- they're from a late 1940's or early 1950's car. Given how modern the engine setup is, relatively, this shouldn't be a problem AT ALL, electric fuel pump or not.

While it certainly is possible that you're percolating fuel from the bowl, you likely have a fuel delivery issue or possibly an ignition problem. You need to do some analysis to help us out here. When you can't get the car to start, does the accelerator pump squirt when you actuate the throttle? Can you get more than two good squirts? If so, you've still got fuel in the float at bowl and fuel starvation isn't your problem. Check spark. Check accelerator pump delivery when you know the bowl should be full.

I would assert that it could just as easily be a flooding condition as it could be a lack of fuel problem or electrical issue. But whatever it is, you certainly have a problem. With good fresh gas, a carburetor in good condition, strong compression, and good ignition, the engine should light off with just a few revs of the starter, hot or cold. Even on the hottest days, when operated at slow speeds, when operated at high seeds, with high amounts of engine heat, whatever, I've never had trouble getting the '36 Eight I'm most familiar with to start. And I'm in California where E10 is the only gasoline available. My '52 Patrician has a 327 but a very similar setup to your 288 and it also has never had that issue, so blaming external causes like the general quality of fuel may not carry much weight - we're all using the same gas, and others aren't having that issue...so it's probably something to do with your car.

These cars were very well engineered and were quite reliable when they were new. Find out what's not right and put it back the way it's supposed to be. If there's an insulator that's supposed to be between the carb and manifold, put it back. If the choke is supposed to be set 1 notch rich, set it there. It's impossible to properly diagnose an issue without a solid foundation. Have you done a full tuneup per the Packard specs?