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

Howdy all, my first post here.
I am a close friend of a Packard collector who recently passed and I have been trying to get his vehicles up and running after a couple years idle. The '53 Caribbean is the one I have spent the most time fiddling with - it had a leak from the line into the fuel pump which I fixed. It turns over smoothly, and fuel is getting to the carb, but it never fires. I am assuming a coil issue at this point. Curious if anyone has any thoughts on chasing that down (should I just find and swap in a new coil and see?). I am a car guy and helped worked on his Packards as a kid, but it has been ~15 years since last time I was under the hood of a Packard so I am rustier than a NY junkyard car.

Also having issues starting a '47 8-passenger limo, and '40 180 but I'll save those for another day!

Good Morning...If you have power to the distributor, it might be as simple as cleaning the points...Ernie in Arizona

Good call! I will give that a try next. Something I rarely think about since my own cars I replaced all the points with electronic ignition when I first bought them. I never remember to think about points!

Hi Rob,
I'm with Ernie on the points check. If you have a points file, you can freshen them up with that, otherwise, some 3-400 grit sandpaper folded in half and inserted into the points and pulled back out while holding them gently closed can 'break' possible oxidization on points that have sat for a bit. I'd also do a quick ohms test on the condenser while I was in there. I've had that be a 'non-starter' solution as well. Chris.

And if your distributor is one of those with the very flexible fabric wrapped wire connecting the points/condenser inside terminal and the outside terminal, the fabric on the wire can rot and have a chunk drop off letting the wire short.

If you use sandpaper which is the way I do it too (or a file if the oxidation is heavy), be sure to blow away any abrasive, then drag a small, clean piece of paper through in the same manner to remove any residue. If only lightly oxidized, sometimes even the paper by itself will work.

Thanks y'all! I will give those a shot next time I am at the garage, and circle back. Appreciate the fast replies.

It's a great car that sadly had a few years of neglect. I would really like to see it back on the road again along with the rest of them.

My dad always used a paper match book striker. Was always handy in his pocket lol....
Join the conversation on "starting issues 2126 still." maybe we can figure those two out together.

Could the fuel be stale from sitting??