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I got my car home yesterday and took out for a good drive. As expected, the long drive has caused a few minor issues to show themselves. I could use some help.

First, at the end of the drive I noticed fuel coming out of the carburetor at the point shown here:




It seems to “percolate” from around the brass until the engine cools down. Thoughts?

Second, the valve cover gaskets were replaced. The rear one was essentially non-existent before. However, I now have a slight leak around each of the bolts for the rear valve cover. Any thoughts on how to best remedy this? (Note the valve cover gasket is not leaking…it just sort of looks that way from the oil running down from the bolt locations)







Lastly, my speedometer started screaming at me tonight and the needle started bouncing around. I pulled over and disconnected the cable for the remainder of the drive home. After some searching, I finally found the posts from Packard Newbie (Chris). It looks like I’ll be pulling out the speedometer and reaching out to Pat (Bill’s Speedometer shop).

On a high note, the blinking light issue is solved. I was clearly just on the threshold of the thermostatic relay before. I have switched to LED bulbs for the headlights, parking lights, tail lights, and brake lights. They are much brighter and drawing a fraction of the current. No issues with blinking lights!

I would greatly appreciate help with the first two items.

In the meantime, here is a nice picture of my car back home where she belongs!

On mine, the bolts that fasten the valve covers on have brass gaskets under them, like washers just like on the oil pan plug. Neoprene O-Rings could also work as they would take the heat.
As you know mine is a '53 Patrician 9 main with a 4V carb so it is different, at a guess, is that the bushing where the butterfly accelerator rod comes out of the throttle body? Could it have worn and allow a fuel leak? If so it would need to be machined, but other wiser members will know for sure.
On the speedometer, it might be worth a try at simply removing the head and oiling it, there is a hole to do so. I suspect it has never been oiled so it would not hurt.
I have attached the image Big Kev sent me and it worked a treat on mine.
Good luck
Bob J.

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  Oiling hole.jpg (418.89 KB)

Thanks, Bob. All very helpful.

I will try lubricating the speedo and cable before sending it off, but in the near future, I will likely send it off anyway since I will also be sending my oil pressure and temp gauges to another shop to be rebuilt. I’m currently using new temporary gauges for those.

I do have copper gaskets under the valve cover bolts. I’ll definitely be interested in any other suggestions.

For the carburetor, I believe you are correct that is the butterfly accelerator rod.

If the cover is gouged or at one time the bolts were tightened too much so the cover distorted under the copper gasket, the copper being hard would likely not seal and could be the reason it leaks. If that is the case you could try neoprene sealing washers. There are several styles which have rubber bonded to a steel washer. That type washer would press rubber against the cover as well as seal tightly against the bolt circumference.

Or simply apply Permatex Gasket Sealant under the washer. Wipe any excess after tightening and it is almost invisible. This is not a high pressure oil area, just a splashing affect from the valve train.
Had another thought on your "percolating", is the heat riser valve stuck? That may cause excessive heat on the carb's base and boil the gas in the are? Just a thought.
Bob J.

Bob - I'm not very knowledgeable on this topic. For the carburetor, what you mention has my attention. Thoughts on the needle valve seem odd to me as that where fuel is coming in to the carb and once if the car is not running, the pump isn't pumping either so there really isn't any more fuel entering.

Can you educate me on the heat riser valve?

I just found another post on this site related to the heat riser valve. Post #14 mentions another symptom I also have ...dribble black soot on the ground from the tailpipe if it was parked and idling for a few minutes"


https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?start=10&topic_id=21997&order=ASC&status=&mode=0

The tailpipe soot and a few drops of water are normal when an engine is idling in cool weather, especially if the car has been started, but not driven yet. Starting the car and backing out of a garage can be expected to cause this condition in anything but hot weather. There is always some soot in the exhaust system, and normal water condensation in the cool mufflers and tailpipe tends to wash some of it out.

The gas leaking at the throttle shaft could indicate "percolation" from engine heat, or it could indicate a high float level, a leaking float valve, or possibly a leaking check ball or gasket in the carburetor. If the leak shows up when the engine is started cold, and run for a minute or two, then shut down, it is not caused by percolation. The most likely cause would be a leaking float valve.
Normally, when an engine is shut down, there is some fuel pressure left in the line from the pump to the carburetor. This can be enough to cause flooding if the float valve leaks, even though the pump is not operating.

TxGoat has pretty much covered it. Just because the car is off does not mean there is not any fuel pressure, if nothing else than simple gravity pulling the fuel already in the carb down to ground level. A wonky non-sealing float valve allows gas to bypass it and drain into the lower body of the carb. Could be as simple as varnish build-up from evaporating gas over the winter. Sometimes a shot of carb cleaner does the trick. (All engines produce water vapour when started until hot enough to dry out the internals of the engine.) I would be more worried if there was NOT a dribble of water out the tail pipe!
As to the heat riser valve. You should be able to move it by hand. It has a bi-metal spring on it to act as an over ride and lift the counterweight to have it set to cause exhaust gasses to warm up the carb base and relieve the choke quickly in cold weather. As has been stated numerous times on this site, our old cars do not really need this feature anymore as the weather we usually drive them in is usually not the bitter cold of winter, and we tend to baby them until warmed up anyway, not hurrying to get to work in stop/go traffic. So it is fine to wire the valve so it is always in the 'warm' configuration, i.e., the counterweight is dropped. This is what the bi-metal spring does when new when the engine is warm.

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Okay...I truly appreciate all the help. Thank you!.

Here's where I'm at today.


1) I believe the leak around the valve cover bolts is taken care of....installed the neoprene washers and that seems to be all it needed.
2) Thanks to the several posts on this site and advice from Kevin, my speedometer is happy once again. The only casualty is one lost screw. I'm guessing no one will notice the phillips head replacement. And yes, that's not the only screw I've lost!!!
3) some additional info on the carburetor issue. The leak doesn't start until a couple of minutes after I shut the car off. I drove it today and got it up to temp while testing out the newly lubricated speedometer. I check as soon as I shut off the car and there was no leak until about two or three minutes later. Anyway, based on the feedback it sounds like a carburetor rebuild is in order. I don't think that has been done since the 1960s. It's probably due.
I do see the heat riser coil as pointed out, but I'm not sure I'm seeing the counterbalance weight...Here are photos.







4) Another issue has popped up. I knew these types of things would start showing themselves once the car was getting driven some after sitting for so long. I have a small coolant leak somewhere, but I can't locate the source.

I thought I may have taken care of this as the lower clamp on the lower radiator hose wasn't very tight. That clearly was not the source.


Where I am seeing coolant accumulate the most is around the area of the right shock. I don't see anything on the left side. I'm not seeing anything around the water pump, but it's a tight spot and hard to see. It's not a major leak...what is shown in the pictures is after it sitting over night. Any thoughts?