Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Today I had arranged to take my '55 back to my mechanic's shop to have a couple of adjustments taken care of and I almost made it.

About half way there I was cruising along around 60 (I can tell that now since I rebuilt my speedometer, thanks to Howard) when I started losing power and then the engine just stopped. I tried to restart but no dice. At least I got to the side of the freeway. Whipping out my tool box (AKA - Cellphone) I called AAA and after about 20 minutes the flat bed ambulance arrived. With about a foot to spare from the right hand lane and a foot and a half between the car and a retaining wall, there was no way I was going to try to find the trouble myself there.

Got to the shop where I tricked the T-L into raising the rear end enough so that the tow truck driver didn't have to use all the wood he had with him again to unload the car. He had never heard of the Torsion-Level Suspension or probably Packard before and he was amazed.

I then decided to take a look under the hood to see if I could spot something amiss. It didn't take long. The pivot pin on the fuel pump had just about worked its way out. It was my mechanic who had rebuilt the fuel pump.
He was pretty good natured about it as I said the famous words "when you want something done right....."

Anyway I was just very grateful that it wasn't anything more serious.

More news as it happens -

There is a clip inside the pump that holds the shaft. If that clip is missing the shaft will move.

I always found that I could never out produce a competent specialist, and that it was in the best interest of the customer to out source when possible. Only when the customer's car has an exception core is it worth doing the work in house. There are a few places for which that isn't true, but they aren't handling items that are critical functionality.

That happens more often that you might think. Obviously not just a Packard thing. I had a friend who had that happen with a Packard V8 and the arm (I think it was the arm) fell into the timing chain cavity, pretty much destroyed the chain and sprockets, and ultimately punched a hole in the timing chain cover.

So consider yourself fortunate.

OUCH!!!! I guess I got lucky all the way around. And thanks, Tim, for the info about that clip. It certainly sounds like the likely culprit.

My mechanic is like many small independent shop owners. He is getting close to retirement but still wants his people to have something. With all the different kinds of hardware that's needed to work on todays cars with changes in that hardware as well as software, sometimes every year and the high price of diagnostic tools for each make and sometimes model - if they are available at all he feels he has to specialize to survive. The only way HE sees is to concentrate on the cars like we and our kind value. I'm not a big conspiracy fancier but, if it walks like a duck.... The upshot is that he is trying to teach some of the young guys the skills necessary to work on older cars. I try to support him as much as I am (financially) able. Sometimes though, stuff happens.

No, you and your mechanic are not paranoid. It's been a war waged by the vehicle manufacturers for years - trying to keep owners from circumventing the dealer network for service. Ironically, the level of complexity drives many good technicians away from the dealerships - often to independent shops. Meanwhile, the average age of a vehicle on the road is now over 10 years (and climbing), and that's not merely a reflection of product durability.

I think it's great that your mechanic is trying to teach the younger fellas about the old ways. With PackardInfo's archive at your disposal, you might wanna provide him with hard copy of pages from the shop manual (and any relevant bulletins) for his pupils to study.

It may be impossible to tell why the rocker arm pin clip was not installed, but one sentence from the shop manual text on fuel pump assmbly might have made all the difference.

Attach file:

---

  (15.64 KB)

One thing I noticed from the rebuild kit I got when I did mine, was that the original shaft had the groove for the clip, and the replacement shaft in the kit did not. So I reused by original one as it was still in good shape.

Quote:

That is what happened in my case as well. With the pin having escaped almost the whole way, I could clearly see that there wasn't any groove for the clip. Unfortunately, the original pin DID make good its escape so we're working on a plan "B".

Has anyone contacted our suppliers about the groove being absent? My kit came from THEN AND NOW and it was obviously without. Might this be something like the gasket problem with the B-T-V repair kits?

Any ideas about how to make the pin stay put?

If you don't have a lathe, just have a local machine shop cut the groove for the clip.

If you have an old car and don't have some machine shop equipment of your own and the associated skills, it's wise to nurture a good relationship with a competent local machine shop, you'll find it useful on many occasions.

Loctite makes a cylindrical parts fluid. Not sure what the number is for it off the top of my head. Look at a loctite website or ask a jobber. HOWEVER, i'm not sure i would prefer that in this case tho i've used it many times on wollowed out wheel bearing races. IT does work well.

Need to check original pin against pin that comes in the kit for hardness. I don't have one handy rite now to check. Thry a file against the pin(s) in a non critical area to determine if OEM pin is hard and/or replacement pin is hard (or soft). I'm guessing the pin is either drill rod or cyanide hardened which would make it dificult to machine. A screw in each end, or a longer pin with clips externaly on each end (if possible externaly) or internal clips on newly machined grooves. IT IS IMPORTANT TO DETERMINE PROPER HARDNESS, IF ANY, FOR THE PIN!!!!

Pin mite not be hardened if arm is case hardened which most likely is due to holding up to wear from the cam lobe AND sterngth.

IIRC tHere is some past thread here at P'info.com from probably about 3 years ago that indicates a Ford pump that will fit the Packard V8. Try a search. Just go buy it ata local auto parts store and get on with life.