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I had the guts yesterday to drive my 23rd series on a 40 mile trip on a 90-plus degree day including mountains and heavy traffic. She ran near boiling. The packard cooling works great when moving, even up hill, but she does not like to sit at idle at lights and traffic jams. I have already done the obvious fixes like a rebuilt radiator and a new water pump. The timing is on the money and the exhaust is new. I don't want to pull the nice running engine now to clean the block, so a quick fix is adding an electric cooling fan in front of the radiator.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a really good electric cooling fan that works on a Packard? Where is the best place to mount it, high or low on the radiator? This could be operated by a manual switch or possibly a thermostatic switch.

SPAL is the only brand of fan i would use. that is as far as my help goes sorry.

I'd get the biggest you can fit if you are going to add one but there won't be that many 6volt options. A lot will depend on how you mount it and how much current it draws. I don't know how high up the grill goes as compared to the radiator height on those models. IMO, if the grill is open with a straight shot to a part of the radiator and part is sort of out of the main airflow, if possible I would place the fan in that area to draw air thru. Hottest water will be at the top so that also might be a consideration.

Here is one OK size but didn't see a brand mentioned or how much current it draws. Spal is probably the best but I don't know if they offer any in 6 volts. 6v fan

Speedway shows a 16" 6v fan on ebay but didn't find it listed on their website. He are some other 6volt fans from a place in Paso Robles. FlowKooler

Fred -- First, doublecheck, make certain the radiator shop
didn't "fix" things by merely pinching off the offending tube(s), leaving you with less cooling capacity.

Since you're in California, if you're using antifreeze, get rid of it now and run straight soft water---never distilled, which is ion-hungry and leaches minerals, like solder from radiators--- and a quality rust and corrosion inhibitor like www.no-rosion.com and nothing else. Your car'll run cooler over the road and at idle without antifreeze. You'll see the difference on your temp gauge.

As antifreeze degrades, it leaves a heat transfer-inhibiting film on cooling passages, as does soluble oil,
the latter outmoded and to be avoided even for those who
must use antifreeze because their cars exposed to a hard freeze (30 degrees and wind chill two consecutive nights),
or even if they live in Phoenix but have air conditioning
to prevent the heater core from freezing w/ AC on, in which
case they need perhaps 15% antifreeze.

You might stick a garden hose in your radiator and remove
just the back block drain plug and run water through the block while you poke a piece of welding rod, coat hanger, etc. in and out 'til just clean water emerges. Then reinstall the plug (i added a stand off on mine because one of Packard's lesser ideas was to have the dipstick nearby), and open the radiator petcock.

If you need further cleaning, try two quarts of kerosene and two or three pounds Arm & Hammer washing soda (NOT baking soda) in your cooling system. Drive 20 miles or so, then do the above with the hose.

My engine block was hot-tanked when it was remachined,
but i still did the above after a few years to play safe.

Tho' my temperature's according to Hoyle, or East Grand
Avenue, because our cars were built when US and global
population 40% of today's hell, in case i ever got caught
in some horrendous freeway backup in a heat wave, i added
a 6-volt Scott's Cooling Fan, 1 (800) 272-FANS, www.scottscoolingfans.com. They're in Rhode Island, provide 6-, 12-, and 24-volt fans for collector cars as well
as industrial applications. It's matte black so invisible.
I did this strictly as belt and suspenders, have never
had to use it.

It does take a lotta amps, but i have a 6-volt, positive-ground, 55-amp alternator which you might want to
consider. See my post on that a dozen entries down on the General Forum here at PI, from August 16th.

But i'm assuming you want a cooling fan strictly for
emergency service, so you'll get by with your generator.

Note to purists: Neither of the above
involved the least alteration nor butchering of the car.
None. I figure if i was driving my '47 Super in the late
'50s and Packard was still around, a heads up service dept.
would've accomodated me and switched to an alternator. Some
taxis, tow trucks and others had been running 6-volt alternators for years.

Dear Fred:

If the cooling system was clogged the car would overheat on the road.

You probably have a lean problem at idle, so first turn the idle screws out 1/2 turn to richen and cool the mixture.

I assume from your post that you set the timing with a light, but the motor speed needs to be below 500 rpm when checking.

What about re-coring the radiator with a larger core. My son has a 1950 Packard in South Florida. His mechanic did this to his car. He let it run for 1.5 hours out in the mid day sun. It didn't even begin to over heat. I understand that these larger cores are used on trucks. Might be worth looking into.

I ordered a 6 volt 16" cooling fan from Speedway Motors (off Ebay). The motor draws up to 10 amps, so now I am concerned that the charging system may not keep up with that draw during slow driving when the fan will be on. Does anyone have experience with cooling fans?

I am also considering getting the optional larger generator and regulator to put on my car. The larger generator may have been used on ambulances or something like that, I don't know for sure. The generator that came on my car was made by Chrysler, so it does not seem to be original. It does look correct dimensionally however.

I know an alternator is better but I have an old Packard and want to keep it period correct.

Putting in a shroud around the factory fan to the rad would also help. Requires some fabrication and removal of the rad to install. It forces all of the air that goes through the fan to go through the rad. I plan on doing this over this coming winter and reducing the anti-freeze content of my mix to 50/50.

I just ran across a couple comopanies that modify an original generator and install an alternator inside. This might satisfy my desire for an authentic looking Packard that I can drive reliably. The companies and their product names are:

Dan's Starters & Alternators ("Gener-Nator")

Powermaster Performance ("Power Gen")

Does anyone have experience using these products on a Packard? I suspect they are very costly compared to rebuilding an original generator, but I am still interested.

I talked to the guy from Gener-Nator last year. $900.00 for my 49. IIRC it would be enough to supply the extra required by the fan and then some. But in my opinion, pricey