Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Greetings all,
Does anyone have a vacuum hose layout (schematic) as the former owner has eliminated a lot of the hoses, rerouted others, etc..
He says he did nothing to the oil pump/vacuum pump in the oil pan. He did mention that there was a plate available to modify the pump and wish he had when he had the engine torn down.
I'm of the old school that why mess with what the Packard engineers designed, unless someone can show me the benefits of a modification.
Remember, I drove the car 400+/- miles home between 55 and 60 MPH - only comfortable speed due to flat spots on new (20 year old) bias belt tires and surging. Consolation, I got 13.9 MPG where I was anticipating 10 or less.
Thanks in advance for any and all help.
Mack

BTW my e-mail has been changed to aprazer10@outlook.com

Next up is the leveling system. Mine has been modified to operate manually and I'm thinking that I want to go back to the original operational system.

Packard never offered much in the way of documentation or photos for vacuum lines. You can find snippets in some of the factory photos but nothing all encompassing. The only factory documented vacuum hose diagram is after the two metal supply tubes on the engine. It has the the vacuum connections for the wiper motor and balance valve along with the washer.

For a stock V8 wiper and washer there are two vacuum sources. Both have 1/4" steel lines to supply vacuum to the balance valve. The first or primary source has a 1/4" steel line connecting to a tee fitting at the rear of the carb. One opening on the tee is for the wiper and washer supply vacuum tube and the other opening has the power brake check valve threaded into it. The steel tubing goes toward the passenger side head and bends in a 90 back toward the firewall where it stops just past the end of the head and connects to a short rubber hose. It is clamped using one of the extra holes toward the rear of the head.

The secondary source for wipers is from an auxiliary pump in the crankcase. That port exits the block just above the oil pan and roughly behind the exhaust pipe flange. An elbow fitting threads into the block, a check valve threads into the elbow and another 1/4 steel line connects to the check valve. Valve is oriented so air flow is permitted to go toward the crankcase port but anything trying to pull from the crankcase is blocked. That tube goes to the end of the head and bends upward several inches where it connects to a short rubber hose going to the balance valve.

The power brake has a single hose just under 3/8" in diameter connecting to the check valve. It goes to the firewall where it gets a clamp and swings to the left just past the steering column where it goes thru another clamp and connects to a tee. The hose continues on from the tee to the vacuum reservoir tank under the left fender space. A short length of hose drops down from the tee and connects to the left side of the power brake booster. The only sort of documentation is in a 52 service counselor where there is an illustration showing the basic tubing connecting to the original style Treadlevac. That illustration is not really correct for a V8 because of the external air filter on the early Treadlevacs and the different source location on the inline 8.

Here are a few photos. The first is by Stewart showing the fitting and check valve at the rear of the carb. I don't have anything showing the top tube as I have a dual carb setup and that is different than the single carb. Second photo is from an engine manual showing the aux vacuum tube on the block. The third is the hose layout from the parts book.

Attach file:

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  brake check valve and wiper supply tee.jpg (32.04 KB)


  engine right side.jpg (253.88 KB)


  washer tubing.jpg (216.31 KB)

On the TL system, there was an optional manual override switch for 56. The wiring is fairly straightforward and with a slight change of terminals it would install on a 55. The installation of a 56 control switch (another factory change when 55 switches ran out) could also have been made so it is possible a stock manual switch could have been installed on a 55 at the same time.

The stock manual switch is a push pull switch with 3 fixed positions. Middle position connects the power to the control switch and allows normal operation. Push up and knob stays up. That action disconnects power to the control switch and grounds the up direction command so system goes to the upper limit where the up limit switch stops the motor. Pull down and knob also stays down with same action again only down limit switch stops the movement.

If you have any other kind of switch (spring loaded, toggle etc) it is not factory but could be entirely OK. The only thing you need to check is that the wiring that was done ensures the limit switches are in the circuit.

Which TL control switch do you have. 55 switch has 3 exposed screw terminals on the bottom while 56 has 5 bullet style terminals inside a weathertight box,