Bijur Lubrication System 1928 Packard 526

[32Pontiac6]

I removed the Bijur connection to the front spring shackles of my Packard tonight and came across what seems to be a mystery that my manuals can’t seem to solve.  I removed what appears to be a flow restricted that is labeled DB5 in the attached photo.  The one on the drivers side had the flat portion into the fitting in the spring shackle and the passenger side had the pointed side in.  My guess is that the pointed side going into the shackle is correct but wanted to see what I can find out here.  Also the number DB5 does not match anything in the Packard parts book.

 

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Edited November 15, 2019 by 32Pontiac6 (see edit history)

[jrbartlett]

Most of these systems are no longer used because they drip oil all over the chassis and garage floor. We had an original '29 640 sedan when I was a kid and we routinely used the oiler. It certainly created a mess. For my current '29 640 roadster, I fitted standard old-style grease fittings.

[edinmass]

Each spot in the chassis had a restricted flow orifice similar to a jet on a carburetor. People would often use drain oil in that would plug the system. I have no clue what your car calls for in any particular spot. On all our restorations we restore the system to working order. It sure makes a mess!  

[32Pontiac6]

1 hour ago, edinmass said:

Each spot in the chassis had a restricted flow orifice similar to a jet on a carburetor. People would often use drain oil in that would plug the system. I have no clue what your car calls for in any particular spot. On all our restorations we restore the system to working order. It sure makes a mess!  

So even a restored system with the restrictors of the proper flow rate causes drips?  I wondered about that.  Seems that a car that sold for a multiple of the average car price would not have that issue.  

 

Have you seen a flow restrictor like the one shown in the photo.  My guess is the flow is from flat to pointed end but not positive.

[32Pontiac6]

2 hours ago, jrbartlett said:

Most of these systems are no longer used because they drip oil all over the chassis and garage floor. We had an original '29 640 sedan when I was a kid and we routinely used the oiler. It certainly created a mess. For my current '29 640 roadster, I fitted standard old-style grease fittings.

Seems from the two messages I have received so far that even well sorted out Bijor systems leaked.  It is surprising considering the quality of Packard.  However, I was shocked with my car in that you check the oil in the same manner you would a Model T.  You have a petcock on the crankcase and if oil comes out you are good.... 

 

[edinmass]

They were made to leak........remember most garages, had dirt floors. 90 percent of the roads were dirt. Leaking oil was no big deal, most cars with updraft carbs dumped fuel every time they shut off or started.

[DavidMc]

The flat end goes into the fitting , see the attached drawing .   

Its a total loss lubrication system, what goes in drips out.  I have restored the Bijur systems on 2 Packards and had everything working before fitting the body but over time the drips no longer come from all of the lubrication points and tend to migrate to areas of less resistance - (the oil will take the line of least resistance)  so other points receive less or no oil..  My last project has a dummy Bijur system with grease nipples .

Note that it is Bijur.

[32Pontiac6]

2 hours ago, DavidMc said:

The flat end goes into the fitting , see the attached drawing .   

Its a total loss lubrication system, what goes in drips out.  I have restored the Bijur systems on 2 Packards and had everything working before fitting the body but over time the drips no longer come from all of the lubrication points and tend to migrate to areas of less resistance - (the oil will take the line of least resistance)  so other points receive less or no oil..  My last project has a dummy Bijur system with grease nipples .

Note that it is Bijur.

Thanks for this great information (Including spelling correction).  Those diagrams are great.  Do you have a similar drawing for the 526/533?  One reason I ask is because your diagram shows that the front spring shackles are DB3 and the 526 I have was a DB5.  I can't guarantee that they were not changed at some point in history but the car has so far been pretty unmolested with a little under 30,000 miles on it.

 

[DavidMc]

Unfortunately I do not have the same lubrication diagram for the 5th Series cars but I doubt there would be a difference bearing in mind the the 633/626 cars were essentially 526/526 cars with an 8 cylinder engine squeezed into the engine bay.  Also I would reuse your dripper, the slight difference in drip rate (if it is not the recommended one is unlikely to be critical).  I would be more concerned with oil reaching every drip point.

[Rusty_OToole]

The advantage of the Bijur system is that heavy oil is a better lubricant than grease. But needs to be renewed more often. There were no sealed joints in those days so whatever lubricant you used, it was going to leak out. Greasing was recommended every 1000 miles or so, oiling oftener. So the automatic system was a convenience.

 

In those days there were a lot of dirt and gravel roads and all cars leaked oil. So a few more drips made no difference.

 

If you wanted to use the system in your garage you could get some old carpet from a carpet store's discards and lay a plastic sheet under it.

[DavidMc]

I use the pump when leaving home for a drive so that most of the leakage has finished before returning.  A post on the PI site some time ago, advised that straight 50 grade oil is the closest modern equivalent  to the original Bijur oil.

[32Pontiac6]

20 hours ago, DavidMc said:

I use the pump when leaving home for a drive so that most of the leakage has finished before returning.  A post on the PI site some time ago, advised that straight 50 grade oil is the closest modern equivalent  to the original Bijur oil.

Yes, that is what I do too.  However, in California, that may be a capital offense.  

[32Pontiac6]

22 hours ago, Rusty_OToole said:

The advantage of the Bijur system is that heavy oil is a better lubricant than grease. But needs to be renewed more often. There were no sealed joints in those days so whatever lubricant you used, it was going to leak out. Greasing was recommended every 1000 miles or so, oiling oftener. So the automatic system was a convenience.

 

In those days there were a lot of dirt and gravel roads and all cars leaked oil. So a few more drips made no difference.

 

If you wanted to use the system in your garage you could get some old carpet from a carpet store's discards and lay a plastic sheet under it.

I have used the Costco 'pee pads' they sell for dogs.  

 

[32Pontiac6]

On 11/15/2019 at 2:49 AM, DavidMc said:

Unfortunately I do not have the same lubrication diagram for the 5th Series cars but I doubt there would be a difference bearing in mind the the 633/626 cars were essentially 526/526 cars with an 8 cylinder engine squeezed into the engine bay.  Also I would reuse your dripper, the slight difference in drip rate (if it is not the recommended one is unlikely to be critical).  I would be more concerned with oil reaching every drip point.

That is my longer term plan.  I believe that mine has 31 points of lubrication.  Thankfully the chassis seems pretty well 'wet' in the critical areas.  There are a couple that concern me and I will pull the connection to make sure it is working.  My biggest concern is the release bearing and making sure it is wet.

Thanks again for all your help.

 

[John_Mereness]

On 11/15/2019 at 2:09 PM, Rusty_OToole said:

The advantage of the Bijur system is that heavy oil is a better lubricant than grease.

I used 20 weight in the RR PI and was told that I probably should have been using 10 weight.  I will tell you someone probably put 90 weight in it and that was a whole lot of disassembly work to clean that up, new felt seals, and ... - not a fun project.  I usually got an oversized plastic drop cloth at the hardware store and tied it to the font and rear bumper and then pulled the lever - a "mess" for a couple of days. I recall people pulling the levers on cars at Packard museum and then crying when fluid was all over the museum's floors - my reply was usually "that is why I told you if you ever did such it is best to take the car outside into the grass for the day."  As a sidenote:  I think Packard's use a heavier oil - best to read the manual though.