QuestionDick, I have a 48 Caddy series 62 and it has those darn vacuum wipers and
it also has a vacuum antenna with a washer bottle and no hoses from the firewall to anywhere, what i need is any information on how correct the problem or some direction or schematic or diagrams for the vacuum system, there is a dual fuel pump for the wipers. anything advice that you can me WILL be appreciated?
AnswerWell, as they say on TV, "previously, on this program".....
OK, neighbor's problem solved, back to your vacuum system:
The booster pump on the fuel pump is a totally separate pump (within the same case) which is there to keep the vacuum somewhat stronger when the engine is pulling hard - as under those conditions, the intake vacuum falls off. For an engine in good condition, the wipers will probably still work OK even without a booster pump, but the more expensive cars, like yours (and mine) included the booster pump. Actually, in real life, they don't make all that much improvement - wipers will still slow way down on a hard pull -you learn to let off the gas momentarily to get a few swipes when you need to when pulling a hill.
However, to get everything back to the way it was when the car was new, you may have to have the fuel/vacuum pump rebuilt if it isn't working. The only way to tell is to measure the vacuum reading at the wiper connection with and without the pump hooked up. One nasty failure mode for the vacuum pump is a ruptured diaphragm - in this situation, the oil from the crankcase can be suctioned through the mounting hole in the side of the engine, and thence into the intake manifold where it will be burned. You'll think your car is burning oil.
As for hooking up this stuff, the proper connection is from the intake manifold to the fuel pump vacuum connection (the one that air comes out of when you just let the engine idle with nothing connected to the pump). Then from the other fitting on the vacuum pump, you run a line up to the wiper motor. Tee into that line for any other vacuum operated devices. In your case, you'd run a line from that tee fitting to the antenna control, and from the antenna control back out to the antenna up/down fittings with two hoses. Hook it up so that when you pull the control knob out, the antenna goes up, and when you push the knob, the antenna goes down. Only the main shaft of the antenna moves, the smaller mast segments are still a "get out and pull" operation.
As for the windshield washer, there were so many different designs of those that I can't be real specific. The most common one is just a plain spring loaded diapraghm, which, when you push the "wash me" button, gets compressed by vacuum routed to the washer from your control button, and when you release the button, the spring propels water out through the nozzles.
All these hoses are available in bulk from your friendly local auto parts store - just measure the OD of each fitting and figure out how long a piece you need for each use - it ain't rocket science!
Good Luck - and ask more if I can help with something.
Dick
