Question-------------------------
Followup To
Question - Dick
Should hydrolic lifters be adjusted if to tight.
The guy that I took the car to said they were to tight, he adjusted them and picked up 30 lbs of piston pressure.
He says they are solid lifters but my book says 54 chev with auto trans has hydrolic lifters. Should I worry that he is screwing up
D&B Auto in Solana Beach
Thanks Kurt
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Followup To Dick
I'm so sorry and you are 100% right its the brake power booster.
I called Kanter auto parts and they said that the vac leak is most likley the leather piston cup that goes between the booster and master cylinder so I ordered one for $30.00. Should I have that installed and take a chance or should I cut my loss and just get the full rebuild ?
I will try to pick up the car monday as I want to take it to the Beachcruiser meet at Huntington Beach this next weekend.
I will let you know how things work out.
Thanks again Dick
Kurt McFadden
Question -
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Followup To
Question - Dick
Got the distributor in I screwed it up but got it the second time.
Next problem
I am being told that my power stearing booster has a vac leak. I thought the brakes worked ok .The car runs great on the road but seems to have a rough idel. The guy told me he pinched off the vacuume hose to the booster and that the idel slowed way down.
would that be a sign of a vac leak at the booster?
would that make the idel rough?
The thing runs like a top accept at idel.
I took the car to him to properly adjust the valves thinking that might be the problem.
Went to the Temecula show today, were you there?
Thanks Kurt McFadden
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Followup To Dick
I will look you up at the Fallbrook show , great ideas, you might here from me again.
Thanks again.
Kurt McFadden
Question -
My question is
My book calls for 2 degrees a.u.d.c
In the flywheel window is a.u.d.c above the pointer or below it?
I'm also getting some air bubbles in the old and new fuel pump, but not alot. after running for 5 to 10 minuets I get very little gas. I tightened up all clamps, new hose where used, new fuel filter and I drained the tank from the bottom while blowing with a hi pressure air hose in the fuel line going back into the tank, very little crap came out, no rust.
Do you think there is a pin hole in the suction tube inside the tank? any easy way to test or get that tube out. My 54 is a Sedan Delivery with the kidney shaped tank.
Thanks for any help.
Kurt McFadden ,Oceanside, Ca
Answer -
Since I sold my 51 PU a few years back, I've forgotten exactly which way the pointer sits on a 216, and yours may have a 235 anyway, but I know how you can find out for yourself:
When the engine is running, the crankshaft is turning in a clockwise direction as viewed from the front of the engine. So watch the timing pointer as the marks go past it. Before DC will come by first, then Dead Center, then you're into the After Dead Center range.
As for the air in your gas supply, the usual reason for this is a pinhole leak in the fuel lines from the tank to the fuel pump. Unfortunately, these are very hard to find since the line is normally under vacuum, and no gas leaks out. You could try pressurizing the line and tank by sealing off the gas cap opening and putting a small amount of pressure back into the line, but be very careful not to exceed 10 PSI or so, since the tank can't take much pressure.
As for a pinhole inside the pickup tube in the tank, you can identify that as a cause by noting that with the tank full, the air doesn't get in the gas stream. Have you tried that? Another way is to disconnect the fuel outlet at the tank and substitute a fuel hose temporarily, and drop the end of the hose into your jerry can or whatever you've got that holds gas. If this solves the problem, yes, it has to be in the tank.
Similarly, if you do this same trick but attach the hose right to the fuel pump inlet, and that cures the problem, you know the leak is in the line to the pump, or at least it is before the pump.
If it turns out to be in the tank, you will probably have to have the tank totally rebuilt, because I don't think there is any way to get the pickup tube replaced without taking the tank totally apart at the seams.
Off the subject, but two of our sons live in Oceanside, and 3 of our grandkids - we were just there yesterday to celebrate one of the grandkids birthdays. If you are planning to go to the Fallbrook Show on May 28th, look me up - I'll be with my black 67 Imperial, with the Temecula Valley Car Club group. I'd love to see your Sedan Delivery!
Dick Benjamin
Answer -
Great, I'll be there. Look for the old geezer with the shiny black monster Imperial!
Dick
Answer -
I didn't go to the Temecula Show - the weather out here 10 miles east of town is horrible, with raining, hailing and cold as heck! We live up in the hills, and it's much colder than downtown.
Your typed that the vacuum leak is in your power steering booster, but I think you must mean the power brake booster, right? The power steering, if it has it, would be a hydraulic pump, and has nothing to do with the vacuum.
Assuming you meant to say "power brake booster", then, your mechanic is exactly right, pinching off the hose should not affect the idle at all, so he has proven that there is a vacuum leak in the power brake system somewhere. Since the idle slowed down when he pinched it off, the vacuum leak is probably pretty bad, but that wouldn't make much difference in stopping the car - you wouldn't notice it except for a fast or rough idle.
Your car is the first year for power brakes on a Chevy, and I'm surprised that a sedan delivery has them. Usually, the expensive accessories were sold only to people who bought the Bel Air and other fancy models.
Anyway, the vacuum leak is probably in the booster itself, but because it is going to be expensive to get that rebuilt, do some more checking to see exactly what is leaking. There are other possibilities; there is a vacuum reservoir that is tee'd into the same vacuum line - find it and pinch off the hose to it to make sure the leak isn't there, before you spend the money to have the booster rebuilt and then find you haven't fixed the problem! It could also be just a leak in one of the hoses. If you let the engine idle and start pinching off the hoses in different places, you can track down exactly what is leaking yourself. If you decide to replace the vacuum hoses, be sure to get the right hoses - vacuum hoses have to be designed for that use - regular fuel hoses will collapse under vacuum, that could be very dangerous. The NAPA store stocks the right power brake hose for your car - just buy enough to do the whole system.
If you want to pull the power brake unit and send it out for rebuilding, send it to Karps in Ontario CA - they know these units well, and their rebuilds are almost always good. Other places will rebuild it for you, but you're taking a chance (about one in 3) that it will come back with a problem. That's my experience, anyway.
If you want someone honest to take it off for you and send it out, take the car to Bud at Ludwick Automotive, on Olive street just west of Melrose in Oceanside.. Bud is a friend of mine, and the best front end and brake guy in the county! Tell him Hi for me!
Dick
Answer -
There is a good chance they are right about where the leak is, but I'd still feel better about it if you made sure that the leak is really inside the brake unit.
Don't overlook the fact that there is also a decent probability that the leak is in the vacuum reservoir or the hoses - they all connect together in simple "tee" fittings, so a leak in any one of the 3 possible culprits makes the same symptoms occur. You can sort it out by pinching off different legs of the hoses, or maybe even just by listening for the air hiss from the leak - and you might save yourself a whole lot of trouble that way.
Taking that brake booster out and apart is not easy - I'd let the professionals do that. Just changing the piston cup is not too difficult, but I advise against letting someone who is not used to these units getting into the intricate valves and settings of the control system inside the booster.
If they will just pull it out and send it off to Karp's, it will get done right, but I doubt it will be ready by next weekend. Maybe if you run it up there and get them to rush it.
If your mechanic feels that he knows all about these units and has done them before, and has the parts he will need, then you've got yourself a gem, let him tackle it! Cross your fingers, though.
Good Luck.
Dick
AnswerYou're right, it has hydraulic lifters, or at least it did when it was new. Loosening the adjustment can't hurt anything unless you get a lot of valve clatter that you didn't have before, the hydraulic lifters can take a lot of fiddling without any harm being done, so long as he knows not to move the adjustment too far too fast - I always move them 1/4 turn at a time, then let the engine idle for a few minutes before moving the adjustment again.
Anyway, if the engine runs smoother with the looser setting, he did good - and maybe it wouldnt' hurt to loosen them even some more. One way to set hydraulic lifters is to loosen each one with the engine idling until it begins to clack. Make sure it doesn't quiet down by itself as the hydraulic lifter compensates - once you have gotten to the point where it can no longer silence itself, tighten the adjustment 1/4 turn at a time, letting the engine idle for a minute or so after each 1/4 turn, until you have gone about 1 full turn on the adjustment - this is the optimum adjustment.
If he thinks you have solid lifters, he may have set them so they are clacking a little bit. That won't really hurt anything, but the noise might get on your nerves.
Dick
