QuestionI'm wondering if there is a mutual vacuum problem that could cause the door locks to quit, then the trunk release later. Also, the air conditioning works until you put it in drive, then the venting closes, I believe. Some of the hoses look fine, but there are many (as you surely know) I haven't torn into it, but I'm curious if the hoses that disappear into the housing where one of the fans lives, etc. could be a culprit, or if everybody should just have a coffee and be happy the car runs good!! One of the hoses I pulled to look at by one of the diaphrams hissed, so there must be some vacuum in the system.
I'm in Butte, Mt, where it freezes alot in the winter, and the car has been outside. One of my thoughts was to buy a spool of hose and replace all of them.
Thankyou very much for your time!!!
Dave
AnswerThe car is 43 years old, so very likely all the rubber parts are brittle and porous. This includes all the vacuum hoses, and also all the fuel hoses, which are probaby more important, especially now that modern gasoline contains oxygenates. So yes, buy a roll of the small vacuum hose used in all the control systems, and also buy yourself new fuel hoses for every part in the fuel system, including back at the tank. Be sure that the fuel hose is marked "SAE30R9" or higher number, because the old 30R7 that is still in stock at many auto parts places cannot stand up to modern gas.
I'm not sure if your car has an automatic vacuum operated parking brake release, like the one in my Imperial, but if it does, that is a frequent source of vacuum leakage as soon as you put the car in gear. Listen (with a length of garden hose as a substitute for a stethoscope) under your dash and in the trunk to see if you hear any hissing at any time - you may have to be very persistant to track down all the vacuum leaks, but it is well worth doing.
Your car probably doesn't have Automatic Temperature Control (I think 63 was the first year for that in Cadillacs), but if I'm wrong, then the heater/AC control system is a nest of vacuum leaks - you need to track them all down to get the system working again. While you probalby don't care much about the AC in Butte, you do care about defrost and heat, and that won't work right if you have vacuum leaks.
In my 62 Continental, the AC/Heat control was in the left front fender, believe it or not, behind the left front wheel in a hidden compartment, and there was a literal ball of snakes in there - every vacuum hose was bad! So have fun, the 62 Cadillac is one of the nicest looking cars on the road, then and now, and well worth fixing back to original. (I love those tail lights!) Good luck with it.
Dick
