while intalling my motor I pulled the HVAC hose that goes through the firewall and connects under the dash (mode selector) off, where is this under the dash? Also I have no brakes, the pedal has presure for a second then it goes to the floor, I checked for leaks cant find anything, also bleed brakes which didn help at all, what kind of vaccum tester do I need to check the pressure and if I need to remove the brake booster how do I do it?
Thanks ALOT

 

I believe the vacuum line goes into the interior via the grommet with the PCM wiring. You have to remove the PCM to see it.

A normal vacuum gauge connected to any intake vacuum port will tell you the vacuum. You can also calculate vacuum readings by converting MAP readings. Maybe you have a vacuum leak so severe that there is none left for your brakes?

The booster unbolts after you have moved the master cylinder out of the way.

 

First of all sorry for putting shoebox's name in the title, I did try to write him a pm and the option wasnt on his page, probably because if you could pm him everyone and there mother would. Anyway it wont happen again.

Now on to my problem, I checked for leaks and found nothing, all the hoses are new, I will test the vaccum today and post it asap. Thanks

 

Tried to change title wont let me.

 

With the engine off, pump the brake pedal 4-5 times. Does the pedal still go to the floor? If so, I'm sure you still have air in the brake system. Also, you can run the engine for a few seconds.......then turn it off. Now take the vacuum line going to the brake booster and pull it out of the booster. You will hear a rush of air go into it if it's storing vacuum. That is why the brake pedal gets hard(on a fully bled brake system) after pumping it 4 or 5 times with the engine off. You are bleeding off the vacuum from the booster as you pump the brake with the engine off.

I use a mityvac to check my vacuum. I, generally, just pull the vacuum line off the fuel pressure regulator and put a tapered mityvac adapter line into it.

 

I bought a mityvac, pulled the line out of the brake booster and plugged it into the mityvac gauge and started the car the gauge bounces fast between 11-13 in Hg. I have no idea what this means so please explain. What should I do next?

 

hooked the mityvac up again, this time i got the same reading at idle, I reved up the motor to 3000rpm the reading went to 22" Hg and was still bouncing rapidly. let me know what to do next
Thanks

 

At idle, a healthy engine will pull about 20"Hg vacuum. If the vacuum is "bouncing", could indicate misfires, problems with the valve adjustment, low compression in a cylinder, etc.

 

ya I read that in the mityvac manual, now what is the next step to figure this out?


SYMPTOMS: car idles ok sometimes and others it just dies, if reved up the RPM drops right past idle and dies. No brakes at all (brakes were bleed prior to test)

 

Your sig says big cam.....exactly how big? What are the specs? Is the PCM programmed for that cam?

My CC503 will pull 16"Hg at idle. A stock LT1 cam will pull around 20"Hg.

If you are certain that you adjusted the valves correctly, then I'd do a compression/leakdown test.

I'm still concerned about the brake pedal going to the floor. Without any vacuum in the booster you should have a hard pedal that can't hardly move.

 

Cam Info - COMP CAMS 07-503-8
Intake/Exhaust Lift - .503/.510
Intake/Exhaust Duration - 224/230
LSA - 112.0

Ion at Madz28 tuned my pcm for everything I have. I'm going to go over the valves again, I havent adjusted them but the engine builder who did the pistons, rings, crank, cam, and assembled the heads was supposed to. I will check that this afternoon and post ASAP...Thanks

just found out the machine shop did adjust the valves, not running tho, I'm gonna re-adjust them today and go from there.

 

You have the same cam that I have(CC503)....which many say is the biggest of the small cams. If your engine is healthy, it should be pulling 16"Hg of vacuum.

Here is a video of what my vacuum gauge does when at idle and revved some....it is the second half of the video. The first part is what happens when revving with a coolant pressure tester on the radiator.

http://www.ace1252.com/images/CC503_...ant_tester.WMV

I adjusted mine without running. First time I have ever adjusted valves and got it dead on. I used the method described on Shoebox's site for doing each cylinder one at a time(adjust intake then exhaust and move on to next cylinder).

http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#adjust_valves

"Method 3


Another cylinder by cylinder method that does not require looking at the balancer position, follows:

(A remote starter switch is quite helpful)
# Turn the engine in the normal direction of rotation until the exhaust lifter for the cylinder you are adjusting starts to move up.
# On the intake rocker arm, adjust for zero lash and add your desired preload.
# Turn the engine over again until the intake valve on the same cylinder opens completely and then is almost all the way back up.
# Now, adjust the rocker arm for the exhaust valve on that cylinder to zero lash and add your desired preload.

Continue the above procedure for each cylinder until all valves are adjusted to the same amount of preload. This procedure will work for any hydraulic lifter cam with adjustable rocker arms. Refer to this diagram posted above if you need visual reference. "

This is the same method comp recommends in their instructions.
http://www.compcams.com/Technical/In.../Files/151.pdf

I had the intake off and watched the movement of the lifter to know when to stop turning the engine. Zero lash is simply where the polylock just contacts the top of the rocker(with the rocker resting on pushrod and valve). No need to mess with the spinning pushrod to find zero lash. I used 1/2 turn pre-load and torqued the allen screw in the polylocks to 30 lb-ft(of course, holding the polylock nut steady with a wrench).

 

ya your needle is smooth, mine is all over the place. does it matter where I plug the gauge into? also my exhaust hasnt been connected just open headers right now, would that matter?

I'm gonna readjust the valves while the car is running this afternoon, its been awhile but your supposed to loosen, tighten till quiet then continue tightening 1/2 turn, is that right?

thanks alot for your help

 

I added some info above, including Shoebox's valve adjustment page. That should outline how to adjust it with the engine running. I prefer to do it not running(I've never done it running).

That vacuum reading was taken with the stock exhaust manifolds, cats, and catback exhaust.

If I recall....I think I had roughly the same vacuum reading with just the stock exhaust manifolds on it(no cats or muffler...essentially open "headers"). I remember because I pissed the neighbors off across the street running it at 3am. I had just got it back together and could not wait to see if it would run. I only ran it for around 15 seconds...but that was long enough....hehe.

 

this has turned into a 6 year project, so lets just say I'm not the most loved neighbor on the block