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Last year I bought. 65 Cadillac Deville. Upon purchase my mechanic put in new brake cylinders and a new master because the brakes sucked. The booster is bad too, but I was able to live with that; other than having to put more pressure on the pedal the brakes worked fine. In the spring as I drove it more, every so often when I was at a stop, when I let up the brake and hit the accelerator, the car would give a little jolt. This got worse and worse, to the point I could really feel the brakes catching and dragging until they'd "pop" and release and it wasn't really drivable, because it happened almost every time I stopped at an intersection. Most diagnosis online said something like this was a bad brake cylinder, but mine were new. I could have had a defective one but I wanted to see if it was something else. I opened up the drums, and replaced some of the springs that seemed a bit rusty. Took me awhile to find comparable parts but I was able to replace most of them. One side had really bad scoring on the pads which was probably the bad side. The pads were still thick but to be sure I replaced them. The adjuster on that side was ancient and froze, so I replaced both adjusters. I adjusted the brakes exactly as the service manual prescribed. The good news is I taught myself the ins and outs of drum brakes, and I'm pretty proud that I can take them apart and put them together and they actually work. The bad news is...zero change. They work no better or worse than before. They still lock up and drag almost every time I stop. I am open to suggestions on diagnosis. I bought the car to work on myself to teach myself mechanics as well as to enjoy. I hate to just take it to a shop every time it has an issue, especially because I moved and finding a mechanic I can trust that can deal with the idiosyncrasies of such an old car is a pain. And I don't want to give up.
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| # ? Nov 18, 2012 02:29 |
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| # ? May 23, 2013 04:40 |
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Did your mechanic replace the rubber brake lines as well? Its possible they are failing/collapsing internally and acting as a check valve.
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| # ? Nov 18, 2012 03:58 |
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Mooecow posted:Did your mechanic replace the rubber brake lines as well? Its possible they are failing/collapsing internally and acting as a check valve. Nope. Is there a good way to check for that? There's no noticeable leakage, though I haven't inspected them inch by inch.
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| # ? Nov 18, 2012 07:26 |
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They're pushing 50 years old if they're original. Just replace them. And no, they won't show external signs.
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| # ? Nov 18, 2012 08:23 |
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I looked in the manual and it seems pretty straightforward: the steel line goes back to the back of the car, splits off, and the ends are rubber. You disconnect it, cap it, put in new hose (which goes through a shoe yay I get to take half the shoes apart again  ) and bleed it, which I have done before.Is there anything special I should know in a "replacing brake hoses for dummies" way? My big question would be how does one go about "cap the end of the line to prevent dirt from entering the line" without getting a blast of brake fluid in my face? Then I just have to hope the hoses for the 65 models aren't as impossible to find as the springs.  Also, is there a chance the brake cylinder which was put in last year is defective or not working properly? Is there any way to check it or something to look for? I just figure if I have the brakes apart when I do the hoses, I can look at that then as well. Astroman fucked around with this message at Nov 18, 2012 around 14:20 |
| # ? Nov 18, 2012 14:17 |
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The fluid will just dribble out a bit, there isn't any pressure other than gravity forcing it out the line.
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| # ? Nov 18, 2012 14:22 |
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Astroman posted:I looked in the manual and it seems pretty straightforward: the steel line goes back to the back of the car, splits off, and the ends are rubber. You disconnect it, cap it, put in new hose (which goes through a shoe yay I get to take half the shoes apart again There should be a rubber line going to each wheel. Make sure you use a flare wrench to take off/on the lines. If you use a regular open ended wrench you are likely to round them off.
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| # ? Nov 18, 2012 14:32 |
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Astroman posted:I looked in the manual and it seems pretty straightforward: the steel line goes back to the back of the car, splits off, and the ends are rubber. You disconnect it, cap it, put in new hose (which goes through a shoe yay I get to take half the shoes apart again When I did this on my 67, I snapped off most of the flared connectors on the hard brake lines. Inlinetube.com sells prebent replacement lines. quote:Is there anything special I should know in a "replacing brake hoses for dummies" way? My big question would be how does one go about "cap the end of the line to prevent dirt from entering the line" without getting a blast of brake fluid in my face? I just used some tape. quote:
I never had a problem. Rockauto carries a lot of cadillac stuff. quote:Also, is there a chance the brake cylinder which was put in last year is defective or not working properly? Is there any way to check it or something to look for? I just figure if I have the brakes apart when I do the hoses, I can look at that then as well. It's possible, they are just chinese remans. look for leaks?
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| # ? Nov 18, 2012 14:43 |
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Also, I think there are 5 flexible lines. One at each wheel, and one near the Rear differential.
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| # ? Nov 18, 2012 14:49 |
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Astroman posted:I looked in the manual and it seems pretty straightforward: the steel line goes back to the back of the car, splits off, and the ends are rubber. You disconnect it, cap it, put in new hose (which goes through a shoe yay I get to take half the shoes apart again edit: nvm beaten on all of it.
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| # ? Nov 18, 2012 15:08 |
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Mooecow posted:There should be a rubber line going to each wheel. Make sure you use a flare wrench to take off/on the lines. If you use a regular open ended wrench you are likely to round them off. 
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| # ? Nov 18, 2012 16:45 |
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InitialDave posted:Or use a regular ring spanner, and then realise you can't get it back off now you've attached the line. This is a classic, and everybody not admitting to have done it is a liar or has not fixed brake lines on any car or motorcycle. You really need to do this at least once during a lifetime. Bonus points if you somehow manage to bleed the system before you realize your ring-spanner is trapped. I once had a Citröen Xantia for a year with a 10mm ring-spanner still attached to a brake-line. Well, at least I fixed the brakes. Edit: You can totally zip-tie the spanner to your brake-line so it won't rattle so much.
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| # ? Nov 18, 2012 18:04 |
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daslog posted:When I did this on my 67, I snapped off most of the flared connectors on the hard brake lines. Inlinetube.com sells prebent replacement lines. The stuff like the tape and Mooecow's flared wrench is exactly why I came to AI on this...that kinda stuff ain't in the manual. Thanks guys! You're lucky you had a 67. The brakes on the 65 changed in 66 or 67 IIRC, and parts for the 64-66 models are tougher to find. The only place that had the proper spring kit was Caddy Daddy and they wanted $50 for $20 of springs. Luckily I got most of what I needed from the 67-70 kit, and what it didn't have I didn't have to change. Hopefully the lines won't be as esoteric. You might be right about the 5 lines. I can't recall where the steel begins and ends and the manual just shows lines and connectors. I won't know til I get under there, but while it's off the jack stands and mobile I'm gonna change it's oil and get my 99 Caddy in my garage and do it's brakes, which I hear are a lot easier. Just think I need new pads on that one.
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| # ? Nov 18, 2012 21:46 |
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I recommend this forum. http://www.modifiedcadillac.org/for...439da&board=1.0 The people there are very knowledgeable on 60's caddys, even if you are not bagging it 
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| # ? Nov 18, 2012 22:28 |
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I've had zero time to do this, but it's still on the docket. Got some flared wrenches! Looks like I'll finally be able to do my daily driver brakes tomorrow, so I'm one step closer to getting back to working on the 65. In the meantime, I've read a bit about "glazing" on the brake drums, and I wonder if this also might not be a problem for me. My drums are pretty smooth and shiny inside, but I have no frame of reference to know if they are in good shape or need to be resurfaced. Could glazed drums cause my brakes to lock? Even if I put on new shoes?
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| # ? Dec 8, 2012 01:02 |
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Astroman posted:I've had zero time to do this, but it's still on the docket. Got some flared wrenches! Glazing happens on the friction material, so no worries there. Unless the surface of your shoes looks shiny, I think you're good there. I just thought of something though: when you replaced the shoes before, did you have the inside of the drums machined flat? Are there grooves going around it?
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| # ? Dec 8, 2012 02:37 |
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Fucknag posted:Glazing happens on the friction material, so no worries there. Unless the surface of your shoes looks shiny, I think you're good there. I just thought of something though: when you replaced the shoes before, did you have the inside of the drums machined flat? Are there grooves going around it? There's a very light thin line that you can barely feel down the middle of one drum, and that's not even the side that had the scored up brake pad. I just don't know if that's "no big deal" or a huge issue.
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| # ? Dec 8, 2012 06:39 |
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Astroman posted:There's a very light thin line that you can barely feel down the middle of one drum, and that's not even the side that had the scored up brake pad. I just don't know if that's "no big deal" or a huge issue. That's not a major issue.
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| # ? Dec 8, 2012 07:20 |
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Well, I did accomplish some things today. Got my 99 Deville up on the ol' jack stands and took a look at the brakes. They had been starting to make a slight sqeak, and had been "wobbly" for some time now, which I suspected may have been an uneven disc that needed to be machined. All the pads were actually in really great shape. That was good news, though I was ready and willing to replace them if I had to so I could increase my brake-fu! I sprayed everything down with brake cleaner so hopefully the squeak goes away. I did notice, on the front passenger disc, there was a groove. All the other discs were very smooth, but this was noticeable. Not crazy deep, but deeper than the one in the drum on my 65. Not sure if this could cause the wobbling, the only other thing I can think of is alignment, which would surprise me because it doesn't pull to either side. But I don't think I can align it myself, nor can I machine a disc, so in either case if it's still there I'll have to go to a pro. But overall the brakes looked good. Now the big news is that I've had suspension issues forever on the 99. Once I had the sway bar links replaced, and that seemed to stop the noise, but there was a rattling which got worse and worse. Every time I went down a slightly bumpy road it sounded like I was going over train tracks. And I noticed the rear was riding low lately. So I got to inspect the suspension. Now I know nothing about what looks good under there. "Oh, that part looks new," "that one looks rusty but it's just surface rust," "hey there's the big spring." So that was the extent of my diagnosis of the passenger side. But then I got to the drivers rear, where air ride is. It was so low that I couldn't get my 3 ton jack under and had to use the factory jack to raise it enough for the big jack. And oh look, that doesn't look right--there was a broken little piece dangling in there! Which even my diagnostic skills could suss out was wrong.  Some research later, turns out it's the link for the air ride sensor. It's a 3 inch long little piece of metal about as thick as a ballpoint pen refill with plastic sockets on the end that go into balls on a bar from the sensor and the control arm. One socket was broken.I have a good suspicion that this little guy was causing the rattling, and certainly the poor suspension performance. I removed it and lowered the car, which now rode a little higher on the drivers side in the back, though still a bit lower than the passenger side, and it'll probably start sinking back down. I ordered the part from GM Parts East and it should be here in a week or so. $33 with shipping cause I had to get the control arm too, but a small price to pay if it fixes my suspension, and even I can manage the repair of a ball and socket! If I'd went to a mechanic, even one who cut me a break on labor and got me the part at cost I'd still have been probably over $100. It's nice to see what I'm learning about fixing my cars is really starting to save me money! Once I get that fixed, then I can get the 65 back up on stands and do those rubber brake lines. I'll probably order them now though.
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| # ? Dec 9, 2012 03:52 |
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Well, this is disappointing to say the least. The sensor link was a symptom, not the problem. I finally installed it yesterday. Immediately I noticed...no improvment. Well, a little less rattling, but it still rattled on bumps. Then today when I went to start it after work it barely turned over--battery was low. I drove the 2 or so miles home, turned it off, let it sit a bit, and the battery was drained again down to 9 volts and it wouldn't start. It also was rattling bad again on the way home, even on fairly flat roads. I jumped it, pulled off the back tire and lo and behold, my new link was broken--it pulled apart and the lower socket came off. It seems designed for that and can probably be fixed, but it'd only come apart again I think. It seems that there is just something that's making the air ride sensor arm pull too far and it drains the battery til the link snaps. Could be a leak somewhere. I looked online and the air ride running continuously and draining the battery is a problem which occurs not just on Caddies but other GM's with air adjustment shocks (it's not a true air ride, it's air for the leveling). So now it's sitting in the driveway, probably with a dead battery. I'm going to jump it again in the AM if I have to, and at least see if I can get back to the equilibrium of the past 2 weeks where with the disconnected link the battery stayed full and it started strong daily. I may try pulling the Electronic Leveling Control fuse. Long term, I'm not sure what to do next. I have no idea how to diagnose further. There's a fair amount of rusted bolts and parts I could replace under there, but I just don't know how far I can go without a lift. And I've heard it can be thousands to fix an air system, or even about a grand just to switch it out with regular shocks. I also don't know how far I can safely drive on it with no leveling before it does damage or breaks more. I kinda feel like I should pay to get it fixed now before it gets worse, but that'll just be hundreds or thousands on my credit card at this point.  By the way, I pulled the codes and there were NONE that related to the suspension or ELC. 
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| # ? Dec 21, 2012 04:26 |
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Some research today tells me that I probably have a leak somewhere in the system. The good news is it may be a cheap fix and so long as the compressor isn't burned out from running a lot I may be able to restore the system. Diagnosis seems to be throwing it up on jacks, turning the ignition key partially to trigger the compressor, spraying it with soapy water and looking for leaks. It started fine this morning and this afternoon so fingers crossed, but it appears as long as the sensor link isn't connected it won't run. Apparently I can make a ghetto temporary version out of wire hanger while I work on it, then I'd I can fix it I'll put together the new one that came apart...I think it's still usable. Astroman fucked around with this message at Dec 21, 2012 around 21:44 |
| # ? Dec 21, 2012 21:31 |
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Well I finally got time to look at my 99 Deville, and did some research and learned a bit about my air shocks. They are actually not that much more expensive than regular ones. If needed, I can get a pair for $275 and a new compressor for $215. Converting out to regular ones is only a couple hundred less and the car won't ride the way God and GM intended so I'm going to keep them. I figured out where the compressor is, where the air lines are, and where the shocks are bolted in and what part they seemed to lift, which is a major accomplishment for me. Here's the passenger side:  And the driver's si-oh wait, what?!:  It's like a bar video game: look at these two pictures and try and figure out what's different: -Driver's side is all jacked up, and the passenger side is fully retracted. -the top bolt, which I presume is the manual height adjustment, is higher on the driver's side -the metal of the front of the housing is torn and bent back on the driver's side -Passenger side is much older -there's some sort of grease/lubricant all over the top of the driver's side So it would appear...the previous owner apparently decided to just replace one side and not the other!  The driver's side is an aftermarket that according to the label was manufactured in summer of 2010, a few months before I got the car. The best thing is that that manufacturer only sells shocks in pairs, so the rear end in a top hat had to go out of his way to cheap out.  The other side looks factory, at least it's older and has no labels. Sadly, while that shock has a lifetime warranty, it's non-transferable. You can see in these pics where the bolts are adjusted differently, and the metal is bent on the driver's side. I think that's from removing the shock.   According to the (very detailed, with pictures) instructions on the manufacturer's site, you're supposed to support the bottom of the spring with a jack. I'm assuming that would allow you clearance to pull the shock free, and they didn't so they tore it up. And oh look, there's a big gently caress off hole in the wheel well from where it slammed on bumps. This would explain some of the rattling.  So now I need to diagnose these shocks. Why is one up higher? Can I get it to go down? I can't duplicate what happened before when I had the wheel off--the leveling isn't going off, even when I put the ignition in and have the level sensor connected or unconnected. Though that could be the battery, so I'm breaking down and buying a new one. How does one trigger the electronic leveling system on a late 90s Cadillac that's up on jack stands?
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| # ? Feb 28, 2013 00:12 |
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Consensus was I definitely needed new shocks first of all, so I ordered them last week. Same kind as the PO put on the driver's side. Got my new shocks Friday!  Raised both sides and started in on the bottom bolts. Sprayed with some Liquid Wrench (I have both that and PB Blaster on hand, but I read somewhere LW is better so I mostly used that). Let it sit for a minute and  they quickly  came off!  Now for the top.  You turn the nut while holding the bolt with a torx, as seen here:  The reason an allen wrench is shown is that I thought at first you had to put a torx or allen wrench in the smaller hole, and while that worked a bit I found the entire diameter of the larger hole with larger sizes worked too. Still though, it's tough going, and the name of the game seems to be "hammer in a larger and larger succession of torx heads and allen wrenches till you strip each one out. If you don't, it turns free. So I tried other measures:  I could only even use this method on the driver side, because the newer shock extended differently. One thing I think I've figured out is that the passenger side factory shock extends from the bottom, and the Arnott ones go from the top, which is why you see that silver post. When I lowered the car last week and drove it a bit they DID go back down, and they extended again when I raised it. Also, it turns out that the previous owner not only did just one shock instead of the pair, but we're also seeing that much of the post because they just decided to not use the lower shock mount! Awesome!  This does explain some of the rattling though. I will have to order one. So I was having little luck with either side, and had to resort to FIRE!   The burning sensation means it's working! I was getting nowhere with the driver side, so I spent time on the passenger side. I had low hopes here because this was factory, and they hadn't bothered to replace it before so there was a good chance they gave up on that top nut. But I was having better luck with a torx bit holding the bolt on this side. After applying heat and dousing it immediately with Liquid Wrech, then turning like a madman...SUCCESS!!  "This Here's a good look at the hole in the side. That can't be good!  I have to still get the driver side off, but I think I developed a superior heat technique on the passenger side, and that bolt and nut weren't actually rusted inside, just full of crud. So that makes me optimistic about the more recent shock. But I have to get the brand new one on first, and I have a problem. The new shock isn't extended, and I can't get it to meet the top.  I tried a few things, such as raising and lowering the spring that's on the jack:  as well as taking out the jackstand and using another jack to lower the frame. Also tried throwing the tire back on the driver side, reconnecting the airlines to both, and tuning the key to try and engage the compressor. Tried the same with the car all the way on. I don't know if the compressor is working or not. I attached a bar to the sensor link but I can't hear it come on, and nothing happens with the shocks. I do know that they were fully extended last time I had it up, then after putting the tires back on and driving it they lowered. But they extended again when I raised it and I can't get the new one to extend or meet up with the top. Is there a trick to this?
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| # ? Mar 11, 2013 19:07 |
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I don't know if this well help of if it's even possible on your car, but it seems like you would have a much easier time if you bolted up the top first, and then you have the whole shock body to pull down on to try and extend it to bolt it up instead of trying to move the whole suspension or pull up on the end of the piston.
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| # ? Mar 11, 2013 20:38 |
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Lowclock posted:I don't know if this well help of if it's even possible on your car, but it seems like you would have a much easier time if you bolted up the top first, and then you have the whole shock body to pull down on to try and extend it to bolt it up instead of trying to move the whole suspension or pull up on the end of the piston. I could try it. The manual says bottom first, but I can't see how that would matter. What does concern me is that these are air shocks...I don't know if they are meant to be pulled apart manually. I tugged on one a bit and it was giving me resistance.
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| # ? Mar 11, 2013 21:09 |
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Is there any way to manually feed a bit of air into the inlet port to see if you can expand it that way? Seems like under low load, lightly pressurizing it with a blower gun on a shop air compressor would be plenty to get it to extend.
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| # ? Mar 11, 2013 21:14 |
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Astroman posted:What does concern me is that these are air shocks...I don't know if they are meant to be pulled apart manually. What do you think happens when you are driving with these installed and not fully inflated?
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| # ? Mar 11, 2013 21:32 |
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Astroman posted:I could try it. The manual says bottom first, but I can't see how that would matter. What does concern me is that these are air shocks...I don't know if they are meant to be pulled apart manually. I tugged on one a bit and it was giving me resistance. There's a probably a schrader valve on the inlet. I bet if you poke it to let some air in it will extend easier too.
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| # ? Mar 11, 2013 21:32 |
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IOwnCalculus posted:Is there any way to manually feed a bit of air into the inlet port to see if you can expand it that way? Seems like under low load, lightly pressurizing it with a blower gun on a shop air compressor would be plenty to get it to extend. I can try that too. The port just looks like a hole. I'll have to look at it more closely in the light. Motronic posted:What do you think happens when you are driving with these installed and not fully inflated?  Dunno...I've seen people manually pull apart shocks before but I didn't know if air ones were different.Lowclock posted:I wonder if maybe there's a detent and you have to twist the piston or something to get it to pop out? Doubt it. Yeah, I think if you were supposed to do that the manual would have said. The manufacturer has very nice, extensive instructions with pictures. Another issue is finding that drat absorber insulator for the other side. I think what happened was you're supposed to reuse the factory one and they didn't or it was toast. Going to places like GM Parts Direct to try and get a part number I find the upper but not the lower. I gotta believe that it's some stupid common GM part I can buy somewhere. I feel like I'm looking for the brake springs for my 65 Deville all over again which was a quixotic quest, but this is a much newer car! It shouldn't be so difficult... Here's a better pic of the passenger side one that I do have:  It's in a lot better shape than it looks, so I just need one! Edit: found one, it's cheapest on Amazon so far, and I can get it shipped to arrive tomorrow for a not unreasonable amount but I have to order in 15 minutes and I still want to look OMG THE PRESSURE!!!!  Edit 2: Best option if I wanted it tomorrow is Amazon, so I went for it. Manufacturer wants $38 plus $8 shipping; I got it for $25 plus $20 shipping. Napa, Pepboys, Autozone, Advance, none had it in stores, and every other place I wanted to order it from was a fortune in shipping. $20 next day is stupidly cheap. And now I can leave the car off the ground and not have to go anywhere to get this and still (hopefully) get it done tomorrow. 
Astroman fucked around with this message at Mar 11, 2013 around 23:29 |
| # ? Mar 11, 2013 22:49 |
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Lowclock posted:I don't know if this well help of if it's even possible on your car, but it seems like you would have a much easier time if you bolted up the top first, and then you have the whole shock body to pull down on to try and extend it to bolt it up instead of trying to move the whole suspension or pull up on the end of the piston. Worked! Very easy too. Passenger side is installed and looking good. Still trying to get that stubborn driver side off. I can't get a torx or an hex key to lock in. Tough to hammer one in because of clearance, but I'm trying. Meanwhile I noticed something else. There's an orange rubbery square bolted in behind each wheel, and the one on the passenger side was loose Upon further inspection it's rotting away, and when I tried to tighten it, the bolt just goes up into it, but it's hard to get at because it's bolted up into the frame.  It may possibly be #10 in this pic, which is a "rear suspension crossmember upper insulator." Is this something I can install without taking this crossmember off the frame? Also worrying is that I dont' see a "lower insulator" which is number 11 on the pic when I'm under there, but the picture is a bit vague. Unlike the shock insulator, this part seems very specialized, and I'm only seeing it on GM offical sites, and the Haynes manual doesn't seem to encourage "working on the frame."
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| # ? Mar 12, 2013 22:42 |
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SUCCESS!!!! I finally got that goddamn driver's shock off! The torx was just stripped right out, but heat/WL and vice grips on the top of the bolt worked. It got a little harder when I ran out of room to turn, til I figured out I could disconnect the bottom, push the shock up, and then put the vice grips under the nut. The feeling of immense self satisfaction I got when that goddamn nut came off was probably better than getting my own nut off. That shock was pretty borked though. I'm pretty sure hydraulic oil and water aren't supposed to squirt out of the airhole when you compress it by hand.  New shocks are on, and on a quick drive around the block 90% of rattling has been eliminated. If I speed over rough pavement or a pothole, I hear a little but that could be the bad insulator on the crossmember. A little birdie has given me some more detailed info so I'm going to order the parts and see what I can do. I still don't feel 100% that the air leveling is actually working, because even with both shocks on and the hoses hooked back up I could never hear it going on, with or without the tires on. Perhaps I'll have someone sit in the back and see what happens. I don't know if this even matters though for the shocks to work as they are intended. I feel like it's a better ride but not "amazing" like it should be...I can still feel small bumps but maybe it's in my head. Certainly the car bounces up and down when I push on the trunk, and when I lowered it and drove it the car lowered a bit more and settled in evenly on both sides. I'm going to drive it up to my parents tomorrow for a longer term test. I think while I've got some light I'm going to change my oil on the '65 and start looking at those brake lines. Since the 99 seems to be holding a charge and starting fine I'm going to put it's electrical issues on the back burner and work on my '65 because the weather is getting far too nice to not drive it!
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| # ? Mar 13, 2013 21:23 |
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Astroman posted:I'm pretty sure hydraulic oil and water aren't supposed to squirt out of the airhole when you compress it by hand. Um, I'd be worried about whatever component (compressor?) that air hose was connected to. Pretty sure those weren't meant to ingest that poo poo - and from your description of oil / water shooting out when it was compressed, I have a feeling more than a little was forced into that hose while it was being driven like that.
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| # ? Mar 13, 2013 22:32 |
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Black88GTA posted:Um, I'd be worried about whatever component (compressor?) that air hose was connected to. Pretty sure those weren't meant to ingest that poo poo - and from your description of oil / water shooting out when it was compressed, I have a feeling more than a little was forced into that hose while it was being driven like that. Ah, good point. That makes me 99% sure that the compressor is indeed shot. That would explain why it doesn't come on. Now if I understand the system correct, this means that I basically won't have functional leveling shocks til I get this fixed, but this is mainly used to adjust ride height when the car has loads in the back. So if I don't carry passengers or heavy stuff, I'll still have working shocks when driving down the road. I can live with this for now if that's the case, before I drop another $200 on a new compressor. I'd rather save a little money first. If this does radically affect my system then I'll have to bite the bullet. I'll see how it rides tomorrow. I have a feeling at the very least it will be better than before.
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| # ? Mar 14, 2013 06:30 |
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Astroman posted:Worked! Very easy too. Passenger side is installed and looking good. Still trying to get that stubborn driver side off. I can't get a torx or an hex key to lock in. Tough to hammer one in because of clearance, but I'm trying. Whelp, I had the only mechanic I trust look at my car for an inspection, and the reason I couldn't see either lower insulator was because they weren't there. Because there were actually holes in the crossmember where they attach.  Rotted away.So I need a whole new crossmember, which is beyond my comfort/skill/facilities level, and it won't be cheap. But basically there are 4 points that attach the rear wheels to the frame, and 2 aren't even attached so it was kind of a disaster waiting to happen! It's a good thing that I noticed the issue, because if you weren't looking for it you'd never know it was there, and he probably wouldn't have seen it. And one day I'd be driving down the highway at 70 mph and...
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| # ? Mar 19, 2013 18:24 |
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Got the work done. It was not cheap. But despite my whining a few days ago in another thread, I was able to afford it and stave off the crisis of having to move. So I still have a garage. My mechanic got a pretty amazing deal though...instead of just the crossmember, he got a salvaged and fully painted/re-assembled back suspension in great shape. So instead of just replacing that one part, all the old rusty springs and links are replaced. It even has a working pump so the air leveling is again functional. I was looking at used crossmembers and they were like $275, and a new pump was $200. He got the whole thing for less than $200. Even with all the labor, if I had tried to replace all those parts with the sources I had, it probably would have cost more. Here's a couple good pics: Before: After:   All solidly connected to the frame! The kinda lame news thing is that the new unit had working shocks on it, after all I'd went through to put new ones on. But he's going to tear down the old unit for free and give me back my shocks and any other good parts, like my lower control arms which were in great shape, so I'll have a bunch of spare parts. I don't really regret the time I spent on the shocks, because I learned so much, and now I have 2 brand new shocks for spares. He also did the front pads and rotors and tie rods for inspection. The car still shakes when braking at high speed, but less than before, and he said it's definitely the rear rotors. I think I'll do those myself though. Otherwise the car drives better than it ever has, with properly working shocks and suspension. It's also been re-aligned. The "new" compressor is a bit loud, and I suspect it may be on it's way out. But at least it works. Now the only other issues are my electrical drain and the alarm problems, which I suspect are related, my heated seat not working, and the fuel sensor going wonky at times. Next up I want to tackle the electrical problems. The new battery can hold it's own against the parasitic draw for now, but it's still there. Yesterday I cleared the codes, ran them again, activated the alarm, let it go off, and ran them once more. Got the current code for "CTD Trunk Tamper" which comes up a lot, so I'm going to start there. I also retorqued the wheels since they'd all been off, after driving it a bit. With the weather being so nice I'm going to wash it and wax it. Today is a great mix of warmth and clouds but no rain. Right now I'm going to do a jerry rig fix with gorilla tape because the clips holding the wheel caps are prone to breaking. The PO did one like that and it's held in well, so now I'm going to do up the other 3.  I'm going to try my hand at polishing it too, with a friend's Porter Cable. Once I've mastered that I'll make a valiant attempt at polishing the '65, though it probably won't do anything with that paint being so bad. But miracles can happen! On that front, I've also ordered the brake cables for the '65. I saw a post on the '65-'66 Cadillac boards with a guy who was having the EXACT same problem of brake drag, and he had converted to disc breaks. Every response said "it's your brake lines." I should have them in a few days. If that doesn't work, I talked to my mechanic and he agreed the only other possibility would be a defective wheel cylinder from the new ones that were put in when I got the car. First I'll do the cables though.
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| # ? Apr 7, 2013 18:00 |
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UPDATE: My Brakes Are Actually Not The Problem So as I said at the beginning of this thread: Astroman posted:Last year I bought. 65 Cadillac Deville. Upon purchase my mechanic put in new brake cylinders and a new master because the brakes sucked. The booster is bad too, but I was able to live with that; other than having to put more pressure on the pedal the brakes worked fine. AND NOW, OUR CONCLUSION: Today a friend of mine who lives around the block needed to move some exercise equipment out of my basement to his house. Since my trunk can hold a lot of junk, I decided to slowly drive the 65 around the block, dragging brakes and all. When I went to go back home, it would hardly move. Some background: the car has two "D" positions and an "L" position, which I always assumed stood for: 1. Drive 2. ?? 3. Profit  18,000 miles. Seems legit. According to the manual, the left hand D is for "all normal driving" so I just always used that. The other positions had a bunch of complicated stuff about grades and snow and slippery conditions and since I always drove it on nice sunny days, I pretty much ignored that poo poo. So not knowing what possessed me, I threw it in the right hand D for the hell of it...and the car glided away.  I drove it all around the neighborhood, and kept switching gears. Everytime I put it in left D, it would lock up and screech. Every time I put it in right D it was fine. Every. loving. Time. So let's review: after months of doing this  with my brakes--disassembling the rear drum brakes, reassembling them, putting in new springs, putting in new shows, trying (and failing) to switch the back rubber hoses because oh yeah, those are steel all the way on the rears--and RIGHT before I was about to start messing with my parking brake and changing brand new wheel cylinders--after all that...it's my transmission all along. FMLWell, it's not all that bad. My friend and I looked it over and checked the manual, and there's a lot of play between neutral and the left hand D. The actual positions are: L-braking assist/Low Range-1st gear, RH D-1st and 2nd gear, for hilly terrain and slippery conditions, and LH D-1st, 2nd, 3rd. What seems (hopefully) to be the issue is not the transmission itself, but the linkage. It feels like it's slipping between neutral and LH D and not fully engaging. According to the service manual, a linkage adjustment is needed. The procedure, according to the service manual, is pretty simple. Loosen a nut on the manual lever of the shifter which holds it to the relay rod which actually shifts on the side of the transmission. Put it in park, neutral, put the shifter in neutral, tighten, enjoy. The whole assembly is right in the engine compartment behind the steering wheel, very visible and reachable. Don't even have to put it up on stands and go underneath. So right now I have it soaking in some Liquid Wrench and hopefully this will work. I'll check the fluid too, though I did that a few months back and haven't driven it since, except around the block. Hopefully this is it and not a serious transmission problem. But it seems to work well and shift in all other gears, so fingers crossed! If this works, I can get it inspected and start on the other issues. But it will be drivable, which is great because the weather is getting awesome. I'm a bit miffed I spent so much time on the brakes, but I did learn the art of drum brakes, so there's that. Doing that procedure got me very confident on doing repairs. And new parts never hurt. Once I get this done, I'll throw some pics of the engine up, don't think I've posted those before.
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| # ? Apr 21, 2013 19:57 |
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PRN Double Ds L, eh? Surprised they couldn't figure out a better way to state what each Drive pip does on the selector. Hope the linkage adjustment takes care of the problem. Also time to edit the thread title.
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| # ? Apr 21, 2013 20:33 |
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Oh heh. My 67 used to kind be like that. I just got used to it.
daslog fucked around with this message at Apr 22, 2013 around 11:33 |
| # ? Apr 22, 2013 02:57 |
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OK! Fixed the shifter linkage. So basically the yellow rod is what moves the transmission. The green rod is connected to the blue, with the red nut and bolt you just have to loosen; then the green rod moves up and down and you can change gears with that. The blue rod is controlled with the stickshift. Here's another view:  So I loosened the nut, and shifted it into neutral, then I lined the shifter up to N, and tightened the nut! Pretty simple. It seems to shift tighter now and it lines up better, but in my very limited driving I was able to get it to drag between neutral and LH Drive once. So it may be something loose in the transmission or on the relay at the bottom (yellow rod). The real test will be getting it on the highway. If I can drive it in Low or RH drive in the first 2 gears, then slide it into LH Drive to hit third gear instead of going from Neutral to LH Drive I can live with that. Here's some shots of the engine, as promised. Other than being dusty, it's in really great shape.   A good view of the Ornamental Air Conditioning equipment:  In fact, looking at the service manual, literally 1/3 of what you are seeing in these shots is related to the A/C. It's staggering how many tubes and wires and things are involved in this purely optional (and nonfunctioning) feature. I can only imagine how much less cluttered it would look if I took them out. The AC is literally the last thing I would ever fix on this car, because it's a convertible. Not really even sure what the logic was behind the original owner ordering that option. I'm saving it though as an interesting future challenge. It's pretty borked tho--there are a ton of wires going around, and a lot are just cut. So I have no idea what the initial problem was that led them to deactivate it, but they did more than just pull the belt off the compressor. I'll have to hook everything back up to diagnose it. Now here's what's next on the agenda: Cosmetic -attempt futile polish attempt. I have literally zero expectation that this will do anything. Eventually I'll get it painted, but that's not in the immediate future -futile seat cleaning attempt. Going to finish cleaning them with SEM soap, then get the spray dye. In reality they need to be reupholstered, but this is a stopgap -there's a few broken pieces of interior trim -I have a lot of the side chrome trim, but I don't think I'd bother with that at all til I got it painted Mechanical -number one priority is back to the brakes. I looked into the NYS inspection and it's a bit more involved for non-emissions cars than I had thought. Turns out a leaking vacuum booster will cause failure, so while I've lived with it for awhile I'm gonna have to fix this to pass. Problem is the '65s used 2 different brake boosters-a Bendix one and a Delco/Moraine one. As you can see from the engine bay pix, mine is painted black which if it's stock indicates it's probably Bendix, as Moraines were gold. The tricky thing is the master cylinder MUST match the booster, and the online depictions and descriptions and the shop manual are vague. I'm trying to avoid replacing the master cylinder unnecessarily, and I can't definitively find a Bendix booster. I've found two that *might* be. So I emailed both manufacturers and am waiting to hear back. Once I get that though, the job seems simple. Disconnect the master cylinder, prop it up so the lines don't bend, find the connection to the brake pedal and pull the booster out. I'm having difficulty understanding how the brake pedal is connected to the rod, but I grabbed a small mirror from my parents house which should help. -next would be the temp gauge. Mine doesn't work, and I don't know if it's the dash gauge or the thermogauge in the engine or the wires leading there--that could be one of the cut wires I saw that I thought was related to the AC. Just in case I pulled the gauge as well as the clock (also broken on my dash) from a spare dash unit I have:   Of course, I have no idea if these work:   When the big dead spider is on the 3, and the little dead spider is on the 11, it's -driver's window. It only works in a blue moon, so the window is usually stuck in one position. Which is generally fine as I have a garage, but one day it's gonna die totally. The control unit seems ok though, so it's probably some wires inside the door to the motor. This repair would ideally come after the brake booster and temp guage, and before the clock in importance -Eventually I'd like to try and get the interior courtesy lights working, because I see they exist but they don't light up. -I'd also be interested in either an AM transmitter to play stuff off my phone or switching the stock AM radio for a period correct working AM/FM My big question to anyone who might know--where the hell is the thermogauge on the engine? The service manual procedure for checking a faulty temp gauge helpfully says "disconnect wire to thermogauge unit at engine"  which would be great if I knew where it was.
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| # ? May 5, 2013 17:45 |
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| # ? May 23, 2013 04:40 |
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Unless it didn't load for me you don't actually seem to have a photo of the car. Washing and waxing can perform miracles as I found out recently and apparently clay bars are like the second coming. My paint was so screwed I didn't use one though because it would have acted like a grater. Congratulations on sating the transmission demon! It may still be a little finicky but you made a vast improvement.
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| # ? May 5, 2013 22:25 |
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