My 53 has been having some idle issues. It runs fine, just didn't idle well. I had to pull the choke a bit to keep it running at stop signs and such. Well, the the other day, I noticed the windshield wipers didn't work. Since I rarely take it out when it's raining, and don't drive it in the winter at all, who needs em right? Well, today, went to tinkering around and WAY up in the dash guess what I found? The valcumm line for the vacumm wiper motor popped off at some point of course causing a huge vacumm leak. No wonder my old flatty wouldn't idle worth a shat. Plugged it back in and my wipers suddenly started working again, AND my 53 idles as it should.. lol.. Go figure...
Didn't the hiss under the dash give you a hint that either there was a snake under there, or a fuse that was lit... Anyway, glad you found it. HOL (hissing out loud!)
Yuh wud think huh? lol.. It's an old car, lots of squeeks, hisses and bumps.. lol.. Actually, it didn't hiss. It's a large enough hose it sucked fine without wheezing.. lol.. But, Im more happy with my idle than I am to have wipers.. hehheh.
Now might be a good time to replace the vacuum hose,,maybe all your vacuum hoses,they are probably all living on borrowed time. HRP
The real miracle here is that you didn't try to fix your idle by changing the fuel filter, swapping out the ignition coil, replacing the distributor, replumbing all the fuel lines or replacing the intake gaskets. Unless there's something you're not telling us... There ain't no fix like a cheap fix!
Now that you mention it, no, I didn't. I was just dealing with it and had a carb rebuild planned, which now I realize I may not need. lol.. All I had done at this point is do some carb adjusting which of course didn't fix the problem so I just figured I would rebuild the carb. Good thing I found that hose before I got a kit and tore into it huh?
Rebuilding the carb is a good thing to do...better gas mileage and power...very simple to do a flathead carb
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