News:

Due to a technical issue, some recently uploaded pictures have been lost. We are investigating why this happened but the issue has been resolved so that future uploads should be safe.  You can also Modify your post (MORE...) and re-upload the pictures in your post.

Main Menu

1954 Cadillac ????????????

Started by undertaker, May 24, 2009, 10:25:06 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

undertaker

Greetings All,

I finally took delivery of my 54 60-S on Friday. The car was in desperate need of a good cleaning. I have been working on that for two days now and still have yet to get it the way I want it. The car is full of oil, runs and drives well, and the interior, although not original, is absolutely wonderful. I do however have a couple of concerns.

Brake Booster-- The brakes work very well, maybe too well, but I noticed that there is a vacum leak on a steel "tube" that runs from the back to the front of the booster. There is a rubber grommet there that is very dry. Should I be concerned with this or is it a normal thing? Also there is no brake fluid in the res. on the fire wall. Should there be fluid in it or is the fluid all stored in the master cylinder?

Power Steering-- The power steering works well, but there is an awful "hiss" inside the car and it stops when I turn the wheel slightly in either direction. Any ideas on the cause of this noise?

Gen. Light -- The generator light comes on very dimmly when you come to a stop and idle while in gear. Is there an adjustment on the generator that I need to tweek or is there a more serious problem?

These may be stupid questions to you "more mature" Cadillac guys, but this is the oldest Cadillac I've owned and it is very differnt to say the least. Thanks in advance for your help.

Regards,
James
"Cheerio, I'd better be shoveling off." Digby "Digger" O'Dell, Your Friendly Undertaker
1954 Fleetwood 60 Special
1992 Fleetwood Limo by Eureka
1994 Fleetwood

Otto Skorzeny

#1
Gen. Light -- The generator light comes on very dimmly when you come to a stop and idle while in gear. Is there an adjustment on the generator that I need to tweek or is there a more serious problem?

It depends. It's probably not a problem but check out the entire charging system per the manual. The generator might be a little weak but it's sort of normal to flicker or glow dimly at idle.  You may just need to turn up the idle rpm a little bit. Don't just start changing and adjusting things willy-nilly, though.

Test the battery and voltage regulator in addition to the generator. All three must be in top order for the system to function properly. A weakness in one can cause problems for the other two.

Perform a thorough tune-up since you just got the car. That means change the oil and filter, cap, rotor, condensor, points, plugs, plug wires, fuel filter, and air cleaner ( change out oil and clean mesh filter and re-oil if necessary). Adjust the carburetor according to the manual and check/set the timing.

Once all these things are in perfect order, it will make it much easier to diagnose problems that might pop up.
fward

Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for YOURSELF

HUGE VENDOR LIST CLICK HERE

jeff1956

the power steering noise could be caused by a low fluid level...when my return line was leaking my power steering would make this noise when it got so low....but if its full you could have other issues.  id adjust the idle up some to try to alleviate your gen light...mine sometimes glows dim at idle but its usually at night when im running my lights, radio and other things.  def have the carb rebuilt if it hasnt been driven much or hasnt been done recently...it could save some headache as mine started leaking gas catastrophically and could have caught fire, but i was lucky.   i hope you get the bugs worked out. theres nothing finer than motoring in a vintage cadillac.

jeff

paul

Fill that brake filler tube up so that the the brake fluid is about 1/4 to half inch from the top. you want to see it when you take the cap off. The brake booster if its working fine and not internally leaking ,i would take some silicone sealant and filli n the leak around that steel pipe to rubber grommet. let it dry good before you go driving. Thats why its important to keep that fluid topped off and checked regular. if you are loosing fluid through the booster you wont notice it because it will be sucked into the intake and burned with the combustion process. You dont want to lose your brakes and it will be a all of a sudden theres no pedal seniario. Turn up the idle a bit to get ris of the flicker. Pull the cap on the power steering. My 56 sat and the condensation from years of not being changed turned the fluid to a clay colored mud. If thats not the case get a sucker device and suck out the fluid. Put the cap back on and start the car and turn the wheels back and forth. that will get most of the fluid up into the resivour. suck it out. Replace it with some good lucas power steering conditioner and top it off with dextron 2 or 3 what ever is available. As far as the rest of it goes drive the car. little by little as your budget allows. do a complete through tune up as was stated by a earler reply. if the wheel cylinders and master have not been rebuilt i would suggest fresening them up with kits or new ones if thats your thing. eventually that booster will leak internally and you will lose fluid. get that rebuilt or get a kit and do it yourself. clean the check valve . Putting miles on the cAR WILL BRING TO THE SURFACE all the bugs of limited or no use. you can remidy these headaches by pulling starter and generator and having them freshened up and buying a new regulator. a fresh fuel pump will give peace of mind also. rebuild the carb. Im not trying to overwelm you just giving tips to reliabilty. driving the car and exersizing is is the best thing you can do for it. You may not need to do all these things ,maybe the previous owner did some of them. Good luck and enjoy that car. it is a magnificent car to drive and very enjoyable as a daily driver.