I replaced all the vacuum lines under the hood , and noticed some problems along the way...... 1st off , someone used the same ID hose on everything. I had to laugh at the line going to the canister , because its like three sizes to small .... and still is. I have to replace that one with the correct size line yet. I noticed there are 4 hoses with screws in them , and im not sure if its because the motor is from a 76-79 Oldsmobile and/or because the car is from CA and someone unhooked some of the emission garbage or what the deal is. The red circles indicate the lines with screws in them.

 

in picture 4 , the line with the visible screw sticking out of it goes to the back of the carb in the bottom middle area , and the other hose in pic 4 goes to a metal tube which loops around down into the manifold..... I have a Haynes manual for my 72 CS , ill see if there is a vacuum line diagram in there.

 

Ok , can I ask you this ? ..... from these two pictures can you tell if this is more or less a head gasket issue or a intake manifold gasket issue , if its a manifold gasket would I be able to just remove that and the carb to replace it ? and is there anything else I would need to know .... like torque specs ? if its the heads how would I go about removal of that.... I never messed with this except for once helping a friend years ago to which he did most the work , so I dont remember details except for putting the stems back where they came from.... this is not looking good so I need to deal with this asap before something bad happens , and this car is my DD right now until winter and I dont have a choice in the matter , so your assistance would be greatly appreciated..... I know its hard to tell in the pics , but it seems to be coming out on the side where the head meets the manifold in that one spot only.

Bryan

 

I have a vacuum Diagram from an old chiltons for a 72 cutlass. www.sport-pilot.us
follow the cutlass links and there is one for the diagram.

 

here is the link... hope it helps!

http://www.sport-pilot.us/olds/vacuum.htm

 

thank you , ill check it out

 

Bryan,
2 things to start with. Your car is a 72 Supreme? In 72 either 455 or 350 would come with a TCS switch that mounts to the intake manifold. It had an electrical connectro and 3 vacuum lines. If the engine you have is a 76 it probably doesn't have or need these lines, which might account for some of the plugs. I'll do some more checking and see if I can find a good diagram for you.
Here's some info on the Vacuum switch and how it's hooked up. I believe it will help you resolve at least 3 plugged lines. http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/membe...Section_6D.pdf Look at pages 6K-7 and 6K-10. There's some info on the switch provided in figure 6K-11 and a write up on the bottom right of 6K-9
Second thing is about the fluid. I'd be concerned if there was fluid on the top of the intake also. It's right below that electro/mechanical module

and I don't know what that thing is. Can you check the fluid and see if it is oil or coolant? When does it show up? If you dry the area out, will it show up after the engine is warmed up or does it take a day/week to show up? Either way there's something not right. One other thing I would check is whether it's fuel. That area is so close to the base of the carb you could have a cracked carb gasket.

 

If you are lucky the oil is coming from the upper valve cover and running into that low area... Check the cover bolts.
That electrical thing looks like a TCS solenoid for a 2bbl engine left over from the original motor, used for switching the distributor vacuum based on tranny gear. It can be unplugged and stored away until someone offers you the big bucks for it.

 

thanks for the info .... the car was originally a 4bbl like it is now , just a newer engine as far as the leak is concerned I will check to see what type of fluid it is , but I sure hope its not from the valve cover gaskets cause I just did them a couple years ago.

 

Bryan,
I apologize for this non-answer, but I think the only way for you to do this, considering that the engine and car are from different years, and the car has some emissions equipment that is and will remain disconnected, is the old fashioned way.

You've got to identify every single vacuum fitting on your car, and then decide which of those need to be connected, and which ones do not.
There is no point in trying to just replace lines, as some of the fittings on the engine will have nowhere to go on the car and vice-versa.

You need to carefully go through the Chassis Service Manuals for both years, make diagrams of all the connections, then decide what you want to attach.

That being said, I usually just leave the PCV, the vacuum source connections for the power brakes and the A/C controls, and the vacuum signal connections for the advance and the transmission modulator, and call it a day, especially since things like evaporative emissions and EGR are usually broken and / or have missing parts after forty years, and are more trouble than they're worth to get right.

- Eric

 

my thoughts exactly at this point , as long is everything is working right that I actually need.... is there any way to find out exactly what year the motor is ? then I will get a diagram of both motors and make sure everything is right. The car does seem to run a little better since I replaced the existing vacuum lines that were on there , so now im gonna move on to the carb after I run some seafoam through the gas and oil and see what happens... my worries on that are the oil pan is dented bad and has a hole in it that someone used steel stick or a like product to patch .... im afraid the seafoam might make the leak bigger forcing me to replace the oil pan (snowball affect)

 

not sure if this is any help but here is my vin # 3J57K2Z106564 and the pad from the engine block next to the driver side exhaust manifold has 36M149696 stamped on it.

 

Bryan,
The only way I know of finding out what year the engine is would be to look at the stamping pad on the DS just below the #1 spark plug.
This pic is of a 71 350, but the pad is in the same place on a 455. The stamping is really tiny and you may need to clean off any grease built up on it. Might need a magnifying glass and a mirror. The first number should be 3 (olds) then the last digit of the year (3,4, 5,6,7?) followed by a letter (eg M=Lansing) then the donor cars last 6 digit from its VIN. Its a real PITA to get to because of the PS bracket

 

Ok, I just posted and didn't see your latest. The stamping pad indicates you have a 1976 Olds engine from Lansing.

 

So you're right that it's a 1976 motor (made in Lansing, MI).

- Eric

 

after a closer look at the gasket you can see where its wet in other spots to , including the front where its brittle and a piece is broke off. The other picture on the driver side is also wet , but looks like something else could be leaking over there. The valve cover gaskets are good and sealed , no oder of burning oil and its dry around both valve covers.... with that said , would I be able to remove the manifold without removing the heads and replace the gasket ? as long as I have the carb off I may as well replace a couple of gaskets on that to.

 

thanks on the verification on the motor Allen and MCchanic , now I can look into some diagrams on that year motor also.

 

It's good that the VC's are not the source - good job installing the gaskets.
Absolutely you can take off the intake without taking off the heads. If you have rough idling, that could also be the source of a vacuum leak causing the problem. And finally, if the carb is off, that's a golden opportunity to rebuild if you think it's time. Definitely use new gaskets; they should be included in the rebuild kit.

 

Thanks , not sure if Ill have the money for the carb rebuild kit yet , I think its still in decent shape as far as it does not bog at all .... other then being dirty and maybe in need of new gaskets , and I know the air gas mixture screws are off cause the exhaust smells bad.... come to think of it the car is hard to start and keep running when cold , so the choke is messed up to Im gonna start with gasket and go from there.

 

Your call Bryan. Carb kit for your application is less than 20.00 at O'Reilly's. I used 1976 as the carb model and Walker kits are around 18 bucks. Suggestion: check the side of the carb to get the number off it. That will tell you what year it's from. If it's hard to start your car, the power piston or the float in the carb may be out of whack. Probably the float. I have not seen one of these carbs that still has the OEM caps on them, mostly because guys like to tinker with their cars. There's lots of good write ups on this site, or websearches that will help you adjust the setting. One other reason you might have strong odors from the exhaust is the timing may be set wrong. If the guy who swapped the engine used the emissions decal on the 72 instead of looking up 76 info to set the timing, it's probably wrong.

 

yea I think I can swing the $20 , did not realize they were that cheap.... I also dont have much exp. with carbs or timing , so when the time comes I will have to review some posts saved from Eric on how to deal with the timing and I will have a few questions on the carb as I take it apart... thanks again

Bryan

 

Heck I even got a carb kit for mine - was 8 bucks at Rockauto.
However, since she runs so well, I could not see myself messing with it. So I cleaned the carb up real well and put it back on. It is easy to remove if needed later on.

 

cool , 20 years ago I managed to remove and take apart a carter carb on a 68 Roadrunner , and when I put it back together it actually started and ran the same as before , but this gives me confidence to mess with this one a little bit