vacuum advance line came out: engine side

[bobboyer5]

I'mback to trying to reconnect my vacuum advance on distributor.

(M117 engine; 450 SEL euro).

My short line (red) came out from the motor side. thing is, I can't find whre it's supposed to go.

I REALLY want to reconnect this.

Has anyone had this exact thing occur:

1. Where EXACTLY does this short line reconnect to other lines?

2. Where is this other line or T connector, and how can I locate and get to it without removing a bunch of stuff?

3. The Chilton's guide seems to indicate it goes into another line. Remember, I'm talking about theshort red hose - not the other line which is long, and runs to back of firewall.

Any really good hands'on tips would be greatly appreciated. Not having the vacuum advance functioning is a real pain.

thanks.

Bob

[bobboyer5]

Additional note:

At any idle speed, I get some "hissing" noise from under hood. Is a certain amount of hissing noise normal, like generating from slight opening at throttle plate while idling (car neds some air to function/idle), or is this definitely indicative of the vacuum leak?

anyway........I want to get that vacuum advance back on duty TODAY!!

thanks agin.

[psfred]

The hissing is from where the hose attaches. I will try to dig up my Chiltons from that era and see if I can find the hose and connection. Probably way down on the passenger side of the lower part of the intake manifold, very hard to reach (or see, for that matter) -- there was a post about this recently, you may want to try a search.

Peter

[ctaylor738]

The line that cam off has a specific length, yes? And probably a shape after all these years. Can't you use the length and shape to point toward the place where it connects to the engine?

[bobboyer5]

Chuck and Peter:

Was out until now.

I think I know the spot. Was a short (1.5 inch) rubber elbow over a small hole leading downward into engine orintake. Visible through a 3-inch square opening above. I had tried to insert red line hose (about 7-8 inches in length ) into this a couple of weeks ago, but with pushing, broke off rounded part of elbow connector. This morning, after post, I stuck a hanger end into the hole to plug it off, and my low-end hesitation off the line seemed to end. For now. that's if I don't floor it. If I still floor it, i'll still get fluttering. But at least it seems driveable without embarrassment.

I still think left side cat is clogged, so there's too much back pressure on real heavy acceleration. But not the moderate pedal, now.

Of course, I haven't yet taken it out on the highway - which might l;ead to deterioration. We'll see.

Cooling system still seems OK. (no temp above just over 80 mark). But on short trip, I may be picky/finicky, but I eprceive that hand-to-hood test shows a little too much heat under engine.

My analysis: clogged cat is creating engine bay heat, but cooling system not affected, so that's fine. Still, I think cat needs to be dealt with eventually. And reconnect of advance lines. (I have distributor a bit retarded now, as per posts when vacuum advance is disabled and plugged). since my car was a euro, since there's no more inspection in Florida, and since cats (the right ones-not generics) are increadibly expensive, my inclination is to remove the cats and run straight pipe through. But I'll have to find a small shop willing to do this (the big shops won't).

Back on the advance line issue. My Chilton's diagraphm for 77 m117 engine (Federal) shows this short line going to other line - not to intake or throttle body. But this could be an error, or euro engine could be different. But if this is the right hole (which I've plugged now for the moment, thus giving car some driveability), I have to reconnect in order to then do timing correctly. I just don't know how to reconnect, and I guess I'll have to let a tech do this. New elbow will be necessary.


I covered a lot. Does my overall analysis seem correct? Oh, p.s., I got mixture adjusted less rich, so if that caused cat clogging, it's better now. But I still think I should ax the cats.

whatdya all think?