Expert: Brad Sears - 11/4/2007

Question
I have a 56 Caddy series 62 with a 365 engine without AC, my problem is the idle surges, I recently have had the wiper motor rebuilt , the vacumn lines are ok I tested connections spraying with ether but idle didnt increase, I've had the carb rebuilt by a speed shop, my question is can I just disconnect the vacumn hose going into the dash pot? I have a NOS dash pot I can install as a last ditch effort but I still worry about the surgeing , the dash pot seems to push the linkage for no reason , so to sum up do you see any problems with just disconnecting the dash pot and set the idle at the dash pot adjustment shaft, the only reason I've been told that they used a dashpot in the 50's was the size of the AC compressor would stall car the when AC was turned on. this car doesnt have AC, . Thank's Bill

Answer
The main reason that non air conditioned cars have dash pots is to slow down the closing of the throttle on deceleration to eliminate the possibility of stalling when coming to a stop light. If the dash pot vacuum line is connected directly to the intake manifold, then the intake vacuum is changing or the dash pot is defective. I have seen some instances where the timing was slightly over advanced raising the idle vacuum and affecting vacuum controlled items. As a last ditch you could do as you suggested but might run into a decel stalling condition. Check the items mentioned and let me know.
Brad