[Healeys] Mystery....part 4...BRAKES!!

[Skip Saunders]

Bill Lawrence was closest to the right answer.   He first suggested I had
lost the welch plug at the end of the intake manifold..and then later
suggested perhaps I'd lost one of the drain plugs.    

 

The right answer was my BRAKES!!!!!.... It turns out that there is a vacuum
assist boost on BJ8's..(and also on some BJ7's)..

 

If the vacuum hose to the brakes begins to leak a lot of air.Either from
failed hose or from failed diaphragm inside the brake (or both)..then there
is a huge vacuum leak at the intake manifold where the hose connects..(It
connects on TOP of the intake manifold near the intake hole for the rear
carb.)  (Don't confuse this hose with the very little one that feeds from
the rear carb to the timing advance diaphragm.that one is very much smaller
and while it might mess up the mixture, it probably wouldn't leak enough to
prevent starting altogether.)

 

Once I replaced the hose from the intake manifold vacuum port with a short
stub of hose that had a 3/8 inch dowel inserted into the hose to stub it
off..Engine started just fine.    

 

So, Gladys is still my reliable car..but she just didn't want  me to go
anywhere with faulty brakes!!!!...LOL

 

Thanks for all the suggestions, I hope you enjoyed the puzzle.. I certainly
didn't until I found the answer, but as is the case in most puzzles.the
solutions are always more satisfying once they are found, then when they
remain a "challenging issue"..

 

See you all on the road.

 

Thanks

-skip-