My weekend project to rebuild 2 69 headlight actuator top seals and bellows has gone South. I have 15lbs. vacuum at the top and bottom port but my actuation takes over 2 minutes to open or close. When left closed it takes a half hour or so and the doors open by the spring action. At the manifold 15 lbs at the switch 15 lbs. and at the actuator like I said is 15 lbs I rebuilt two actuators and both are acting the same
My deduction is good vacuum from the engine. No pinched hoses.
My check valve is good
My switch is good
My connector valve is good since good vacuum at motor.
My storage tank is good It bleeds out in a half hour but nothing serious.
With the rod unhooked the hinges aren’t binding at the headlight doors
There is no leak between both chambers of the actuator
With both hoses off the rod moves in the actuator fairly easy.
My only conclusions are with pressure the new seals might be binding the rod.
Or possibly the connector valve though working is constricted and isn’t putting out enough volume.
Very similar problem on mine after new top seal and bellows. But mine is intermittent. It works perfectly 90% of the time, and headlight doors stay closed for 24 hours with engine off. But the other 10% of the time, headlight doors take about 2 minutes to open and close. There is no restriction I could find in the vacuum lines, check valve, or tank, and so I also wondered about the rod binding on the new seal. I used silicone dielectric grease on the rod, so hard to imagine it binding though.
Thanks for the response. Blowing air into the top chamber which would close the lids because it is opposite of normal flow of air. I can get it to start to close but because of the Springs are working against me it’s hard to get any farther. There is a leak at the top seal. The loose spare actuator leaks at the top seal also when I blow air into it and max it out I thought I cleaned up the surfaces well at the seals and used steel wool on the shaft. I used a small amount of white lithium grease to stretch the seal over the end of the shaft. I will try to take things apart again tomorrow and inspect for damage. Thanks again for the advice.
Yup, my chrome plated rod shaft shined like new after steel wool polish too. I also confirmed no binding in the headlight door hinges. Not sure if leak at top seal would explain slow headlight opening though. Maybe all that wrestling with the rod damaged the internal diaphragm. What if there were a hole in the internal diaphragm? Wouldn’t that make it slow to open and close headlight doors?
Tested that. Only have vacuum at the correct port as to where the switch is positioned. When tested I took the opposite hose off and no vacuum. I will try to test it again but block off the port I took the hose off of. Thanks
someone here had success with fixing a tiny internal on the internal bellows leak by dripping a sealant inside. It was not fix a flat… I would like to try it, any suggestions?
Just ran static test on mine with the hand pump to 15” vacuum. Top chamber loses about 1” of vacuum per minute, but bottom chamber loses all vacuum within a minute. Mine must have a leak in the inner diaphragm that opens up when being pulled down. All that wiggling and side loading of the actuator rod while installing the top boot probably didn’t help. I’d be up for trying the sealant trick - nothing to lose at this point.
I tried fix-a-flat on my 68 a year or so ago and that worked for about three weeks. So then I tried Flex Seal and that worked for several months but eventually the actuator started leaking again, or maybe a new leak formed somewhere else on the bellows. Now I’ve got an actuator full of goop.
I would think it would only work on the smallest of leaks and only on the top chamber. If you put it in the lower chamber it would find its way through the system and into the engine. Thank you! I am going to try the Flex seal on several units and report back.
Yes, I was also wondering if you could put sealer into the top chamber and then apply vacuum to bottom chamber to pull sealer into the hole. Don, I will be anxious to hear how it works. Thanks Bill for the static test suggestion!
I hooked up lines to each port fittings and blew air into one side while having the opposite side submerged in water. No bubbles after maxed out means no leaks between the chambers. I still hear an air leak at the top chamber seal while blowing into the top, but what is confusing is with everything hooked to the car and no spring tension and I pull off the bottom line it takes 20 seconds to open and about a minute to close. Tested it a few times and while the bottom line is off I tested and there is no vacuum leaking across chambers.
Any idea how to make the top seal work better. I’m thinking of lifting the top part of the seal and putting a little sealant there without getting any on the shaft.
Wish I knew if it is the motor or amount of vacuum to the motor
Hmm, you must not have any big internal leaks then. But if your internal diaphragm is leaking like mine, you might not see it off the car and under positive pressure. Mine tested ok off the car too, but opens up alot more (to where you would see the bubbles in water) only when vacuum is applied to the bottom and is pulling the headlight doors open. You might try the static vacuum test Bill suggested to see how long it will hold vacuum on each chamber with the actuator installed in your car. That way the load is there, and the actuator rod is in loaded position. If the internal diaphragm is leaking, the top seal won’t matter.