On my way home today my engine suddenly started running really bad. In fact, the only way to keep it running is to leave the choke on so that it's on fast idle. Putting it into gear immediately sucks power away and with my foot on the brake on the brake it can stall, even at fast idle. My first guess is that it's a massive vacuum leak. Can a blown brake booster cause that? The booster & master cylinder are among the few things that I haven't changed, and I know the booster uses vacuum.
It was getting dark as I got home so I just parked it for the night and will look at it tomorrow in the daylight. It was running great all day and this first became noticeable at a stop light about a mile from home. I had to keep popping it into neutral and revving the gas at lights to keep it running. At the light before that I had done a pretty strong takeoff to get ahead of another guy, but I doubt that that has anything to do with it. As I pulled up to the curb to park, it stalled out. The brake pedal feels really hard like it does when the engine dies and you no longer have the power assist. The pedal also seems to make a different squeak then I've ever heard before when I step on it. So, any chance it could have to do w/ a vacuum leak because of a ruptured booster diaphragm? Any advice is appreciated. The first thing I plan to do is check all the vacuum lines. This is a 1969 El Camino w/ a 1958 283 w/ HEI. Thanks, John Nasta
