3.8 vac. lines

[3XBrownCutty]

I'm doing a little cleaning in the engine area of my cutlass, and noticed that there was no vacume line going to the air cleaner intake (where it says "Auto Therm AC") and was wondering if anyone had a close up picture of where all those small, black lines are supposed to hook up to.
Thanks guys 🙂

 

[dan2286]

There should be a vacuum diagram on the fan shroud.

 

[G_Body_Enthusiast]

the vacuum line for the thermac system in the air cleaner comes off the line for the rear vacuum break which also has the HVAC vent controls.

thats how mine is from the factory on an 85 so yours may be like this as well.

BTW....if one line cracks none of them will work. the vacuum line connected to my rear vacuum break had actually broken (yeah it was that old) so the thermac system didnt work and i couldnt change where the air came out in my vents...replaced a 3 inch section of line and suddenly it all works.


the line starts with a 2 inch section of line off the back of the carb and has a tee where it branches off to the rear vacuum break and then continues till it splits off again running to the HVAC controls and air cleaner. your emission sticker on your fan shroud should give you all this info as mine has the schematics for the vacuum lines for this.

 

[3XBrownCutty]

Thanks guys. I made it a point to keep that sticker on the shroud when I first got the car, as it was starting to peel off, but the guy that did some work to it peeled it the rest of the way off :lol: and also switched one of those lines for some reason. Thats why I'm trying to figure out where all of the lines go :lol:

 

[3XBrownCutty]

Hmmm.. just went out and looked at 'er. I guess ours must be a little different G.B.E., mine doesn't T after the carb, It goes to a four way.

I followed all of the lines, and they all look like they are supposed to be where they are now. I have the 2 lines going into the bottom of the air cleaner, I need to locate the one that goes to the end of the cone shaped intake, just making sure were on the same page.

Found one cracked line, its fixed now because it cracked where it attatched to the carb, just trimmed and re-attatched. Man I wish I had that sticker.

 

[G_Body_Enthusiast]

just get some vacuum line and run it from the damper door on the air cleaner to one of the ports on the bottom of the air cleaner. the second port runs to the vacuum port behind the carb. doesnt seem to matter which way i think as i hooked mine up any ole way and the door works just fine on my air cleaner.

go to a junkyard and see if they have an 83 and take the sticker off it.

the 4 way you speak COULD be to cruise control. i dont know though as mine doesnt have cruise control but im guessing that's what the extra line is for.


do yourself a favor, if part of the line was cracked, replace the whole line. vacuum line is cheap (i got 10 feet of it for less than 4 bucks) and its cheap insurance as you dont want to keep checking vacuum lines in case things stop working again.

 

[3XBrownCutty]

Thanks again, I'll head over to the junkyard sometime soon and grab one of those stickers, if they have an '83. I'll get some vacuum line like you suggested, it's cheap and can only help, so why not :lol:

The way you told me to hook up the damper door was how it originally hooked up when I got it, but the guy switched it around for some reason.

Also, when following around all the lines by the carb, I found a green connector that isn't hooked up to anything, and I can't find anything it would hook up to.

It has two bluish wires runnung into it, and its located pretty much directly in front of the carb. The wires come out of the ribbed plastic stuff used to route a bunch of wires together. Does anyone know what this?

 

[dan2286]

I think the green connector is for hooking up a dwell meter or something like that.

 

[G_Body_Enthusiast]

there is a connector for a dwell meter in front of the carb and the 4th vacuum line in the back would go to a cruise control servo. IF the car even has cruise control. if not i have no idea what it would go to.

neither of my service manuals give much information on the vacuum lines for some reason. not sure why. im rather disappointed about that.

 

[3XBrownCutty]

yeah, I have absolutely nothing in my chilton's manual. the car does have cruise btw.