Questions under hood...

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oa5599

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Nov 16, 2021
8
15
3
Hi all.
Getting some cleaning/tuning underway and came across these odd balls with my 307.

Anyone have any idea what we are looking at here? Some disconnected harnesses and a broken plastic tube.

Car has been driven daily for over a month with no issues.

Thanks!
 

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57 Handyman

Master Mechanic
Feb 6, 2017
339
389
63
That plastic tank you are holding is a vacuum reservoir. Over the years, GM has used tanks shaped like yours as well as round balls to ensure consistent vacuum especially to the AC actuators inside the passenger compartment.

Question: does the cabin air come out of each of the specific ports/vents when you move the controls? Can you detect any sound to indicate the various doors inside the AC heater box are moving? The main one is the diverter that shunts air between the floor vent and windshield defroster vents. As for the hoses, if they are old and cracked, they definitely need to be replaced if you do not notice AC or heater air coming out of the correct vents in the dash. Most of our rides are old and very few owners pay attention to these vacuum hoses until something goes nuts!
 
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ELCAM

Royal Smart Person
Jun 19, 2021
1,122
1,270
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As stated above the tank is a vacuum reservoir the black tube goes to the intake manifold vacuum source the pink tube goes through the firewall to the HVAC control.

The wiring connector would be a lot easier to figure out if you posted the year and make of the car.
 
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69hurstolds

Geezer
Supporting Member
Jan 2, 2006
8,195
17,596
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That green connector is for your ground for Mixture Control Solenoid dwell. It's not supposed to be connected to anything but don't let it touch ground, either. During diagnostics, you hook up a dwell meter and set it on 6 cyl scale, and you can check to see if the O2 sensor (as long as the car is in closed loop) is doing its job cycling the mixture control solenoid. lean or rich. It's a tune-up thing.

If it's original equipment uner the hood, it's a late-year 86, or 87 442. You can tell by the 622 A/C compressor. Sometime in 1986, the 198 compressor got updated to a 622.

That quonset hut vacuum tank over there by the HVAC housing is used because the car came without cruise control. Otherwise, the vacuum ball would be located on the driver fenderwell just outboard the master cylinder. I will go out on a limb and say MOST of the 442s of that era got the K34 cruise control option added. And the reason for that is two-fold....first, the select-a-unit thing that most dealers used for ordering lot cars was G1-G4. The only select-a-unit that DIDN'T include K34 was G1. Secondly, people and the dealers would try to add the equipment needed to kick in the WL7 popular option value package which included credit for [IIRC] K34,N33 (tilt),U75 (pwr antenna) & UM6 (AM/FM stereo radio with cassette). Saved you 475.00 on an 86 or 87. 442s weren't cheap! Interestingly, G80 limited slip was NEVER included in any package for VIN 9 Oldsmobile and would always be an a la cart option. Strange. You would think all VIN 9 cars would come with G80, but, oh well.

A note about the WL7. It was NOT always on the window sticker and the RPO was an administrative RPO only, it included no physical equpiment. It was a credit that was received if the dealer included WL7 on the ordering sheet. If you bought all the options that triggered the WL7 discount, the dealer had to add WL7 to the order sheet in order to get the discount. If he messed up and didn't add WL7, you still got all the options, but you didn't get the credit.
 
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69hurstolds

Geezer
Supporting Member
Jan 2, 2006
8,195
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Oh, and it appears the antenna nylon actuator cable is broken. Common problem. I see the antenna is up, and the wire connection by the fender for it is unplugged.
 
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oa5599

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Nov 16, 2021
8
15
3
Thank you all!

Yes, 87 442. I figured that was something with the vacuum line. Thanks for clarifying where the pink goes so I can get replacing.

I am going to be working on that fender/power antenna soon with replacing with a metal cord.

Again thanks for helping me identify!

Now I need to decide what I’m doing with the headliner.
 

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oa5599

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Nov 16, 2021
8
15
3
Handyman- the air was coming through before I broke the tube 😂
The box, being disconnected, was preventing the hood from closing (I was disconnecting the battery to remove the dome light/headliner) and so I moved it and the pink tube was beyond brittle and just popped.
 

57 Handyman

Master Mechanic
Feb 6, 2017
339
389
63
Unfortunately, working on old classic cars has it pitfalls as you are finding. Best to proceed carefully especially when working near or on plastic parts.
 

Csilvy2000

Master Mechanic
Mar 14, 2012
251
87
28
Texarkana, AR
That green connector is for your ground for Mixture Control Solenoid dwell. It's not supposed to be connected to anything but don't let it touch ground, either. During diagnostics, you hook up a dwell meter and set it on 6 cyl scale, and you can check to see if the O2 sensor (as long as the car is in closed loop) is doing its job cycling the mixture control solenoid. lean or rich. It's a tune-up thing.

If it's original equipment uner the hood, it's a late-year 86, or 87 442. You can tell by the 622 A/C compressor. Sometime in 1986, the 198 compressor got updated to a 622.

That quonset hut vacuum tank over there by the HVAC housing is used because the car came without cruise control. Otherwise, the vacuum ball would be located on the driver fenderwell just outboard the master cylinder. I will go out on a limb and say MOST of the 442s of that era got the K34 cruise control option added. And the reason for that is two-fold....first, the select-a-unit thing that most dealers used for ordering lot cars was G1-G4. The only select-a-unit that DIDN'T include K34 was G1. Secondly, people and the dealers would try to add the equipment needed to kick in the WL7 popular option value package which included credit for [IIRC] K34,N33 (tilt),U75 (pwr antenna) & UM6 (AM/FM stereo radio with cassette). Saved you 475.00 on an 86 or 87. 442s weren't cheap! Interestingly, G80 limited slip was NEVER included in any package for VIN 9 Oldsmobile and would always be an a la cart option. Strange. You would think all VIN 9 cars would come with G80, but, oh well.

A note about the WL7. It was NOT always on the window sticker and the RPO was an administrative RPO only, it included no physical equpiment. It was a credit that was received if the dealer included WL7 on the ordering sheet. If you bought all the options that triggered the WL7 discount, the dealer had to add WL7 to the order sheet in order to get the discount. If he messed up and didn't add WL7, you still got all the options, but you didn't get the credit.
That is an incredible amount of knowledge. Thank you for sharing.
 
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