What are these and do I need them? (6 large pics)

[somethin_random]

Hey, I'm doing the first tune up for my car and figured I would try to clean up some of the crap going on underneath the hood. There are a bunch of wires being ran in crazy directions all over the place.

The car I have is an 84 Monte Carlo which was originally a V6 car but the guy I bought it from put a 350 in there and made it into a 355. I haven't looked to see what transmission it has yet. The motor is out an 84 1/2 ton Chevy and the carburetor is an 84 Quadrajet...

There are three things I would like to know if I could do with out. I apologize about the size of these pictures. There are two pictures of each

I ask about this because that red wire is still connected to the starter power wire and I would like to remove it.

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Does this green wire need to be plugged into that thing on the block next to that spark plug?

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Does this light blue wire that the housing doesn't exactly fit need to be plugged in as they had it?

 

[bill]

The wire on the plug in the engine needs to remain....its an oil pressure sensor. without it, the oil light will come on and the car might not start. the one on the carb is for your choke and must remain for it to work properly. the one on the fender is a relay for your heater/ac system if Im not mistaken. I would not start cutting/removing wires unless your are pretty sure they are not needed, better off to leave them on ...in my opinion....

 

[tc1959]

Your top pic is a blower motor relay,If you want heat/defrost you need it.it looks like someone chopped the AC out it used to mount on the case.
# 2 is your tenp light or guage sender,If you want it to work the green wire needs to be plugged in.
# 3 Is the choke heater if you want it to start and run while cold it needs to be hooked up. You can get new plastic connectors for that at Summit.
Hope that helps,Good luck.

 

[bill]

I wasnt sure about the block switch....had to guess...lol

 

[somethin_random]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate it! I wasn't planning on cutting anything, just wondering if I can do without... The blower motor relay I asked about because the power wire running to it comes from the starter power and it looks like it needs to be redone in my opinion...

I was seeing if I needed that red wire for when I re do the connections...

For the choke heater, I wonder if it was working. When temperatures start getting cool outside my car has trouble staying running. That is ultimately what I was trying to get to and I figured I would start with a basic tune up first.

I would pump the gas a few times and it would start right up with a nice loud idle and even stay running for a few minutes... If I leave it running to warm it up, the idle would eventually drop to a calmer idle and that is where it has trouble staying running... Or I could rev it up a few times to drop the idle calmer more quickly and it would have trouble staying running.. OR, if I immediately start driving it, it would want to die at every stop sign\light....

Once I get the motor real warm though it would run as good as in the summer, it just takes a hell of a long time sitting in the driveway and I would have to stay in there with it to keep it from dieing.

Hopefully, new plugs & wires, cap & rotor, fuel filter, air filter will rid this problem. I'm also going to try a thinner oil as soon as it gets cold enough...

 

[bill]

sounds like its time for a carb rebuild.....

 

[clean8485]

tc1959 is correct about the wiring and its functions. I'm confused about the temp sending unit. Is the oil dipstick tube on the driver's side, or passenger's side of the engine? Usually, the temp sending unit is located on the driver's side cylinder head, with the wire on the same side. On your car, it looks like the sending unit is on the passenger's side near the rear of the cylinder head. It also looks like there is no vacuum line connected to the EGR valve. Is the line just disconnected, or is it missing altogether? I noticed that the car has headers on it. Does it have an open element air cleaner? The stock air cleaner has a heater tube running to the snorkel that brings warm air up from the exhaust manifold to help the engine warm up quicker in cold weather. It looks to me like your poor cold weather driveability problems are at least partially due to missing or disconnected components.

 

[somethin_random]

tc1959 is correct about the wiring and its functions. I'm confused about the temp sending unit. Is the oil dipstick tube on the driver's side, or passenger's side of the engine? Usually, the temp sending unit is located on the driver's side cylinder head, with the wire on the same side. On your car, it looks like the sending unit is on the passenger's side near the rear of the cylinder head. It also looks like there is no vacuum line connected to the EGR valve. Is the line just disconnected, or is it missing altogether? I noticed that the car has headers on it. Does it have an open element air cleaner? The stock air cleaner has a heater tube running to the snorkel that brings warm air up from the exhaust manifold to help the engine warm up quicker in cold weather. It looks to me like your poor cold weather driveability problems are at least partially due to missing or disconnected components.

Thanks for the advice! Sounds like you're on to something 🙂

The EGR Valve has no vacuum line hooked up to it and I just read about how that would cause rough idling and hesitating, which is also a problem, although, I figured it was from a burned through and ticking spark plug which I was replacing. I don't know which vacuum line goes to the EGR, I only have a pink one that is coming out from the passenger side corner firewall and that doesn't come close to reaching and honestly I think that has something to do with the heat or a/c... So where is the EGR Vacuum line supposed to be coming from? I noticed on the back of the carb there seems to be a missing vacuum line there as well...

I am not sure if the previous air cleaner was open element but looking at it, I think you are right. I had took it off as I figured it was just something they had threw on there because none of the stuff was hooked up on it. I put a 1221 Edelbrock Cleaner on there for looks but I will gladly take it off if I can hook up the old one correctly and help performance. There is a lot of stuff that needs to hook up to it... :shock:

Is this the temp sending unit? I have no idea what that hole is on the rear passenger side head, something needs to go there though, lol. Also, I took more pictures of the engine compartment if you want to take a look. http://s855.photobucket.com/albums/ab11 ... e%20Carlo/ thanks

 

[somethin_random]

Update:

I believe the temperature sensor is a part of the thermostat housing and the thing in my picture is the PCV valve. I don't have any thing to hook to the temperature sensor though. The passenger side computer (ECM?) was took out when they converted from V6 to V8 I believe because all the wires are cut... I'm guessing maybe some of those wires were for the temperature sensor.

Also, I did some research about EGR valves and I read that it needs to be hooked to a solenoid, I'm guessing that maybe the solenoid is gone and that it was supposed to hook up via a plug from the missing ECM... I'm not certain though because I can't find a picture of the solenoid anywhere to know what it looks like or where it would be.

Finally, I reread what you wrote about the air cleaner and realized that the new cleaner is an open element... The heater tube is supposed to get heat from the exhaust manifolds (?) but I have headers. I guess that means I am screwed from using the original air cleaner for it's purpose unless I get the original manifolds?

 

[clean8485]

Some header manufacturers make a kit that will allow you to clamp an external heat stove to one of the header primary pipes, then you can run the flexible hose from the stove to the air cleaner snorkel. You'd have to shop around for that. Its either that, or go back to exhaust manifolds. The problem with that is that the heat stove and heat sheilds rot out as the car gets older, and new/good ones can be hard to find.
As for the temp sending unit (the one for the gauge), its usually the single wire sensor that is screwed into the cylinder head, and its usually in between the front 2 spark plugs on the driver's side, behind the power steering pump. On your car, it looks like that sensor has been installed on the opposite side near the rear. That may have been done due to the location of that wire on the original V6 engine. The fittings on the therostat housing usually have vacuum lines running to them, and most of those lines are usually emission related. The hole in the passenger side valve cover generally has a rubber grommet that holds a crankcase breather pipe that runs to the side of the air cleaner assembly, to a breather element that goes inside the air cleaner. The air cleaner that is in your photos does not look like an air cleaner that would come on a G body with a factory small block Chev installation. Exactly what V6 engine was originally in the car?
As for your vacuum line dilemma, is there any kind of vacuum line schematic sticker on the fan shroud? If there is, it should show you how the vacuum lines were routed on the original V6 engine, and that would at least give you a starting point to figure out how to run replacement lines. Failing that, then I would try to get my hands on a 1984 GM Monte Carlo service manual, then try to find the vacuum line schematic in it for the 305 engine. That should get you on the right track. Failing that, then I'd try to find a stock G body from that time period that has a factory installed 305 that is still stock and complete, and see if it has the vacuum line schematic on it, or try to get the owner to allow you to take some photos, or make some drawings or diagrams. Even looking at an original G body with the SBC should help to clear up some of your confusion, and answer some questions.
Sorry for the long post, but I hope it helps. Good luck.