What Could GM Be Thinking

[mikester]

Good story.
Back when I had to pull the AC box out of the firewall to slip the new seal in I accidentally broke the two plastic vacuum lines off at the grommet. Snapped them off clean.
Last week I went to the one junk yard that still has a few G bodies that Ive been picking parts off of. I checked the all of them before I found the single car that still had that harness left intact. Downside was the car still had the inner fenders and I had to fight with the thing to get the harness out in one piece. Took every bolt out and it still wouldnt drop enough so I stuck a bar in between to make just enough room to gently get it out.
I spent an hour or two over the weekend cleaning up the wires. The 4 wire connector for the feed was melted so I took it apart and put on all new terminals. I had an extra plug. Retaped the wires. Got it all ready.
Today I pulled the other harness with the broken tubes out. Easy job right ?
After I got them out I found the ends of the lines that are under the dash are way bigger than the originals. They wont fit. Too loose on the actuators. WTH ???????
Now what should I do ? New actuators ? Find another harness ? Think any other GM models might have the same one ? Cant take the plastic lines out of the ends. What a pain in the butt.

 

[MontesbyE]

Get a rubber hose adapter kit, switch your plastic with rubber and just adapt them to what's left of those brittle plastic lines.??

 

[mikester]

Get a rubber hose adapter kit, switch your plastic with rubber and just adapt them to what's left of those brittle plastic lines.??

Never heard of that. Never had to fix anything like this before. I thought about trying to butt them together and using shrink tubing over the joint but Im not sure how long that will work if it even works at all.

 

[CopperNick]

Basically the adaptors are just small, short sections of hard plastic tube that come with two different diameters so that small vacuum line can be attached to larger ones or vice versa. You can use them with the hard plastic tube but you might need a way to temporarily soften that tube just so it can slide over the fitting. Vaseline might work as a lubricant or possibly silicone die-electric grease like is used for electrical connections exposed to water or humidity. The adaptors come as an assortment. Your local autoparts shop ought to stock them.


Nick

 

[Max Headroom]

What makes you think GM is ever thinking anything??? Have you looked at what passes for a car these days?? Even their sporty stuff is ridiculous. They make a 750 hp drive train and stick it in a body that weighs almost three tons. No, GM hasn't had a real thought in a very long time.

 

[81Regal]

These cars were never ment to be on the road for as long as these have. Most cars had a planned lifespan of 10 to 15 years, not 30-40. Newer cars are not even ment to live more than 7 to 10 years.
To the OP can you connect your hoses at the 8 hose connector behind the glovebox? They do come apart there.

 

[mikester]

These cars were never ment to be on the road for as long as these have. Most cars had a planned lifespan of 10 to 15 years, not 30-40. Newer cars are not even ment to live more than 7 to 10 years.
To the OP can you connect your hoses at the 8 hose connector behind the glovebox? They do come apart there.
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Thats where I took everything apart. Right at that connection. Im kinda surprised that there was a larger size for the ends. Never even thought of checking before I took it out of the car. I think theres a Monte that I didnt check. There was Cutlass there too but the interior is covered in racoon crap so I didnt even look at it. Maybe I'll hit the other yard I go to tomorrow. Theres an El Camino on top of an old bus. Not that I want to climb up there for this stuff but its a good excuse to check it out. I wanted to look at the inner fenders anyway.

 

[Max Headroom]

I heard that if you buy something from them, that there is absolutely no extra charge for the racoon crap. What a deal!!