Vacuum reservoir?

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Norwester

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Cleaning the engine compartment on my new 86 C10. There's a large black ball on the driver's side, mounted to the firewall. I'm assuming it's a vacuum reservoir.

The line is hanging loose. What does it connect to?

Does it happen to have anything to do with my HVAC venting issues?

Thank you in advance!
 

foamypirate

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Cleaning the engine compartment on my new 86 C10. There's a large black ball on the driver's side, mounted to the firewall. I'm assuming it's a vacuum reservoir.

The line is hanging loose. What does it connect to?

Does it happen to have anything to do with my HVAC venting issues?

Thank you in advance!

Very possible it could be part of your issues. The vacuum reservoir keeps vacuum supplied to the HVAC under WOT or heavy load so that the vent positions don't change when the vacuum from the engine drops.
 

Norwester

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Thanks, Jake. Anybody have an idea what it connects to?
 

foamypirate

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Thanks, Jake. Anybody have an idea what it connects to?

Sure thing!

It connects to a tee'd check valve. One side goes to the intake somewhere, one to the vacuum ball, and the other runs into the cab near the heater core.
 

Norwester

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Ahhhh, thanks.....Now I need to find where it taps into the intake and then where it connects under the dash.

My quest continues
 

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Its for cruise controll
 

chengny

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Trace it back. It the system uses intake manifold vacuum to control/actuate the operation of the various diaphragm valves. The source of the vacuum varies:

The hose can be either connected directly to a fitting tapped into the manifold (frequently it shares the fitting that the transmission modulator tubing connects to):

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Or it can be attached to a spare unported nipple on the backside of the carburetor:

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As far as routing, starting from the reservoir;

The hose should run behind the wiper motor then through the black plastic tunnel on the firewall above the master cylinder. Somewhere (after emerging from the tunnel but before heading down to the manifold) the branch line to the reservoir should be connected to a tee. One leg of the tee will continue along the firewall and then enter the cab through a rubber grommet over by the evaporator housing. That is the hose that connects to the control head on the dash.

The other hose that is connected to the tee is the one that leads to the manifold/carb vacuum source.

That section of hose should have a check valve inserted at some point. The check valve prevents the reserve vacuum (stored in the reservoir) from being lost when intake manifold vacuum is unavailable. It should be oriented so that flow is allowed into the carburetor/manifold. Note the direction of the arrow in the image above.
 

chengny

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where it connects under the dash.

I would think that it is probably safe to assume that it is still connected to the control head.
 

Norwester

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You fellas are pretty much going to rebuild this truck for me.......ah, the wonder of the internet.

So I'm assuming that I can connect the hose to the carb or the manifold? I looked at the manifold and saw what looks like a pipe plug right behind the carb on the runner. I didn't look at the carb to see where it might go. Both are Edlebrocks

Are you saying that the HVAC hose connects to the control head where the sliding controls are?
 

chengny

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There is a vacuum hose harness (like a wiring harness but made up of properly sized plastic hoses with special rubber connectors on the ends) for the entire HVAC control system. One of those plastic hoses goes through the firewall and runs over to the rubber hose that we have been talking about. The plastic hose connects to the rubber hose - and that is probably all the connecting you will have to do. Have faith that the rest of the harness is intact and connected as designed.

This shows where the plastic hose comes out of the FW. Disregard how the plastic hose is routed in the image. It was just shoved up there to keep it out of the way.

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Norwester

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I'm not seeing any plastic pipes coming out....Not looking good

Any ideas on how to access those tubes?
 
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chengny

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Yep, I have some ideas. Have you even looked under the dash yet?

Here is where the main vacuum supply tube (and the engine side of the electrical harness) pass through a grommet in the firewall:

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Here is an - oversimplified - dwg that shows the basic layout of the vacuum operated portion of the HVAC air handling control system:

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Here is what it looks like in actuality:

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I tried to kind of trace the main trunk of the harness in red (maybe red - color blind here). The yellow arrow is pointing to a typical hose to actuator connector.
 

Norwester

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I may be in way over my head.....when I look under the dash, all I see is a bunch of ducting. I can't see any opening in the firewall. Plus I noticed that some ducting was missing and other pieces had screws missing.

Hate to do it but I may have to take it to a Chevy dealer.

I do thank you though. One thing I can do is hook up a vacuum line to the manifold
 

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I may be in way over my head.....when I look under the dash, all I see is a bunch of ducting. I can't see any opening in the firewall. Plus I noticed that some ducting was missing and other pieces had screws missing.

Hate to do it but I may have to take it to a Chevy dealer.

I do thank you though. One thing I can do is hook up a vacuum line to the manifold

Dont give up yet. It really is rather simple. Do yourself a favor and remove the ash tray. Its only four screws. That will help you see in there.
 

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