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My vacuum lines are dead. The ball is broken and I have no idea where to start? Is there a place where I can find a diagram of the vacuum lines and also where can I buy new lines to replace the old ones? What happens in my car (94 safari 4.3l) is that the heating and cooling goes to the defrost position when I accelerate and I have no cruise control. The ball is there but not connected to anything. Any help would be appreciated.
Shai
I'm really hoping for a less expensive answer if there is one. Found this sight last night and want to say thanks to all that help with the good advise!
I have had a car in the past that had the A/C compressor freeze up so that is possible... I've not had your second problem with with my Safari... I did have to replace a blown serpentine belt at around 80,000 miles tho...
gmc safari vacuum diagram
I was lucky enough to find this forum online and I must say that this has been an extensive discussion into the chevy vacuum line issue. I am very familiar with this as I have run into this problem twice now with my 97 chevy astro and each time I have replaced the lines myself with lines that I have made, and it has worked great. However, I seem to be having a little issue that I wanted to run by everyone.
The problem started when I had an issue with the car jumping/shaking while idle. So I took it to the Chevy dealer for an inspection and they told me the Fuel Injector/Spark Plugs/ Distributor Cap, Rotor, and Spark Plug Wires as well as Engine Oil Pressure Sensor was bad. They wanted to charge me $1,900 and I was like h*** no, and so they gave me the car and i went out and bought the parts for $350 and I did the job myself and it works great now. However, when I got it back from the dealer after the inspection, the air was not coming out of any of the vents on any setting.
The suspect area is the 3 way adapter behind the accumulator where the vacuum line connects in from the intake manifold. The vaccum line was fine, but the problem is there are now only two tubes connected to that adapter. The first one is the vaccum line from the intake and the second one is another tube that is a little to the left on the accumulator on the firewall. However, the third port is open and there is suction on it. The issue is that I don't remember from when I was fixing the vacuum tube if there is a thrid line that is supposed to connect there. What I did was I put a vacuum cap on that open side of the connector and so the air comes out now and works,, but it doesn't come out as stong as it used to be before I gave the car to the dealer. I was wondering if anyone has any idea about that. I would really appreciate it! Also, the line that is coming out of the firewall is worn out and crumbling and I wanted to get that replaced, but I don't know where that goes into.
Basem D.
Thanks for re-directing me to your previous posts. I read them and they did help me to find the vacuum ball when I was under the car. What I found is that there are 3 tubes going out from the Firewall. The first tube is the degraded rubber tube that is going into the t connector that I had mentioned. The second tube is a hard plastic thin tube that goes into a round device right under the accumulator, and the third tube is also a hard plastic tube that runs all the way down to where the vacuum ball is and it connects on an adapter port to the top left of the vacuum ball. That third tube doesn't actually connect right into the vacuum ball.
I felt the vacuum ball with my hands and I found another thin adapter port, but nothing is connected there. There is no tube or even a vacuum head from where a tube may have been there. I am thinking that maybe when i took it into the shop that the dealer may have unplugged the cable from the vacuum ball to the t-adapter and never put it back in the car. It wouldn't be difficult at all to run another tube from the ball up to the t-connecter, but is that what I am supposed to do? Once I get that sorted out, I will look into replacing the rubber tube that is going into to firewall to the green cable.
Thanks,
bdar.
Thanks for re-directing me to your previous posts. I read them and they did help me to find the vacuum ball when I was under the car. What I found is that there are 3 tubes going out from the Firewall. The first tube is the degraded rubber tube that is going into the t connector that I had mentioned. The second tube is a hard plastic thin tube that goes into a round device right under the accumulator, and the third tube is also a hard plastic tube that runs all the way down to where the vacuum ball is and it connects on an adapter port to the top left of the vacuum ball. That third tube doesn't actually connect right into the vacuum ball.
I felt the vacuum ball with my hands and I found another thin adapter port, but nothing is connected there. There is no tube or even a vacuum head from where a tube may have been there. I am thinking that maybe when i took it into the shop that the dealer may have unplugged the cable from the vacuum ball to the t-adapter and never put it back in the car. It wouldn't be difficult at all to run another tube from the ball up to the t-connecter, but is that what I am supposed to do? Once I get that sorted out, I will look into replacing the rubber tube that is going into to firewall to the green cable.
Thanks,
bdar.
I wanted to apologize sdrori because I had seen you post earlier but I just now noticed that it was directed to me. First of all, in regards to the parts, this is what I did. Napa Auto Parts is the best place to get the vacuum tubing from. They have the hard and soft vacuum tubing (all different sizes) and it is about 0.49 cents per foot of tubing. If you need vacuum heads, connectors, and elbows, auto zone sells those for like $3 or $4 a pack and they come in a variety of assortments. As far as the vacuum ball, I haven't been able to find anyone who sells it except the Chevy Dealships. Some people have it on Ebay and what not, but it is not readily avaliable. My vacuum ball also broke and I bought one from the Chevy dealer for $35. You just go into the parts department and ask for the part for your model and year car. I assume since your car is a Safari, you would have to go to a GM dealership, but I am not sure about it.
However, I also have a special treat for everyone!!! I know lots and lots of people asked for a vacuum diagram and I was finally able to get my hands on one (don't ask me what I had to do, LOL) But I have it ready to post, but how do I post images or files on the forum? Thanks!!
Any info on the lines inside the engine compartment??
Thanks
BC
You may have known all this before, but if not, that is my interpretation of the diagram, and I hope it helps. Keep in mind that any small break in the lines, especially from the manifold to the ball, and then from the ball to the selector switch, and nothing will work right. If you have to replace the main feed from the manifold, just make sure you get enough line to route it up higher in the engine compartment to keep it from getting hot again. Don't take the same route as they did in the factory or it's just going to burn up again eventually!
Good Luck, and hurry, old man winter is just around the corner!!
Could you please e-mail the vacuum diagram to me at gerry@bablaw.com.
Gerry
Mike
I don't know how to post it again, and I think it requires a hosted site to get to, which I don't have. So go to link on post #213 in this forum, and save to your PC to print. Not that I would mind, but it's easier than emailing each individual that may want it.
P.S. Thanks to iambyteme for posting it in the 1st place. Hats off, and hopefully for everyone else, vacuum on!!
That was close enough to right behind where the selector switch is in the dash. You'll need to pull the doghouse to see where to punch through. I used a bit a little larger than the new tubing, and then wrapped with tape to help it from rubbing a hole in the new tubing where it went through the firewall. Refer to my post #124 for more of the same story.
I recently faced a similar set of problems on a 94 Chevy Astro Van. I hunted down some vacuum leaks that ended up being caused by battery acid eating holes in some of the vacuum line tubes wrapped inside a major section of the underhood wiring harness. The simplest approach (in this instance) was to unwrap the entire affected section of the harness, which contained several vacuum lines as well as electrical wiring. Note that some of these vacuum lines can be hard to spot as they are about the same size as the wiring and colored similarly.
If you decide to unwrap portion(s) of the wiring harness be certain to keep track of which wires and vacuum lines are wrapped together and the way each of the different bundles are routed and attached to the body. A roll of masking tape, a permanent marker, a pencil, some blank paper and a clip board will make doing so possible and easy. To do otherwise is to ask for really bad headache. Too, if possible, finish the job once you start it because it's so easy to loose track of (forget) exactly what goes where even if you only step away from the task over night.
Inspect and repair the vacuum lines in question. And then, because the opportunity to do so happens to exist, carefully inspect all the wiring and connectors uncovered during the process and clean and repair those as well.
Afterwards rewrap the harness in as close to it's original configuration as
possible. It's wise to use the highest quality electrical tape available, such
as 3M and Scotch. Doing so costs a little more but it best insures against
creating other problems in the future. (And believe me when I say the last
thing you'd ever want is an electrical short occurring inside a wiring
harness.) Another tip is to make use of a product called "Liquid Tape", or a
variation on that name. It's a liquid form of insulation that's painted on the
wiring, providing both highly effective electrical insulation and
waterproofing as well. This is also available from 3M/Scotch.
When I'm done with the job and everything's dried out and been proof tested I spray it down good with WD-40 to help ward off moisture. (Besides don't the rule say, "If it's supposed to move and don 't WD-40 it, and if it moves but ain't supposed to Duct Tape it!")
Best of luck,
Charlie
Thanks for getting back to me on this. I really appreciate it. i am sorry that I didn't get to respond back sooner, but it has been a busy week! From the vacuum diagram that I have, I took a look at things and it indicates exactly what you said, that the vacuum lines run into the wiring harness. But my question is, how do you get to the wiring harness?? Mine in my 97 Chevy Astro seems buried between the firewall and inside panel of the car and I cannot see a way to get to it. I checked beside the battery and I don't see anything visible as far as the wiring harness. There was one tube that I was looking to replace and it was sticking out of the firewall right beside the accumulator (it was a very short tube that I assume connects into another tube that goes somewhere into the wiring harness) and so I replaced it and although it helped a little, the air is just coming out weak and not like is used to before.
So I assume that this is the problem that I have and I am just about ready to not care anymore about trying to do it myself. However, I truly think that this is ridiculous and I did talk to my attorney this week about possibly filing a class-action lawsuit against GM since it is clear that some many thousands of people have had the same vacuum line issue and I truly feel like there should be a recall on this or at least should have been. He is looking into it but suggested to me in the meantime to call up GM and inform them of the issue and just how many people out there are having the same issue and threaten to sue if they can't do anything about it and then see where it goes from there. I am not sure if that will get me anywhere with them, but it won't hurt to try and the worst that they could do is say we don't care go to H*ll.
Took it back to the dealer who put in a new control (The one with 3 holes attached) now I get all kinds of air to the various areas and I can get the A/C to work BUT absolutely nothing beyond a luke warm(cold) air when the heater is turned on. Living in Canada we need a properly running heater in our vans!
Now the dealer is suggesting the thermostat may be stuck and wants to replace it (of course at my cost)
Could this also be a vacuum problem?
With the engine running and up to temp, and making sure to watch out for the fan and serpentine belt, take a LARGE screwdriver or something else stout and tap on the outside of the housing. Give it a good tap, but don't hit it hard enough to break the housing. Note your water temp if you have a gauge on the dash, and see if it doesn't jump up after doing this. You may want to try a few times. I have had this work in a pinch, and if the thermostat does unstick (if that's a word) your heat should work better. If this works, it also means the thermostat does need to be replaced. Good Luck!!
My question is this: Can I hook up some sort of connection from the back of the radio to be able to connect an MP3 player with a 3mm stereo headphone jack connection to the radio in my van. I have another vehicle that has an aux connection which makes it very easy to connect and listen to an MP3 player.
How do I get to access the back of the radio? Is there some sort of diagram that shows me the back of the radio? Thanks for any help.
I replaced all the vacuum lines except the little skinny one leading across the top of the engine from the passenger side. That one had snapped and was brittle, but I could not reach the other end back in the engine compartment. I didn't have the time to remove the doghouse, so here is what I did:
I had left over standard vacuum hose from doing the other replacements (about 10").
I had some high temp silicone gasket sealer from Permatex.
I removed as much of the brittle line as I felt I could and then smeared the gasket sealer for about 3 inches along the length of the remaining small tubing. I then slipped the standard vacuum line over both ends. Once done, I used a Q tip with a blob of silicone to dab on each end of the standard tubing.
Voila! Sealed.
I then loosely pinched some aluminum foil around the whole thing as a heat guard and put everything back together.
Works fine.
i found one that what looks right but is for the wrong year.