What in the heck is this thing?

Topic: What in the heck is this thing? (Read 2711 times) previous topic - next topic

What in the heck is this thing?

June 21, 2015, 10:36:13 AM

I was fishing around in the passenger side fender of my 1985 Thunderbird and I found this thing...

What in the world is this for

I thought someone put it in the fender and forgot about or something. Definitely an odd thing to have in a fender I think.

What in the heck is this thing?

Reply #1 – June 21, 2015, 12:50:13 PM

It's a vacuum reservoir, so your vacuum operated accessories will continue to work when going up hills. Count yourself lucky - older Fords used an apple juice can (I think the F150 used them right into the 90's)

What in the heck is this thing?

Reply #2 – June 21, 2015, 05:15:43 PM

Almost all the old cars used those coffee cans.

You SHOULD have TWO reservoirs provided you have cruise control which IIRC that round one is for. The other one will have the TAB/TAD/EGR connected to it.

What in the heck is this thing?

Reply #3 – June 22, 2015, 07:53:14 AM

my 90 ford bronco has a can

What in the heck is this thing?

Reply #4 – June 22, 2015, 07:54:19 AM

ive often wondered if our cars could benefit from the vac storage container being a tad larger???? this is probably a technical answer that's going to be way over my head.

What in the heck is this thing?

Reply #5 – June 22, 2015, 01:28:17 PM

My '92 F truck had the "tomater" juice can, too....I guess you can say the Tbird had balls. Or one, anyway.

What in the heck is this thing?

Reply #6 – June 22, 2015, 04:01:12 PM

my 88 E250 had a can.... but it was a Hi-C can :hick:

What in the heck is this thing?

Reply #7 – June 23, 2015, 08:36:56 AM

My '83 Bird has the can and it is still in use today. With the motor I have in it now I am not sure what good it does but its still there and does not leak.

Darren

What in the heck is this thing?

Reply #8 – June 23, 2015, 04:17:10 PM

My 86 has a plastic ball in the engine bay, and it is the first time I've ever laid eyes on one. I seem to vaguely remember on under the fender by the cruise control stuff on a car i had, but not sure.

What in the heck is this thing?

Reply #9 – June 23, 2015, 05:28:58 PM

Thanks guys, So I guess I need to keep this installed?,

...even though I no longer have an air pump on the car? It seems to be broken off from it's mount, but repairable and I think it was connected to a check valve then to the vacuum tree on the firewall. Probably check a vacuum mapping to be sure it is correctly hosed up.

Now, I also found a square type of canister and made of plastic if I am not mistaken. I had to remove it because it looked really bad, almost like rats were eating it or there was a hornet nest in it or something. That is just to show how bad it was deteriorated. It no longer was able to be a sealed container because of all the damage it had on it. The box was attached on passenger side front lower engine bay and almost touching the radiator. Reminded me a vapor collector for the fuel tank, which throws pressure vapors building in the fuel tank down the engine while running.
If this is what that was, then I will need to locate a new one for it so it can continue to depressurize the fuel tank. My truck uses one with a check valve in the engine bay that releases the vapors from the tank when it reaches the set amount on the check valve. I figure it lessons the big vapor release of fuel vapor into the atmosphere when removing the gas cap at a gas station. I am still looking around for the use of this square one.

My right side fender also has a fiberglass insulation inside it. The plastic inner fender needs a few repairs to get it sealed.

What in the heck is this thing?

Reply #10 – June 23, 2015, 10:47:50 PM

The lower square one near the radiator is a carbon canister for fuel vapors. I don't have mine hooked up at the moment, and haven't noticed any fuel smells or worse fuel mileage.

What in the heck is this thing?

Reply #11 – June 24, 2015, 07:20:48 AM

I once had a customer with an Explorer who would lose control of his HVAC controls (all vac) going up one particular long and steep hill. The only solution was to add an additional reservoir. Never saw him again.

What in the heck is this thing?

Reply #12 – June 24, 2015, 08:27:59 AM

yes you must keep the vac canister,, can replace with any type that you can find from any car that has something of the same size or larger.
vac canister has nothing to do with smog pump at all... well I take that back the white and black vac lines that open / close the smog tubing valves rely on stored vac yet other than that you need the canister for manual hvac controls, map sensor and anything else with a vac line that you depend on.