robot808

Last night I replaced the missing windshield washer fluid neck in my car. In the process I snapped a plastic "Y" connector running to the Charcoal Cannister.
I basically glued it back together the best I could (admittedly a very poor job) and figured I would replace it as soon as I could get the part in.
This morning the car ran very roughly. The first time ever I had noticed anything wrong with the engine.
Could it be a vacuum problem caused by the broken connector? Red herring?
TIA,

Mrmerlin

its quite possible that you have a vacuum leak since it started happening after you fixed something .So a vacuum leak is possible

Now the real question did you remove the metal collar inside the fill tube as well as the one that goes into the tank inlet??

Removing these parts will let the system live a rust free life and it will prolong the use of the pumps and there wont be any rusty washer fluid being sprayed on your hood or roof.
To remove the new metal collar ,dip the end into boiling water and with some needle nose pliers slide it out, the tank will probably have to be chipped out and you should remove the tank and wash it out.

robot808

thanks for the tip mrmerlin. will do. I guess more precisely i am asking if the broken connector could have anything to do with the rough running? thanks again.

surfdog4

There is a connection from the "Y" to the throttle body through the purge vacuum valve...it's quite possible you now have a vacuum leak from that broken "Y" since the air coming in there is "unmetered". did it run rough at startup or after it warmed up?

It's also possible that you may have pulled the vacuum line from the purge valve if you were rooting around in that area, although seems like a long shot

robot808

thanks surfdog, it runs rough all the time.

worf928

If you refer to the plastic Y connector in the fender well - and I assume you do since you need to get into the fender well to replace the filler neck - then, no, breaking that Y connector will not cause rough running all by itself if everything else is correct. Nicole (hookedoncars) sells some nice stainless steel replacements for that crappy y connector.

Check the work area very carefully. Look at everything you could have brushed, tugged, man-handled during the filler neck R&R. Some things that come to mind: plug wires, breather hoses on the cam covers, air box / filter and connection to the mass-air sensor,....

surfdog4

Worf928, if the Y connector was broken, wouldn't the throttle then have an open line to outside once the purge valve engages? The problem though is the purge valve gets vacuum control from the ported vacuum on the throttle then through a temp/vacuum switch, (at least on L-Jet) so the problem would be temp dependant (unless the purge valve was kaputt, which is a possibility)

You could always figure that out by pinching off the breather line from the purge valve to the throttle

robot808

Can someone please tell me what the pod is that connects to the underside of the air box on the passenger side? It seems like I might be missing a vacuum hose to the bottom of it? Could this be the issue? Where does the hose originate from? Thank you so much,

worf928

There is one line from the throttle body to an electric solenoid that is pulsed by the LH/EZK (I forget which) and there's the vacuum controlled diverter valve. If, under the right set of conditions these devices were open, they would allow unmeasured air into the throttle body. However, the primary effect of that would be to increase idle, cause the car to run slightly lean at WOT, or transiently lean at cruise. (Personal direct experience here.)

A rough running condition could be exacerbated by this hypothetical unmeasured air, and thus a broken Y connector could raise rough-running to the threshold of perception. But, fixing the y connector will not fix a rough running condition.

If the rough running has started after the filler neck R&R then something other than the y connector was disturbed during the R&R that is causing the running.

worf928

Forget everything I wrote above in the previous post. For whatever reason I though the OP'er had an 87+.

On the earlier cars I have no idea what a disconnected Y connector would do. Hell, it could have cause the Credit Crises and Global Warming for all I know.

Sorry for the confusion.

surfdog4

here are some diagrams for the carbon canister...i think on your last post you are probably referring to the diverter valve, it routes air from the smog pump to either the cat or the air filter box, depending on the vacuum control line..if the vacuum line is disconnected, it would definitely be a vacuum leak to the manifold. If you were poking around the coolant or washer tanks it's possible you pulled that vacuum line off. If that vacuum line is not leaking, though, it couldn't be the source of an intake problem since the air being pumped in is going through the air flow sensor and is therefore metered.

robot808

Thanks alot guys. I must admit I am still a little confused. The only thing I found disconnected was a vacuum valve. It is labeled #18 on the diagram below. It connects to the bottom of the airfilter box. I cannot seem to find the vacuum hose that attaches to the bottom of it. Could this be the problem?

pscottjr

Bob, check it see if it has been plugged. Some folks have removed this vacuum limiter/decel valve from the system. Porken has some imformation on this as he has done it to his car. Look here - https://rennlist.com/forums/928-forum/200306-vacuum-limiter-decel-valve-delete.html

Good luck.

robot808

Well,
Thanks everyone. I really have no idea what the problem might be now. I think that the vacuum valve was a red herring. I will be replacing the "Y" pipe as soon as it arrives, but I have no confidence it will help anything. I cannot find anything else that I may have screwed up while I was there.
Frankly, I don't know what to do next. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

surfdog4

any open vacuum lines are problems...sounds like you will have to trace them all down and see what;s disconnected..no easy answer there unfortunately