Help with vacuum harness replacement on 95 SC1 (SOHC)

Hi,

I have a 95 SC1 (SOHC) with a severed line on the vacuum harness. It's the line that goes to the throttle idle control, so I get wild throttle behavior at idle.

On this engine, there is one other line for this harness that is used for the EVAP vapor canister (correct me if I'm wrong here). This line is fine but the vacuum harness fitting that plugs into the top of the throttle valve has both lines, so the whole thing has to be replaced at the same time.

The lines are 4mm OD, and I've tried to simply repair the line that's severed using an acetal coupler (McMaster-Carr part number 5449K191), which would probably work fine if there were about a half-inch more line to grab onto coming out of the throttle valve fitting on the harness. As it is there is only about a centimeter maximum sticking out.

After I failed to get a good connection with the coupling, I bought a replacement harness from Saturn, but I'm having a hard time getting to the connection for the EVAP line. It goes down behind the engine, on the firewall side. I can reach the fitting from under the car, but at this awkward angle it doesn't seem like I will be able to pull the line from its fitting. There are also a few other lines (some electrical and at least one more vacuum line) in the area where it's plugged in, and I feel if I just pull hard on the line I want to disconnect that I will probably pull a few other lines loose at the same time. The line I want to disconnect seems to be in there pretty tight.

Unfortunately, I don't have the factory service manual for this car, so I don't know what Saturn's recommended procedure is for replacing the vacuum harness. I'm dreading bringing it to a dealer because I have a feeling they're going to want to pull the engine to replace this $20 part.

I called the local Saturn dealer to ask what they would charge to replace it, and the person I spoke with told me that I would have to make an appointment to have them look at the car before they could give me an estimate. I don't know why they need to look at the car, it seems to me that they could just look at the service manual to see where the line goes in order to give me an estimate. I have the part so it would be labor only.

My question is: Is pulling the engine the only way to replace the vacuum harness? If someone has the 95 factory service manuals, I would be very appreciative if you could check the replacement procedure and post what you find.

Thanks in advance.

Reply to
Mike
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If you can jack the car up and put in on jackstands (make sure the chock the back wheels and find a stable place for the jack stands). I am dealing with this Canister Purge Solinoid my self and I found the best access and view is from the bottom passanger side. You can get a good look at what you are working on. You may have the twist the lines to break them loose. After that, they come of pretty easily. The top vacuum line off the solinoid goes to the vapor canister. The bottom goes to the vacuum harness you are replacing. It is kind of hard to fish that stiff tubing down, but it will go eventually.

BTW, if you are not comfortable using jack stands, ramps work okay. They are just harder to work around.

Reply to
Bill

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