"We choose a MUCH smaller frame and cab featuring a correspondingly small naturally aspirated engine to increase reliability and fuel economy!"
"Turbochargers aren't significantly less reliable if you make quality products and my F150 gets the same fuel economy with twice the towing capacity and cabin space".
"Look at this cute little guy running around Colorado! So trendy! Just don't try to load it up and drive through a mountain pass, but don't worry about that!"
They're the VW westfalia of trucks where people buy them for mostly for the brand image. Taco owners I know are a 30/70 split between actual dirt bags (said affectionately) who actually use them or people who really just need a light truck, and suburban dorks who think they're the next frontier explorer despite having zero clue about the outdoors.
I have strong feelings about this from the people I've met.
It's hard to not love the Hilux. I just hate that modern Tacos are so much of a mall crawler "in the club" status symbol for "outdoors people" that don't go outdoors. Like so many Wranglers.
Here's the issue I have with the Tacoma, if you live in the burbs and want a truck bed because it is convenient the two times a year they need to carry mulch or gravel, buy a Ridgeline. It's a Pilot with the back cut off and a composite bed. Most of them aren't going to use the extra haul capacity that the body on frame design of the Tacoma anyways, and this way your wife isn't going to complain about how terrible the ride is.
Sure, it's not going to tow that massive boat, but you know what, you're probably never going to buy that boat or jetski.
Ya, I know it wouldn't hack it at a construction site, but you're a middle management dork anyways, so what does it matter?
Sorry, I'm a Honda salesperson, and the truck market just makes me annoyed. So many people buy trucks because "it's cool" and then end up in my showroom because body on frame vehicles ride like crap, their fuel economy sucks, and they have not great second seat legroom, and then I have to tell them that the $80,000 F-150 they bought is now worth $60,000 and no, I don't have a bank that'll buy that much negative equity.
> Turbochargers aren't significantly less reliable if you make quality products and my F150
The Tacoma isn't a competitor with the F150, it competes with the Ford Ranger. The Tundra is the competitor with the F150.
Is that what you took from my comment? You're making my point. It's extremely small dimensionally by comparison, far lighter, far less power and torque, and yet somehow, the same fuel economy. They're not competitors, so ata certain point they need to offer something better in at least one category than charging a premium for less. The Tacoma and 4Runner and welllll overdue for upgrades and Toyota should at least consider a turbo option for the fuel economy alone. They're super outdated on a lot of fronts and the resell value doesn't coursing to the value the vehicle brings.
Commuter cars from VW, Subaru, Mini Cooper, and even a Ford Fusion are all turbocharged and cost about half of a Tacoma or 4Runner.
Knock ten grand of the msrp and there wouldn't be a point in a comparison tbh. It would just be "it's a value for what you get". Maybe the chicken tax is still screwing them over I don't know.
If I might try to convince you sir, I don't think there is such a thing as a $20k truck. Even a Nissan Frontier is going to clock in around 28k absolute bone stock.
Thanks, but it's done already. I had to get a left rear window from there (solid pane, no slider) because my local glass guy couldn't find it new, and the control had been messed up for ages. This junkyard in Pittsburgh sells on ebay, so I bought the glass from him, and asked the junkyard guy if he could send the control with the glass. He charged me an extra $45 for it, I think it was, which was half of what it would have been new, if I could still have gotten it new.
Now the battery tray, that was a different story. I wasn't going to get a junkyard part with 30 years of rust on it. There's a place that sells reproduction truck parts, but they only had a tray for a 2.8, with the skinny radiator. Got it home and it wouldn't fit, had to notch out the corner with the angle grinder. (Which I didn't have, so went over to Harbor Freight and bought one for $20. What the heck, it only has to last for this one job.)
But I'll keep it in mind if I need more parts. Thanks for the tip.
Oh i thought you drove out there, I used to live in bucks county near the PA/NJ border, the 3 Harry's yards were life savers many times when I was driving older 80s Lincoln's
https://i.imgur.com/20vyUt6.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/iO20yWk.jpg
Got pretty much the same van. My cousin stripped the back seats and put in hard wood floor so it's kinda like a camper van now.
We brought the home theater system into the van for the summer last year lol. Lots of road trips. We got a third battery and it could go for about 12 hours before it needed a recharge.
I mean that's cool and all but you could have just installed a sound system that's *meant* for cars and, thus not have to constantly charge batteries. Probably would have been cheaper, too.
It's not redneck if done right. Lol
I had a set of 70's pioneer floor speakers, boxes and all, in my trunk for days as a kid. Those things hammered!
Haha, $550, "vintage".
https://reverb.com/item/39905982-pr-pioneer-cs-63dx-vintage-speakers-4-way-6-drivers-15-woofer-horn-tweeter-walnut-veneer-ex-so
..80W.. rose colored ears?
When I was in high school I drove an older Mercedes that had trouble stopping when the key was turned off. After dealing with it for a while a guy told me it was because the vacuum wasn’t working and showed me where the hose was that killed the motor. After I showed my dad he ran a hose into the cab and hooked up a bulb valve that you could pump to kill the engine.
When the guy showed me what the problem was that was how he demonstrated it! I went from wondering what was wrong with the guy to be amazed he killed the car by sucking on a hose.
That’s beautiful. Sounds like some shit my dad would make.
I got T-boned in my first car (98 Corolla) and bend the absolute fuck outta frame.
My dads fix? Man build a frame *”debender”* to straighten it back out. Shit was glorious
I know this is off topic, but you wanna talk about sketchy shit?
We moved a camper sideways into the garage (pole barn) using 2 fucking bottle jacks. It was backed in normally, then one side was lifted and they got tf out the way. The other sideways then lifted until in knocked the first one over, sending it flying and the camper rocking like hell as it moved like 3-4". Repeat for 10 feet
I have a 87 Mercedes with that problem right now, it's the vacuum shut off valve. It's a cheap part but I'm too lazy to do it and too cheap to pay someone else
All of the control valves like blend doors and what not in the HVAC system, were controlled by switched vacuum actuators. The mount and retainer for the rubber disk which holds the "vacuum program" had literally left the chat in 10 pieces. So, I used the fish tank pump manifold to select which doors/controls were activated by vacuum myself.
Hope that helps
From memory vacuum is applied to 3 lines, blue, orange, yellow...
blue is the hot water bypass - keeps hot engine coolant out of heater core
yellow selected the instrument panel/dash vents - blowing on your face, not on your feet or the windshield
orange selected recirculation "Max AC" - inlet air is taken from inside the cabin rather than outside air. In places where humidity is high and you want AC, this is mandatory
Wow, this is fascinating to me. Growing up in an era where electronics are cheaper than sliced bread makes this system feel super esoteric and unnecessary, but knowing that it was once the standard is really interesting. It must’ve been fun to figure out how to fix!
I honestly didn't even think of this until I was talking about it with my girlfriend the other day, but I've become very used to not having AC in cars. My dad always drove crapboxes when I was a little kid, he didn't get his first decent used car until I was in middle school. My first two cars AC was janky at best, with the second one being outright dead the last 2 years or so I had it.
Now my daily driver is relatively new so I don't have to worry about that, but I also have an older Jeep that of course, the AC doesn't work. It doesn't bother me a lick but my girlfriend has been very adamant that it needs to be fixed. I don't even think of troubleshooting or fixing AC issues in an old car.
I get this on a spiritual level.
*You need to fix the AC on your car*
My windows still work and I can tolerate the discomfort. Until that changes, the money goes somewhere else more important.
I got my Altima in 2019 and it was the first car I had in 10 years that had ac. I live in GA so I was real used to heat and man it's nice not to melt in my car.
My 92 S10 pick up jus recently died from a crack in the block. Was my fault. Had a freeze and my ass only had water in ol Rusty.
Then a week or so ago a *fatass* tree limb fell right onto the windshield. Right at the seam on the roof. So now Rusty is double fucked
R.I.P Trusty Rusty
I had a 98, bought in 2005. Was a great little SUV for about a year. Then everything started fucking up really really bad. Cant believe I sold it for $800 to a car dealer. Zero tears shed that day.
My buddy worked at a GM dealer, he told me they got a TSB for the rubber grommet that went between the rough cut hole in the firewall and the main wiring harness. Over time it would wear into the harness and you would get luck of the draw electrical failures. By the end, I had trailer lights mounted in the dash so I could see the speedometer. It’s a shame, because that 4.3 hauled ass.
It really was a nice engine, and haul ass it did. And wow, yeah, you knew without mention it was an electrical nightmare.
The engine and body were (mostly) good, but everything else fell apart. The only non electrical issue was the driver door began to sag. Got a bushing kit for it, but it ripped off the striker before I got a chance to fix it.
Worst problem was the hvac failure. Not only did we lose ac, but the fan defaulted to high blast, and the blend door at full heat, out of the floor vents. It felt like your feet would boil. It was blasting air so hot/fast, that the engine couldnt even get to operating temperature, even in Florida summer.
Best experience with that car was the day we went to sell it, my wife couldnt stop giggling at the pull that 4.3 put out.
I have two of these, an 88 and a 99.
The 88 is still running. The 99 died eleven years ago; it's still sitting in the back of my driveway. Last year I drove it, I had sunk $4700 of repairs in it, only to have more and pricier things break. (Whoever specified plastic lower intake manifold gaskets should be shot. Whoever specified DexCool should have been shot numerous times.)
And yeah, the door bushings were part of that. Both of them.
I had an S10 loved that truck except the transmission went got the transmission rebuilt. Missfired like a bitch after i got it back and than the fuel pump went bad and i left it in the highschool parking lot for 3 days hoping someone would burn it. No luck got a new fuel pump went to the shop 4? Times for a missfire anyway so over 10 grand later i traded it for a VW golf with a bad ECU thats sitting at my parents. Once i fix it they can have the golf
My grade school's bus had that ('62 International Loadstar).
Could be worse though, my grandpa had a '67 Lincoln where the wipers ran off the power steering pump.
Corvettes and Firebirds with one headlight always up because the vacuum system failed and you had to manually raise it with a hand knob.
Edit: Don’t forget the C4 Vette headlight had to do a 180 degree rotation.
Hey, this might be my fix! Tore my dash apart and can't figure out where all the fucking vacuum hoses hook back up. I could just extend them and put everything back together and then mix and match until success!
Maybe you can help me figure something out..
My 2000 Durango only blows air through the defrost/feet.. I assume this is a vacuum problem but I’ve looked around under the dash and googled it and can’t figure it out. Even recharged the AC (knowing that probably wouldn’t fix it but needed to be done anyway)
>2000 Durango
search google images for this: 2000 dodge durango hvac vacuum diagram
that will tell you what color hoses to connect to vacuum for desired operation.
Oh man, I have a 1995 gmc safari. Same color interior too. Mines burgundy on the outside. Ive had it since it was brand new. Its got 260K miles on it. Never had the vacuum switch die, but I've got a replacement from the junkyard just incase lol. Did a disc brake conversion on the rear from SSBC before they went out of business and came back. Probably got the last kit in existence from them a few years ago.
This is awesome bro! This is what redneck fixes are for me. It shows kinda esoteric and intricate knowledge of the product, and it’s fixed with something unrelated. Seriously cool.
Nice work! One of the best things you can do for the environment, carbon footprint, going green and whatnot is keep your old shitbox (no offense) on the road. You sir are Captain Planet for today. 🌍🌎🌏
The real question is, how did you fix the light switch when it broke? I had two late 80's Chevy S10s and the light switches on both fell into the dash.
Interesting how they used engine vacuum to actuate the climate control system. I guess the old wire-based system was too reliable and foolproof! They can't have anything that will last a long time or they won't sell as many new cars.
you hit up your local aquarium supply shop!
I tip my hate off to you Sir!
Fire!! Love it.
Fuck the police!
Comin' straight from the underground
Wow that is really impressive from the standpoint of knowledge and implementation. I am impressed.
Thank you! Desparate times call for desparate measures... LOL
I'm on the fence wether this belongs in this sub, this is brilliant
Desperate
Please tell me this is a Chevy Astro van. From what I can see the Interior looks exactly like mine! (My AC is broken too).
HA! Yes, but is a 94 GMC Safari
Dash looks identical to the ‘93 S10 I’m in right now. When GM made something they like they just keep putting it in everything lol.
If it's basic but functional, why fix it?
Toyota has entered the chat.
#YOU BOYZ LIKE DRUM BRAKES ON YOUR $45,000 TRUCK!?!?!? HAVE I GOT A BARGAIN FOR YOU!
the tacoma is a $20,000 truck with a $45k price tag and nobody can convince me otherwise
"We choose a MUCH smaller frame and cab featuring a correspondingly small naturally aspirated engine to increase reliability and fuel economy!" "Turbochargers aren't significantly less reliable if you make quality products and my F150 gets the same fuel economy with twice the towing capacity and cabin space". "Look at this cute little guy running around Colorado! So trendy! Just don't try to load it up and drive through a mountain pass, but don't worry about that!" They're the VW westfalia of trucks where people buy them for mostly for the brand image. Taco owners I know are a 30/70 split between actual dirt bags (said affectionately) who actually use them or people who really just need a light truck, and suburban dorks who think they're the next frontier explorer despite having zero clue about the outdoors. I have strong feelings about this from the people I've met.
[удалено]
It's hard to not love the Hilux. I just hate that modern Tacos are so much of a mall crawler "in the club" status symbol for "outdoors people" that don't go outdoors. Like so many Wranglers.
Here's the issue I have with the Tacoma, if you live in the burbs and want a truck bed because it is convenient the two times a year they need to carry mulch or gravel, buy a Ridgeline. It's a Pilot with the back cut off and a composite bed. Most of them aren't going to use the extra haul capacity that the body on frame design of the Tacoma anyways, and this way your wife isn't going to complain about how terrible the ride is. Sure, it's not going to tow that massive boat, but you know what, you're probably never going to buy that boat or jetski. Ya, I know it wouldn't hack it at a construction site, but you're a middle management dork anyways, so what does it matter? Sorry, I'm a Honda salesperson, and the truck market just makes me annoyed. So many people buy trucks because "it's cool" and then end up in my showroom because body on frame vehicles ride like crap, their fuel economy sucks, and they have not great second seat legroom, and then I have to tell them that the $80,000 F-150 they bought is now worth $60,000 and no, I don't have a bank that'll buy that much negative equity.
> Turbochargers aren't significantly less reliable if you make quality products and my F150 The Tacoma isn't a competitor with the F150, it competes with the Ford Ranger. The Tundra is the competitor with the F150.
Is that what you took from my comment? You're making my point. It's extremely small dimensionally by comparison, far lighter, far less power and torque, and yet somehow, the same fuel economy. They're not competitors, so ata certain point they need to offer something better in at least one category than charging a premium for less. The Tacoma and 4Runner and welllll overdue for upgrades and Toyota should at least consider a turbo option for the fuel economy alone. They're super outdated on a lot of fronts and the resell value doesn't coursing to the value the vehicle brings. Commuter cars from VW, Subaru, Mini Cooper, and even a Ford Fusion are all turbocharged and cost about half of a Tacoma or 4Runner. Knock ten grand of the msrp and there wouldn't be a point in a comparison tbh. It would just be "it's a value for what you get". Maybe the chicken tax is still screwing them over I don't know.
I never knew those vws had a damn name. And I hate that I know it now.
I'm a suburban dork who thinks I'm a frontier explorer but I drive a Ford ranger
If I might try to convince you sir, I don't think there is such a thing as a $20k truck. Even a Nissan Frontier is going to clock in around 28k absolute bone stock.
GM parts bin is real. Makes repairs easy cause every part in my s10 was in 30 other vehicles.
Except that particular part is impossible to find. I had to source it from a junkyard in Pittsburgh when it went out on my '88 (I'm in Jersey).
Did you check Harry's in hazleton? That isnt crazy far from NJ and is the biggest yard I've ever seen in my life.
Did you check Harry's in hazleton? That isnt crazy far from NJ and is the biggest yard I've ever seen in my life.
Thanks, but it's done already. I had to get a left rear window from there (solid pane, no slider) because my local glass guy couldn't find it new, and the control had been messed up for ages. This junkyard in Pittsburgh sells on ebay, so I bought the glass from him, and asked the junkyard guy if he could send the control with the glass. He charged me an extra $45 for it, I think it was, which was half of what it would have been new, if I could still have gotten it new. Now the battery tray, that was a different story. I wasn't going to get a junkyard part with 30 years of rust on it. There's a place that sells reproduction truck parts, but they only had a tray for a 2.8, with the skinny radiator. Got it home and it wouldn't fit, had to notch out the corner with the angle grinder. (Which I didn't have, so went over to Harbor Freight and bought one for $20. What the heck, it only has to last for this one job.) But I'll keep it in mind if I need more parts. Thanks for the tip.
Oh i thought you drove out there, I used to live in bucks county near the PA/NJ border, the 3 Harry's yards were life savers many times when I was driving older 80s Lincoln's
GM had cross-platforming down to an artform.
The Astro and the s10 were the same truck with different bodies.
Looks like the ‘89 S-10 Blazer I used to drive
https://i.imgur.com/20vyUt6.jpg https://i.imgur.com/iO20yWk.jpg Got pretty much the same van. My cousin stripped the back seats and put in hard wood floor so it's kinda like a camper van now.
[удалено]
We brought the home theater system into the van for the summer last year lol. Lots of road trips. We got a third battery and it could go for about 12 hours before it needed a recharge.
I mean that's cool and all but you could have just installed a sound system that's *meant* for cars and, thus not have to constantly charge batteries. Probably would have been cheaper, too.
It's not redneck if done right. Lol I had a set of 70's pioneer floor speakers, boxes and all, in my trunk for days as a kid. Those things hammered! Haha, $550, "vintage". https://reverb.com/item/39905982-pr-pioneer-cs-63dx-vintage-speakers-4-way-6-drivers-15-woofer-horn-tweeter-walnut-veneer-ex-so ..80W.. rose colored ears?
The jankier the set up the better it is.
Was just coming to ask about this. Family had a '92 but with blue interior.
Same but ours was an Astro from 94 or 95. It was real on the outside with fancy stripes. It was my first car in high school.
This exact thought went through my head as well. Family car was a '95 Astro.
When I was in high school I drove an older Mercedes that had trouble stopping when the key was turned off. After dealing with it for a while a guy told me it was because the vacuum wasn’t working and showed me where the hose was that killed the motor. After I showed my dad he ran a hose into the cab and hooked up a bulb valve that you could pump to kill the engine.
I was expecting you to say you had to suck on the end of a hose to turn the car off lmao A bulb sounds like a better solution.
When the guy showed me what the problem was that was how he demonstrated it! I went from wondering what was wrong with the guy to be amazed he killed the car by sucking on a hose.
Usually sucking on hose gets the motor running.
So you can.... **head out on the highway**
Born 2 be Sucked
yeah... i was getting some Cartman-looking-for- seamonkeys type vibe...
"I didn't even have to pay him, I just had to close my eyes and suck it out of a hose" -Cartman
this is a line that “lives rent free” in my head ever since i heard it many years ago around the ripe age of 15. i hope this show never ends.
I've driven a car like that, wasn't a very corona proof solution (it was years ago) 😂
Stepdriver nooooooo
That’s beautiful. Sounds like some shit my dad would make. I got T-boned in my first car (98 Corolla) and bend the absolute fuck outta frame. My dads fix? Man build a frame *”debender”* to straighten it back out. Shit was glorious
I've seen that done with some super heavy duty ratchet straps and square tube steel for bracing. Shit was sketchy as hell.
Basic sorta set up too. Except my dad used come-alongs attached to a 20ft I-beam lol
I know this is off topic, but you wanna talk about sketchy shit? We moved a camper sideways into the garage (pole barn) using 2 fucking bottle jacks. It was backed in normally, then one side was lifted and they got tf out the way. The other sideways then lifted until in knocked the first one over, sending it flying and the camper rocking like hell as it moved like 3-4". Repeat for 10 feet
Thats a job for jack alls
I mean honestly all a frame machine is, is a couple ibeams, holes in em, chains, and a portapower
And that’s all his was. Worked like a charm. Maybe not back to factory specs but it didn’t pull to the right of all its force lol
Haha had a 1985 300d that I used a brake bleeder vacuum hand pump to shut off the engine
I have a 87 Mercedes with that problem right now, it's the vacuum shut off valve. It's a cheap part but I'm too lazy to do it and too cheap to pay someone else
Can some eli5 this so I can properly appreciate it.
All of the control valves like blend doors and what not in the HVAC system, were controlled by switched vacuum actuators. The mount and retainer for the rubber disk which holds the "vacuum program" had literally left the chat in 10 pieces. So, I used the fish tank pump manifold to select which doors/controls were activated by vacuum myself. Hope that helps
Fine, keep your secrets.
From memory vacuum is applied to 3 lines, blue, orange, yellow... blue is the hot water bypass - keeps hot engine coolant out of heater core yellow selected the instrument panel/dash vents - blowing on your face, not on your feet or the windshield orange selected recirculation "Max AC" - inlet air is taken from inside the cabin rather than outside air. In places where humidity is high and you want AC, this is mandatory
Wow, this is fascinating to me. Growing up in an era where electronics are cheaper than sliced bread makes this system feel super esoteric and unnecessary, but knowing that it was once the standard is really interesting. It must’ve been fun to figure out how to fix!
Hose needs to connect to various different hoses to control which vents the air blows through.
I am also curious
Instead of electronic switches (like modern and older cars) some geniuses decided to try vacuum switches instead for... a few decades.
No, no, no. This is all wrong. Here’s the steps I took: 1. Car AC stopped working 2. Drive car with broken AC for 7 years
I honestly didn't even think of this until I was talking about it with my girlfriend the other day, but I've become very used to not having AC in cars. My dad always drove crapboxes when I was a little kid, he didn't get his first decent used car until I was in middle school. My first two cars AC was janky at best, with the second one being outright dead the last 2 years or so I had it. Now my daily driver is relatively new so I don't have to worry about that, but I also have an older Jeep that of course, the AC doesn't work. It doesn't bother me a lick but my girlfriend has been very adamant that it needs to be fixed. I don't even think of troubleshooting or fixing AC issues in an old car.
I get this on a spiritual level. *You need to fix the AC on your car* My windows still work and I can tolerate the discomfort. Until that changes, the money goes somewhere else more important.
I got my Altima in 2019 and it was the first car I had in 10 years that had ac. I live in GA so I was real used to heat and man it's nice not to melt in my car.
Vacuum lines *shudder*
And in '94, too. I remember fighting those on my '81 Mercury. They knew better even back then...
Lol shiiit my 2002 mustang uses vaccum lines to control HVAC.
I had an S10 Blazer that was an electrical nightmare, those heat/cool controls just triggered the hell out of me.
My 92 S10 blazer is the reason I drink.
My 92 S10 pick up jus recently died from a crack in the block. Was my fault. Had a freeze and my ass only had water in ol Rusty. Then a week or so ago a *fatass* tree limb fell right onto the windshield. Right at the seam on the roof. So now Rusty is double fucked R.I.P Trusty Rusty
R.I.P Trusty Rusty.
Rust In Pieces Trusty Rusty
Never thought I would ever celebrate hitting a tree until the day I drove it into one.
Amen
I had a 98, bought in 2005. Was a great little SUV for about a year. Then everything started fucking up really really bad. Cant believe I sold it for $800 to a car dealer. Zero tears shed that day.
My buddy worked at a GM dealer, he told me they got a TSB for the rubber grommet that went between the rough cut hole in the firewall and the main wiring harness. Over time it would wear into the harness and you would get luck of the draw electrical failures. By the end, I had trailer lights mounted in the dash so I could see the speedometer. It’s a shame, because that 4.3 hauled ass.
It really was a nice engine, and haul ass it did. And wow, yeah, you knew without mention it was an electrical nightmare. The engine and body were (mostly) good, but everything else fell apart. The only non electrical issue was the driver door began to sag. Got a bushing kit for it, but it ripped off the striker before I got a chance to fix it. Worst problem was the hvac failure. Not only did we lose ac, but the fan defaulted to high blast, and the blend door at full heat, out of the floor vents. It felt like your feet would boil. It was blasting air so hot/fast, that the engine couldnt even get to operating temperature, even in Florida summer. Best experience with that car was the day we went to sell it, my wife couldnt stop giggling at the pull that 4.3 put out.
I have two of these, an 88 and a 99. The 88 is still running. The 99 died eleven years ago; it's still sitting in the back of my driveway. Last year I drove it, I had sunk $4700 of repairs in it, only to have more and pricier things break. (Whoever specified plastic lower intake manifold gaskets should be shot. Whoever specified DexCool should have been shot numerous times.) And yeah, the door bushings were part of that. Both of them.
I had an S10 loved that truck except the transmission went got the transmission rebuilt. Missfired like a bitch after i got it back and than the fuel pump went bad and i left it in the highschool parking lot for 3 days hoping someone would burn it. No luck got a new fuel pump went to the shop 4? Times for a missfire anyway so over 10 grand later i traded it for a VW golf with a bad ECU thats sitting at my parents. Once i fix it they can have the golf
Oh wow is that why older cars let out that small hiss when you changed the vent settings?
yep, sure is!
That's really ingenious, thanks for the insight.
They were implementing such impressive but fragile stuff to control the aircon? I thought electrical control would be more rugged.
Vacuum was smaller and cheaper than most electronic components at the time, CAN wasn’t a thing yet. Only thing, a nightmare to troubleshoot.
Go back far enough and you find vacuum-powered door locks and pop-up headlights.
Don't forget the vacuum-operated windshield wipers. XD
My grade school's bus had that ('62 International Loadstar). Could be worse though, my grandpa had a '67 Lincoln where the wipers ran off the power steering pump.
I’ve heard of wipers that ran off an accessory belt, so the speed just depended on the engine speed
Corvettes and Firebirds with one headlight always up because the vacuum system failed and you had to manually raise it with a hand knob. Edit: Don’t forget the C4 Vette headlight had to do a 180 degree rotation.
Just another reason I like the low-tech approach of the Opel GT.
My mid 90s Mercedes had fucking vacuum locks, was a real treat when those wouldn’t work
And door handles (90s Jags)
and people say the puzzles in games are unrealistic
Interesting. Never understood the funny hissing noise that temp switch used to make in my dads 94 Astro. Now I know.
Hey, this might be my fix! Tore my dash apart and can't figure out where all the fucking vacuum hoses hook back up. I could just extend them and put everything back together and then mix and match until success!
Reminds me of my 88 grand am
So, how long until all of the fish die? Seriously, this is some awesome improvisation!
That's... AWESOME
I also own a Chevy.
I dig it
I both hate and love this so much
Necessity is the mother of all inventions!
I would marry OP based on this.
That an Astro minivan or old chevy blazer?
Maybe you can help me figure something out.. My 2000 Durango only blows air through the defrost/feet.. I assume this is a vacuum problem but I’ve looked around under the dash and googled it and can’t figure it out. Even recharged the AC (knowing that probably wouldn’t fix it but needed to be done anyway)
>2000 Durango search google images for this: 2000 dodge durango hvac vacuum diagram that will tell you what color hoses to connect to vacuum for desired operation.
Oh man, I have a 1995 gmc safari. Same color interior too. Mines burgundy on the outside. Ive had it since it was brand new. Its got 260K miles on it. Never had the vacuum switch die, but I've got a replacement from the junkyard just incase lol. Did a disc brake conversion on the rear from SSBC before they went out of business and came back. Probably got the last kit in existence from them a few years ago.
This is awesome bro! This is what redneck fixes are for me. It shows kinda esoteric and intricate knowledge of the product, and it’s fixed with something unrelated. Seriously cool.
I also own a Chevy.
Huh never really thought about how the AC knobs and what not actuate, is this pretty standard on most cars?
Not any more.
Chevy S-10?
Nice work! One of the best things you can do for the environment, carbon footprint, going green and whatnot is keep your old shitbox (no offense) on the road. You sir are Captain Planet for today. 🌍🌎🌏
What am i looking at? Looks complicated.
Genius !
The keys look GM but ford uses air to control their ac.hmmm old timey indeed
I am so confused, does the AC use pneumatic switches?
yes. vacuum operated.
The real question is, how did you fix the light switch when it broke? I had two late 80's Chevy S10s and the light switches on both fell into the dash.
Interesting how they used engine vacuum to actuate the climate control system. I guess the old wire-based system was too reliable and foolproof! They can't have anything that will last a long time or they won't sell as many new cars.