Hopefully you all can help me learn some more about cars and tell me what that black, spherical object is thats under the car on the driver side. It is close to the front near the battery (but lower) and has a vacuum hose running out of it. I need to replace those rubber hoses because they're starting to crack but I don't know how I'd replace the one that runs into that ball. Any advice is welcome and if you know what its called/does, please let me know. Thanks.

that is your vacuum canister. it helps to hold vacuum in the system.

thanks. now that i know what it is, can you tell me if there is a way to replace the hose coming out of it, please? thanks for the help.

-rob

you should be able to just pull the hose off of it. there could be some sort of clamp or something on there but i bet its just stuck on there. it might really be stuck.

To clarify what he has said a little better. That is the vacuum canister for the cruise control system.

Someone here once claimed it was....


THE ORB... OF POWER!!!

:hail: :hail: :hail: :hail: :hail:
All hail the Orb of POWER!!! (insert latin chanting here)

my car has the vacuum canister but does not have cruise control...

My car doesn't have cruise control either... but the hose goes up to the manifold. So I say to you..."huh?"

its a vacuum canister, i don't think it only came on cars with cruise control.

I have another question..
Can I buy new hose at AutoZone? And how do I know what size or whatnot I need? Also, is it expensive? It doesn't seem like it should be, but I'd like to have an idea of what i'll be spending. Thanks everyone.

Oh yea.. "Orb of POWER" haha thats great. Seems contradictory to have an orb of power in my car

If you're talking about 'standard' 7/16" vacuum hose, you can buy it by the foot at ANY auto parts store for about $1/ foot.
I usually buy what I need, and an extra foot or two, just to have some in the shop.

isn't that the gas vapor canistor?

My car never came with cruise control either. And it has one. I've seen them on other cars with no cruise control.

seriously sounds like the gas vapor recirculation canistor

Trust me GreyFox, it is not the gas vapor recirculation canister. That sits in the engine bay, what he is talking about is mounted to the frame under the engine bay on the forward left side. See attached picture.

That was me, d*mnit, that was me!

Seriously, it's an orb filled with a magical, unknown substance from a transdimensional parallel universe that allows our motors to run blazing 17 second 1/4 miles.

Here's an idea...put that thing to use. Crack that puppy open, fill it up with some starting fluid...and let engine vacuum do the rest. Starting fluid works like nitrous on a moped...I'm sure it will do the same on a 2.8/3.1!

YES, that is the thing I'm talking about! Thanks Trickster. So if that if meant for cruise control, what purpose does it serve on my car since I don't have c.c.? Does that hose coming out of it affect my engine at all? I am planning on going to buy replacement hosing tomorrow(cuz mine's beginning to dry-rot), but would that help my car since I don't even have cruise control?

I don't have a whole lot of car knowledge YET, but are you joking about the starting fluid? I'm skeptical..

BS!!! 17 seconds??? wtf I can't get below 17.6 with a brand new motor!!! someone has to PAY damnit!

Oh yes, it'll work. Once. And your motor will pick up quite a bit of power. Once.

my apologies, thought he said it was near the batt isn't where the can is?

starting fluid?, what? ahhh you guys confuse the crap out of me sometimes

Starting fluid man! It's HIGHLY combustible! On a moped, a trick my buddy uses to pick up an extra couple mph and a little bit of umph is to spray starting fluid on his air filter....gives it an extra kick in the butt. So I was saying hell, it might work on a car motor too! Once. Before you hear a dull explosion as spark plugs, rods, and valve shrapnel is sent everywhere.

ohh ok , feelin kinda slow lately: prego woman 9 months so please excuse my stupidity :hail:

It's also tied to the HVAC controls. The 'orb of power' is a vacuum resivoir that helps keep the cruise steady and the vacuum actuators (that hold/move the ducting doors) in position when there is none/little manifold vacuum present.
To know if it works/leaks, right after you turn the engine off, you should be able to use the HVAC controls briefly and hear the 'pshew' sound from the actuators using up the reserve from the almighty 'orb'.

oooooooo :hail: :hail: :hail: :hail: :hail: :hail: :hail: i get it now, the OOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRBBBB,

I broke my orb of power off it's mounts a couple of weeks ago and now it's just rolling around inside the bumper. (I drove the car up onto ramps and bent a few things in the process because the car is lower now.)

wow, thanks to everyone for sharing the knowledge. i replaced the hosing from the "orb" a few days ago (i would've updated sooner, but i couldn't access this site for some reason). the hose had actual holes besides the millions of cracks but now its brand new... i have no idea if it made any difference in anything, but i feel better having parts in better condition.

From what i'm reading, it sounds as if that canister is functional on cars without cruise control too? Have we finally gotten down to the bottom of the mystery of the black orb?!!:hail: :lala:

aint no mystery... I think every car has em... but it's good we "solved" it...

If this thing is connected to the cruise control system, how difficult would it be to add cruise control to a car that doesn't already have it? Just a thought...

Well the round thing isn't going to get you very far for adding cruise control, but it's doable if you really want to. Some switches, a cc module, a vacuum switch attached to the throttle, a cc signal lever...

hrm, so what normally causes cruise control to not work? the light doesn't even come on in the dash, no response.. I wonder if the computer in the car has just had it... maybe its the lever itself... but I dunno, I really want it so I can stop getting tickets.

Check the wiring under the dash below the column, the switch on the brake ( & clutch If manual) pedal, the cruise control module under the dash on the passenger side.

There's a Tech Article on fixing the switch. More often then not it's been the switch that don't work and that is why someone created the tech article.

I fixed my switch following the tech article (you will need a multimeter for this) and other than installing the power switch upside down (let off of the gas and the cruise kicked in on me one time when I thought the switch was "off" ) mine works great....

ah, thanks for the info... is there anything I can "hotwire" or something so that I can see if all the components work when the car is parked? just want to make sure I don't need to replace anything else.

The car MUST be moving at at least 35 MPH for the system to kick in IIRC.

There are a few diagnositic charts in the GM shop manual for determining if different components of the cruise control system are working. As well, that tech article tells you how to test the switch. HELP (www.motormite.com) brand sells a new lever if you want to make it look original (part #49286).

Thanks for the part #, CJ! Found a price of $50, not bad for a factory-looking replacement!

I had an electric problem, where one blinker was just staying on and the other wouldn't blink... and they said they replaced the blinker knob, but I guess they just replaced the part that attaches inside the steering column... is this possible? is it one peice or multiple pieces... this was about 2 years ago, and my lever looks fairly worn... could just be cheap paint.

The lever is separate because it also acts as the wiper and cruise control switches.

Ok back to the vaccum canister... or the "ORB" Well I had an 85 non ac car with cruise contol it had the mechanical doors but the orb was for the Cruise control. ... Eventually took it all out when putting the 327 in. I now have an 89 firebird with A/C vaccum doors but no cruise control. It also had the orb. Like other people my mounting tabs broke off and it was rolling aroundso I just removed it and all the vaccum lines with it. and capped it off at where it when into the line that goes to the vaccum hvac doors. Even with out this ORB I have had no problem with the doors or hvac controls at any rpm and even after I stop the engine and switch the a/c to off or other positions I can hear the "whoosh" decribed eailier, and the door moves, so there is plenty of vaccum and if you dont have cruise contol you dont really need this. It will be ok to remove it. I think GM just installes it because its easier going down an assy line and cost effictive maybe?

I still get a kick out of that

Resurrected! I know you didn't disappear for that long Tom.

The orb of power

I was wondering about that when I saw it in that other thread...wow we have been getting alot of search resurrections lately!

my orb lacks power

Time for a rebuild....

AHA I was always wondering wtf that thing was. Not to mention the servo that went with it.

Hmmm. Maybe if we make a chant, and then rub the orb and chant it, our cars will be faster and avoid accidents?