Soo, its been around 2 months now since ive bought my first car.
A 1991 Camaro RS 305 5.0L v8. (5 speed)
Now, it came with some flaws that i thought would be fun to figure out to fix, since i love to tinker with things.
Well now ive decided to ask for a little help identify where things are/should be.

Oh and please take this to mind, im not a mechanic; i want to be. So things you tell me, i plan on researching and looking into to futher my knowledge on cars, i just need help to point me in the direction i need to be going in. So thank you in advance!

Also Im not quite sure if this is the right Forum to post this in, so sorry if it isn't.

Well here are some pictures of things that strike me as...well..wrong.

The first picture is of where my Distrubution Block Should be located. Instead there is a cluster of hot wires spliced and electrical taped together... My question with this is, is there a newer Dist. Block that i could put in that would be more efficent then the origanal one. (I might be able to find a pic of orginal one if needed) And what wires should go into the Block once its replaced.


The 2nd picture is of a hose that comes out of my carb. i believe? I've searched around there to see if there was any obvious place where it would connect to, since its a short hose but there was none. So i think the PO cut the hose making it very hard for me to find where it goes.

And the 3rd i was told is just where a flexable tubing should connect my Intake to the engine. Or something along those lines.


Now there is more to be told.
Theres also an electrical drain that DESTROYS my cars battery.
It only drains when its running, which is why i thought maybe its the alternator. Well im on my 2nd one and 2nd battery in under 2 months so im ruling those out.
I was hoping maybe the Distribution Block issue was the cause but untill i replace it I wont know for sure. So if anyone knows anything else for sure that could cause this, please let me know.

 

Thirdgen's don't have a distribution block there. Your picture is too small for me to really tell what wires those are, but off of the positive terminal two wires came off. One goes to the starter the other to the alternator. Your charging problem could be related to that block of wires electrical taped together, really hard to tell. When you replaced the alternator and battery did have have them checked first?

You don't have a carb, it's a TBI fuel injection system. Looks like a carb, but it is Fuel Injection. Not sure where that hose goes to, though.

The third picture is your is a heating system for the air coming into the car. It's not very important, but you are correct in that it is a flexible pipe that runs from the exhaust manifold to the air intake.

 

TBI and V6 cars do... Right on the side of the radiator support next to the battery. It's a black plastic widget with a post and several wires. The pic is still too small to see exactly what's going on there.

If you pull the aircleaner and take a larger pic of where that hose is connected I can tell you where it's supposed to go.

The heat riser is not important. Even in South Dakota I didn't noticed much difference with it connected or disconnected, even on my 4bbl carbed 305. A TBI car will never know it's gone, but you can get a replacement at just about any auto parts store.

 

I can get a larger pic. of the where the hose is tommarow morning (its pretty dark now)

And for the Power Distribution block, is there a better replacement for it or should i just get the orignal one? I had a friend say he had to replace his before as it was the cause to some of his eletrical problems. Not sure what he replaced it with though.

 

Yes they both were. They said the alternator was working as it was supose to but they couldnt get the V meter to read right so i never got 14v on the meter. And just gave me a new battery also. (last one couldnt hold a charge anymore, was a month old.)

 

What year did that start? I just checked and neither my 89 nor 90 V-6s have a distribution block there. Maybe it is Camaros, but I don't remember my 92 V-6 Camaro have one.

 

GM was doing it as early as 87 (probably earlier) on the V6. I'd assume that 88-92 TBI cars have the junction block, but I've only personally verified it on my 91 Camaro. My 3.1 Firebird had the junction block too. Most of the V8's just used the stud ont he starter for the junction block.

Here are a couple shots from the service manuals, the VIN S is from the 1987 Camaro Manual, the T and E are from the 1991 Camaro Manual.

 

What book are you getting those from? I bought a chiltons manual and after was told heynes was more picture friendly.

 

Haynes manuals are pure garbage. Chiltons Total Car Care manuals are a little better, but you're still not going to find much in the way of helpful diagnostic info. The only manuals I bother with are the real GM service manuals. They're about 3" thick and cover every part of a specific year car. If you intend to troubleshoot any wiring issue, they're a must have. The catch is they aren't cheap. You can buy them new through www.helminc.com or you can go on Ebay and get used copies for as low as $20. They take a little practice to figure out, but once you know how to read them, they're indispensible.

 

Yah, Drew is right - Haynes manuals are short on detail, the Factory manual is the way to go. I found one on Amazon for $20.00 used, but still in extremely good condition. Well worth the price of admission . . .

 

Thanks Drew, I now see the junction block that is being talked about. Of course, on the Firebirds it is on the opposite side from the battery, which is what got me confused when I was looking around yesterday.

Thanks,
Douglas

 

Ok so Its been awhile since ive started this but i just got around to taking the asked for pictures. First off I was wondering if you could replace a junction block with something along the lines of a Accessory Power Relay. (1st picture)
Just a thought.

And the 2nd picture is where my mystery hose is coming from. But not going too ha. A little help with that would be great.

 

Any thoughts on where the hose in pic #2 is suppose to run to?

 

I'd recommend just getting a junction block off a junkyard car. All it is really, is a common stud that several fusible links are bolted down.

The vacuum line runs to the valve/sensor dealy on the bottom of the aircleaner. It's the blue or black plastic whatsis inside the filter. All it does is route warm air into the intake from the heat riser on the exhaust manifold for cold starts. You could just as easily cap that nipple and you'd probably never notice.