Few Technical Questions
 

I'm thinking about buying a new car, and have a few questions about it, since i'm fairly new to it....

1) What would cause a heater/AC to not work only on the following settings (MAX, HTR)??

2) What is the cylinder ball next to the charcoal canister on the driver's side?

3) How serious of an issue is it if the power steering lines are leaking fluid very slowly. It seems between the fittings from the lines and the connectors, fluids seems to be slowly leaking.

Any help would be appreciated.......Thanks

Also what happened to the VIN decoder on this site? Any other sites offer a free thirdgen vin decoder?

Thanks

For # 1 there is a brown switch thingy that the slider moves back and forth. That's what caused the same condition on mine. Fan would work on all speeds but Max. Mine was worn out. The fan speed switch may also have dirty contacts and need replacing. Check the other piece first. Mine looked like it was almost burned up.

2) I forget what it's called. Some kind of harmless emissions thing. Don't take it out. You won't gain anything.

3) Many of the power steering lines do that. They sweat a bit. I wouldn't worry about it. Check the fluid every now and then to keep topped up.

1. What do you mean by "not work"?

2. It is a vacuum accumulator. Its job is to hold enough vacuum to keep the vacuum-operated doors that route the air to various vents in the interior, from running out of vacuum and closing to their "rest" positions, when you floor the gas pedal. Leave it alone. If it's disconnected, this may have something to do with #1. It has nothing whatsoever to do with emissions or how the engine runs; only the HVAC (and similarly for cruise control, if the car has it).

3. Those hoses fail and leak from age and heat and pressure. You can buy new lines at the parts store. Real cheap. Certainly not a reason to not buy a car.

#2 - ORB OF POWER!!!!1!!!1!!!!!!@!!!!

#2. I always thought that was a bomb that would self destruct the car if i lost to an import!!!!!!!:D :p

How come that cylinder ball is in the 1992 Camaro? I own another one and they ball is not in my car..........:confused: :confused:

The A/C literally stops blowing air and the heater stops blowing air in the MAX and HTR position respectivly, everything else works.......

"Sweat"

I can touch the connectors and get fluid on my hand, and it's caked on the underlying parts as well? I've owned many cars and founds that leaks are just normal, and to keep an eye on the level?

All 3 of mine have been leaking for years. They don't go down much. Its the high pressure side. Not even enough to drip onto the driveway. I look at it as a bonus to keep things from rusting! :)

If you feel uncomfortable about it, go ahead and replace them. One of the top flare nuts on the steering box requires an 18mm crows foot flare nut wrench. The only one I could find was a snapon. It was expensive but I needed it.

Another alternative is to get them through the dealer. Ive found the hard ends of the lines do not have the same contour as the originals. Just my 2 cents.