My car is a 85 Firebird S/E with a 5.7 350 in it.

Ok I have three questions..

First off my gas gauge currently isnt working but it does something weird.The gauge always stays all the way past full mark but whenever I am low on gas and I hit the brakes the gas gauge will start going up and stop at the half full mark and then go back down past full and thats when I know I need to get some gas but whenever I fill the tank up and hit the brakes then it wont do that anymore.It will just stay past full.Now today I was low on gas and instead of stopping at half full like it usually does it went all the way to empty and then back down past full all the way again.I figured this would be the cause of the sensor in the tank.I know some basic stuff about cars but not alot.I havent really studied gas line and tank problems yet so any help would be appreciated.

Secondly I was working on my car yesterday and I found a wire that wasnt hooked up.So I followed it to where it came from and it came from the left front of the engine opposite side of the battery.I looked at where it was coming from and it came from this thing that was labeled "Carb Tank".Now I thought to myself "Carb Tank?"."My car is fuel injected so why would I have something labeled Carb Tank?".So I went to ask my friend who works on cars and even he didnt know.So now I am coming to you guys for help.The thing is circular and kind of looks like a thermos only bigger.

and finally my last question is what does the S/E stand for on my car? Some people have told me Special Edition while others have said Sports Edition and others have said Standard Edition.I have no clue so I was wondering if you could help me out.

Thanks to anyone who replies

 

Loco,

You are probably correct about the fuel gauge problems. Your likely cause is the float or sensor in the tank or the wiring to it.

The "carb tank" you are describing sounds like is probably the EVAP, or evaporative emissions canister. There are hoses connected to ports on this tank, and the ports are often marked for the connection, like "TANK" and "CARB" for the carburetor bowl vent and the tank vent hoses. There should also be a purge line on the canister, and possibly a pressure control valve. Since your car probably wasn't originally equipped with a 350, it likely used the connections as described with the original engine.

"SE", "SC", "SS" are model descriptors that have intentionally ambiguous meanings. The factory used to put "Super Sport" emblems on the true Super Sport cars, but stopped that in the late 60's. People always presumed the "SS" model was meant to be a Super Sport, but the factory never oficially defined that. It's probably the same for "SE" and "SC" car designations, as well as the currently popular "LS", "STS", and "SLS" designations on many vehicles. Make up your own meaning if you wish, since I've never seen a factory document that defines all the letter designations for models at GM.



------------------
Later,
Vader
------------------
"Let the bodies hit the floor!"
Adobe Acrobat Reader