I have an '89 305 TBI firebird, and a cute
little circular thing rests on top of my
passanger side valve cover, with a large hose
going to the radiator and another going towards the firewall to what I assume is the heater core. This whole assembly is not bolted to anything, or placed anywhere out of the way. It merely sits on my valve cover, so whenever I hit a bump or my engine shakes hard, this assembly bangs into my valve cover. NEedless to say over the years the valve cover has been scratched up and damaged and I can't imagine this is what the stock setup is. However, I can't find any really detailed pictures of a 305 TBI, so can anybody advise me about what to do with this assembly?

Thanks in advance,
-- Henry

 

Henry,

Your description sounds like the heater water control valve. Originally, it should have been installed closer to the side of the engine instead of over the rocker cover, and should have had a mounting bracket (but may not have, depending on year).

You should be able to tie it out of the way, but the eventual repair should be to mount it in a bracket and adjust the lengths of the heater hoses to allow the repositioning. It's likely that someone shanged the heater hoses of water valve at some point in the past and just got lazy. If the same person changed the spark plug wires, you'll likely find them dangling all over the place instead of in their looms, too.

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Later,
Vader
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If you want to beat the World, it might reach up and pull you down...
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