Ok, there have been a few old posts regarding the vacuum ball inside our fenders. One person will say "it's for Cruise Control" and then another person will say "I don't have Cruise Control and I have the vaccum ball".........well, I've taken it upon myself to set things straight.

1) The vacuum ball is used to "store" vacuum.
2) The vacuum ball IS infact used for Cruise Control.
3) The vacuum ball is ALSO used for HVAC controls. Newer cars use electronic HVAC controls but our switches are vacuum operated.

That is all.

 

Ahhh so that would explain why I have teh ball, and the wierd hissing noise I hear when I turn my defroster on.

 

Also used for brakes & emissions & anything that needs vacuum when the engine is low on vacuum

My Firebird has a "box" against the firewall, on the driver's side, instead of the vacuum ball. I might change to the ball to make the firewall area look a little neater...

 

the Hissing is from the broken vac line...

 

Dam that one looks like it is a PITA to get to too. I have been trying to trake down every vac leak and fix them. This looks like it is my last one. Do I have to pull the dash board a part to get to it?