Anyone know what the tin can lookin thing is under the hood, on the left wheel guard? It has some wires goin to it, but what is it for? you think ford wouldn't hire Folgers to make one of their parts for them...

 

wires? You mean vacuum hoses. Its a vacuum resevior, storing vacuum for conditions where you have less vacuum in the engine.

All the emissions crap is actuated by vacuum, as are your brakes, and the vent/defrost/heat doors inside the heater box.

This is why your power brakes has a huge donut behind your master cylinder - that donut is a vacuum resevior specifically for your power brakes, so they function at least a few times if vacuum is lost everywhere else (engine dies, hose bursts, folgers can tears/leaks/rusts/gets crushed).

BTW, you can use a folgers can as a replacement. You take the metal lid you removed with a can opener, drill a hole in the center, and put in a screw-in steel vacuum fitting available at any auto store. Then using pliars, hold one end of the lid to the inside of the can, and spot weld it. Fold down the lid, and run a bead all the way around. Because you have the vacuum fitting installed, hot air inside the can can escape, and you've made a vacuum resevior.

I had to do this for my 1969 Ford XL convertible because the vacuum resevior wasn't available, and I wanted it to look like the original. The car had vacuum actuated hide-away headlights and I got tired of shutting the car off, and watching the grill slowly flip up.

Anyway, a useless story.

 

lol, that's awesome... not useless, very cool... lmao!

 

Now that is too cool!!!

 

Frederic could I possibly have a bigger tin can looking thing for more vacuum?

 

You talkin about the can on the passenger side? Doesnt that have to do with cruise control and a couple other things? The master cylinder does not look like a regular tin can to me....

 

the master cylinder is not a tin can lol. I was just saying the booster behind it stores vacuum, which is the same purpose of the tin can that was asked about.

You can use a larger can, or a smaller can, but it doesn't really buy you much. If you go radically large, it will take longer to create the full vacuum, and if its too small, there isn't any storage capacity to operate things when the engine is not producing a strong vacuum.

 

Funny story - Just after I bought my '95 F150, one of the kids, about 5 at the time was looking over my shoulder when I was working under the hood. He pointed out that Vac. reservoir "cofee can" and said he was happy to see that Ford was recycling .

 

I should get a folgers can and spray it chrome... that might actually be cool lookin... then I can spray all my air intake some really slick black gloss.