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Dec 19, 2000 | 10:53 AM

bjoern

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From: houston, texas (now Berli

vacuum tubes

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 19-Dec-00 AT 12:09 PM (EST)[/font][p]While changing sparkplug wires I happened to break the black one of those thin plastic tubes that go to the carbon cannister that looks like a Ravioli can :-) It was so brittle, that I broke lose more pieces trying to tape the ends back together and broke the other (red) one too. I have a 200KB before/after picture of the whole mess [link:brembs.net/vacuumtubes.jpg|here].
Here's my question: The tubes seem to be 'vulcanized' into a rubber fitting in the carbon cannister. How do I make that connection if I get new tubes? I thought about re-tubing the whole system, as it is so brittle. Where could I get such rubber fittings for the tubes, besides my Ford dealer? What kind of store would have these vacuum tubes?
Thanks for all the help,
Bjoern
f150, 1988, 5.0 302, EFI

Dec 19, 2000 | 11:31 AM

cgl

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From: NorCal

vacuum tubes

I ran across the same problem as you did. Every vacuum line on my 90 F-150 300-6 was made of the brittle plastic except the main line going to and from the reserve cannister, it was thick rubber. Each plastic line would pretty much break where ever I would try to mend it. So I just went down to NAPA, got 15 Feet of the small rubber vacuum line at 19 cents a foot, and 15 feet of the bigger rubber vacuum hose at 21 cents a foot and replaced each plastic line with a rubber one. I havent had a problem yet. The new hoses will generally plug directly onto the source and destination. If they couldn't, I'd just leave about 1 inch or so of the old plastic line and work it into the new rubber hose. Then I also rerouted the lines on top of the intake, to keep them from being right on top of the exhaust and melting through again.

Dec 19, 2000 | 11:43 AM

bjoern

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Tuned

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From: houston, texas (now Berli

vacuum tubes

Fantastic! That's what I'm going to do! Thanks a lot!

Dec 19, 2000 | 08:04 PM

jakegypsum

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From: Linwood, N.J. USA!

vacuum tubes

Been there, done that. It is the best thing to do and the best way of doing it. Good luck.

Jakegypsum // Ford fleet, soup to nuts.

Jan 10, 2001 | 07:38 PM

dewfpo1

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vacuum tubes

Just FYI, That's not your carbon cannister, it's your vacuum reservoir.

Jan 11, 2001 | 02:20 PM

bjoern

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From: houston, texas (now Berli

vacuum tubes

Ooops, sorry, thanks for the info. I just called all three boxes in there carbon cannisters, because they're all somehow related to emissions :-) Pure ignorance I guess :-) Thanks again for letting me know.
I got some rubber hosing now, but it's all kind of whimsical and soft, so I'm a little worried it'll be flying all over the place when i drive. Did you guys fix the tubing somewhere (engine, firewall?) and if so how?
Could it be that the original tubing used to be flexible, but got brittle with age? If so, where could I get tubing like that? It would be convenient if one got it in different colors, too.
Thanks a bunch!

Jan 11, 2001 | 02:44 PM

DannyP

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Joined: Jan 2000

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From: Gravel Switch, KY

vacuum tubes

Make sure the hose you bought is genuine vacuum hose and not that flimsy windshield washer hose. The windshield washer hose would quickly be broken down by the gasoline and the vacuum would probably suck it closed pretty quick.

DannyP
89 F-150 4x4 former EFI I-6 now carbed 351W, Edelbrock heads,cam,intake,carb.
MSD 6A, ZF, Sterling 10.25 with 3.55L's.