In the process of replacing some water hoses and fittings (under the driver's side/left air cleaner) I have come across several little thin black hoses attached in various places. What are they and do I need them? (I assume them to be somehow part of the emissions mystery.)

The main reason beyond curiousity is that my wrench slipped and took of two of the little nipples that the hose attach to. I want to know if I should repair the nipple things or if I can forget them.......

 

These are vacuum hoses. Most are part of the mysterious emmissions system, but others control things like cold start, hot start, etc, etc

Could you post a picture of the ones you broke ? From there we may be able to work out what they are.

 

I will post some tomorrow......thanks in advance for helping this poor old idiot.

 

Here is the sensor (?) where my wrench took off the nipples. It is the tube coming from the thermostat. Do I get a new sensor or ??????

 

So, I went and had a look.... Assuming you were standing on the lefthandside of the engine bay, and that your air cleaner is obviously not on the engine currently, your little thingy looks like this on mine....



It looks like you have only 2 vacuum lines, however I have 4, but I'm guessing the basic functionality of this part is the same. From the repair manual, this part is a Thermal Vacuum Valve, shown on the centre of this schematic....



It's used to purge out the charcoal cannister which in turn is venting from the fuel tank. In other words it's part of your emmissions system. When I first got my car none of this was connected, and the car still ran fine, but I'm guessing it's going to have some impact on your SMOG results, how much I don't know.

Anyway, now that you know whats its called you can get a replacement. I looked around and unfortunately the cheapest I could find was a used one for 100USD

 

From your diagram I think that you are correct. Mine seems to be more toward the middle of the block but looks to be in the right location. Thank-you for your help. This forum is a bit of a life saver....