AMC Eagle Air cleaner vacuum actuator

In my first post I noted that the pop rivets that held one of my vacuum actuators in place had broken so I taped it back on for the ride home.

Mystery part, janky fix

The advice I got from the forum was: “The thing you taped in place on your air cleaner is part of the TAC system, I believe.  That vacuum motor controls a trap door that should close when the engine is not running, I assume to control escaping vapor.  As long as it’s open your car should run fine.” which makes perfect sense.  That trap door springs shut (plastic flap, not a metal coil spring) normally and seems to be pulled open when the engine is running.  I tested the actuator (yes, I sucked on it) and it seemed fine so I thought I’d mount it back with some sheet metal screws to make the repair a bit more permanent.  Problem is, those holes are really big for sheet metal screws.  If I thought I would keep this air cleaner forever I would have tacked captive nuts on and bolted it back, but I don’t.

New rivets, new hose, all better

My fix was to use pop rivets (what a concept!) but I didn’t have the right size so I stacked some #6 washers to make up the gap and thickness.  I think it worked ok, but it also let me see how rotted the hose was so off I went to buy a roll of that.  The new hose was not the same ID so I also got some cheap hose clamps.  When I was all done I realized that I failed to slip the actuator around the bit it pulls on, so I had to bend it a bit to open it up and bend it back to close it around the rod sticking out of the door.  This is not a fix I needed to do, I could have plugged the hose and removed the door, but for now at least I know what it’s for and I have more hose and clamps for when more of it crumbles.  While I was in there I cleaned out the air cleaner, and wiped down/wire brushed everything I could get my hands on.  I will sandblast and spray this all later but for now I just wanted it back in place.

The home page for this project is here, it has a link to the album of pictures.