69L46vert

1969 car..Working my way through the dash harness wiring and can't see where the w/w solenoid mounts. Anybody have a picture or description of where this fastens down. First pic is from the driver's side 2nd from pass. side. Thanks, Rick

DUB

That gets bolted to the backside of the TACH. AND...there should be ONLY 2 hoses going to it...and NOT 3 like your photo shows. The black hose with the ligth blue stripe is WRONG....and needs to be removed from the end of the solenoid. What actually went where that hose is attached was a square piece of open-celled foam due to that is a vent/bleed off point for this solenoid for your wiper door....and NOT for the washer as you posted.

Do you have an assembly manual???? If not....might be worth you while to get one.

DUB

DUB

Dave J

Here ya go..........



The metal port between the electrical connectors goes to the vacuum "T" also going to the headlight switch and the check valve in the engine compartment. The right angle plastic port goes to the port closest to the pull **** on the over ride switch. Straight plastic port is usually open after the little filter falls off.

Welcome to the Bubba if the ports open it must connect to something club.

69L46vert

Thanks to you both. Makes sense to me now. And sorry about the title. I wrote washer and meant "wiper"

I haven't started routing any vacuum lines yet but I have to question whether the blue stripe hose goes to the 90 deg. port or the straight port. The reason I say this is that the straight port on the solenoid itself has small a dab of the same colour blue paint as the stripe on the hose. You can barely see it in the first pic.

And does anyone know if the foam filter is available? Thanks for you replies, Rick

Alan 71

Hi Rick,
It's just a little rectangle of soft foam. You poke a hole part-way through it's length and slip it on the port.
You can make one yourself from a piece of gray foam weatherstrip from the Home Store.
You can use the same material for the little filters on the various vacuum relays.
Regards,
Alan

69L46vert

Thank You Alan,
Sounds like good advice. That's what I'll do. Slowly making progress here. Going out to the workshop to try and get some more done as soon as it warms up a little.

But now I've just gone out to look at my tach and it does not have the mounting holes like shown in Dave's picture. I snapped a pic of mine for comparison. Only one hole in mine and the solenoid shows evidence where the heads of two screws were holding it.

What do you guys think about this? It seems as if it has to mount somewhere else??? Maybe I'll pm Roger since his car is the same week as mine. The AIM shows no revisions. Thanks for looking, Rick

Dave J

Rick, I stopped using the coloring on hoses on these cars years ago because of Bubba's attempts at reinventing the systems. Trust us on this, the straight port is a vent. More accurately, it is the path that atmospheric pressure enters to evacuate the vacuum in the hose ending at the wiper door relay. This happens when the solenoid is energized.

Here's a couple of pics of the rear of a late '68 tach that shows only one screw holding the solenoid in place. Maybe your solution?





Regards, Dave

69L46vert

Wow, Thanks a ton for that 68 pic Dave. That appears to explain it. I believe you on the hose routing and will hook it up that way. It's how the aim shows it too. This car was built Sept. 68 and I've found several things so far that are more 68 than 69 so it makes sense to me. Thanks again. It's been a big help. Rick

68/70Vette

Dave J

Thanks for that photo of the back of the speedo/tach panel. I was about to post a request for someone to send a photo like that. I'm reassembling this panel and I lost track of were the radio capacitor, the ground clips, and the harness hangers went.

Dave J

Hey, wow thanks guys. Your welcome! Believe it or not, I actually copied that pic from completed listings on that auction site.

68/70Vette

One question and a comment.

Question: The little canister contains an electrical/vacuum solenoid. The solenoid plunger is normally closed by a spring. When a voltage is applied, the solenoid pulls the plunger open. The terminals to the canister MUST be polarity sensitive...if I understand how this thing works. The connector for the canister has two paired yellow wires for one canister terminal and two paired light blue wires for the other canister terminal. Looking at the dash harness connector that plugs into the canister, It looks like I'm free to install it anyway I want. I can install the connector positioned so the yellow wires connect to the left terminal or positioned so the light blue wires connect to the left terminal. I think only one orientation will be correct. ????

Comment: Notice the bracket that attaches the bottom of the tach to the dash panel. This is the bracket that also has the electrical/vacuum solenoid attached to it. This bracket is only for 68-72 C3's. When the vacuum windshield door was eliminated, this bracket was changed. I bought a repro dash panel for the 70. The repro panels are configured for the 73 and up cars. I had to get a tach bracket from a 73 and up car for the repro panel to install in my 70.

Alan 71

Hi 68/70,
My understanding is that the electrical connection for the solenoid can be made either way.
To a certain degree Chevrolet was pretty good about making certain that connections that needed to be made in a certain way had connectors that only could be connected in one one way…. for example 2 prongs with one turned at an angle to the other or one large and one small prong.
Regards,
Alan

Dave J

It's been a while since I tried it in a car, I believe you are correct. The connector can be attached in either orientation. When I bench test these solenoids I use a 12 volt transformer to apply current to the connectors. It doesn't make any difference either way.

btw, Did you see this thread?
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...m-and-fix.html

68/70Vette

Looks like you are correct. I just used my battery charger as a 12 volt power source. For vacuum, it used a Craftsman branded mini-vac. Unpowered, the input and output ports are "open;"i.e. not possible to hold a vacuum. When I placed 12 volt on a terminal, I heard a click and then the port near the attaching bracket would hold a vacuum. I then interchanged the 12 volts to the other terminal, there was a click, and once again I could get a vacuum. Thanks!

Thanks also Dave J. When you look at the solenoid plunger, you can see it has conical rubber seals at each end of the solenoid plunger. It will seal if it moves down relative to the coil, or if it moves up relative to the coil. Strange that they designed an ambidextrous plunger!
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It's been a few years since I removed the dash panels in the interior, the vacuum lines, and the steering column. I'm now in the process of putting it all back together. My clutch/brake/gas pedals and shafts are all like new. I bought a new interior harness from Lectric Limited, since the previous owner buggered the original harness with a custom stereo installation and an aftermarket anti-theft system. My interior is going back to all stock. I've done pretty much all of this twice in my lifetime, but it's been years ago, so once again getting everything back in place looks like a big puzzle..that's why it's fun.