what is this disconnected vacuum line for??!

[douellette88]

alright under my hood there is a vacuum line that is either disconnected or broken, it looks like it goes to some sort of solenoid. here is some pics:
picture of the solenoid (located rear passenger side, is the thing in the center of the picture)


pic of the end of the line (located under the air intake tube, then attaches to front valve cover then goes to the solenoid thing)

[willwren]

Is this the Sunfire in your profile, or a real car of some different type?

[1fatcat]

I don't think sunfires came with 3800's, but it doesn't look like a bonneville, does it? My guess is it's an EVAP line.

[douellette88]

Sorry, it's my new 97 SSEI. Does it look like something major?

[Mechanical Mike]

Are both pictures showing the same part?
Second pic looks like it's from the driver's side.

Edit - Never mind - I missed the text between the two pics.

[1fatcat]

Would this happen to be a california emissions car instead of a federal emissions car? Now that I don't own a bonneville anymore, I forget what they look like under the hood. Maybe it's for an air injection reaction pump? Your underhood sticker should say if it's california emissions or federal emissions.

[1fatcat]

Does it look like something major?

In my opinion, if it was from the factory, it's major. Just one vaccum leak (depending on where and how big it is) can affect multiple different systems.

[Echo SSEI]

My guess is it's an EVAP line.

Definitely the line that connects the Evap Purge Solenoid (solenoid in center of top pic that you've identified) to the Evap Cannister. The hard line below the air intake tube in bottom pic is held in place by a bolt in the front head and runs to the black evap canister located next to the PCM. I think the line in the second pic actually is supposed to run just underneath (or just above) the throttle body (I can't remember exactly. Just connect the solenoid to the line below the air intake tube and you should be be good. IIRC, the line that your missing was hard plastic but could be replaced with some non-hard plastic tubing.

The cannister and evap tube work as an emmissions control device. Leaving it disconneted may eventually throw an evap purge emissions code/check engine light.

EDIT - there is also an evap purge actuator (small rectangular black plastic box near the solenoid). I can't remember if the tube from the canister goes to the solenoid or the actuator, then another short tube connects the actuator and soloneid. There should be an emission label in the engine bay that shows the coorect routing of the tubes/lines.