what is this?

[mdj14]

What is the spring loaded air flap that is attached to the air cleaner housing on my '86 cabby? It has two ports for hoses. I have one of the hoses intact, it runs to something under the radiator. The other port has no hose attached and I do not know where it should lead. I have added a picture below. Please help.

[gull]

What is the spring loaded air flap that is attached to the air cleaner housing on my '86 cabby? It has two ports for hoses. I have one of the hoses intact, it runs to something under the radiator. The other port has no hose attached and I do not know where it should lead. I have added a picture below. Please help.

That's the intake preheater valve. The other hose comes from the exhaust manifold area. The idea is to preheat the air going into the engine in cold weather. It reduces emissions on cold starts and prevents intake icing.

If you decide to hook it back up, you'll want to make sure the thermostatic valve in there is working right, too. Otherwise you might have hot air going into the engine all the time, which can hurt performance.

Amusing side note: My old V4 Saab has a rather more straightforward way of doing the same thing. The air cleaner on top of the engine has a long snout on it that extends down the side of the engine. In the winter, you rotate the air cleaner cover so the snout points at one of the exhaust downpipes.

[mdj14]

thank you

[sixsracing]

Gull, does that mean you have a Sonnet? Very cool car if you do.

[gull]

Good guess, but not quite. It's actually a 95.

It needs a lot of work right now, but I've driven it enough to figure out it's going to be quite a lot of fun to toss around.

[sixsracing]

That's too bad, Sonnetts are way cool. The Saab 9-5 shouldn't be that difficult.
I thought they were hub assemblies. I also did not realize that they were V4's.
Learn something new everyday.

This is Vacationland, if it will make it we can do it.

[gull]

Not a 9-5...a 95. Looks like this:

[sixsracing]

Aaaaahhh. I didn't realize that was the model of those. There is actually one of those
right up the road from here in front of a barn. Are they front wheel drive?

[gull]

Yup, longitudinal front wheel drive. It's the same basic drivetrain as a Sonnett, actually -- just with a somewhat lower final drive ratio, and a column shifter instead of a floor shifter.