From: David Chamberland [dave@nvs.com] Sent: Tuesday, August 15, 2000 5:51 PM To: 928 Subject: [928] About the Stainless Stainless Y Connectors As I expected a number of people have asked some questions about the connector. Rather than respond individually I'm going to attempt to sum up the facts as I know them. What is this Y connector? The Y connector in question is a roughly 2 inch long plastic connector that connects two fuel vapor recovery lines - they snake into the front right-side wheel well from the engine compartment - with a single line running to a charcoal cannister. The cannister is located at the back of the right-side wheel well and filters the vapor before return to the fuel system. The connector is under quite a bit of bending stress and thus seems to break. Furthermore it seems to be one of those 928 problem areas albeit a minor one. Do I need one? The vapor recovery system is, according to the shop manuals, only present on MY 87 or newer 928s. This y-connector is prone to breakage due to age, etc. What is the symptom of a broken Y connector? The symptom of a broken y-connector is a fuel smell most noticeable when coming to a stop with the right-side window rolled down. Where is this connector and how do I get to it? The Y connector is located underneath the front right-side wheel arch. You'll need to take off the well liner. There are about 8 hex screws that hold the liner in place. The liner is held in place not only by the screws but is also wedged underneath the lip of the fender. Once you've got the liner out stick your head under there the rest should be obvious. How to I get the broken pieces out? Any way you can. I used a tap and threaded the inside of the broken pieces, screwed in a bolt, and then pulled. What are my alternatives? If your Y connector is broken then, as far as I know, you can do one of three things: a) You can replace the broken connector with a new one. New ones cost $2 to $5 depending upon how evil your parts supplier is. I'm sure Dave Roberts or either of the Tomases will sell you a new one for about $2. Mark Anderson probably doesn't have any since according to Mark "They always break when we try to remove them." The OEM connectors are made from plastic. Some last the life of your shark. Some sharks seem to need a constant supply of new plastic connectors. b) You can replace the hoses with more flexible hoses that don't put as much pressure on the connector. c) You can buy one of my Stainless Steel Y Connectors. What about these Stainless Steel Connectors? How are they made, etc.? The SS Y Connectors that I hope to, once again, have made are hand-crafted by the owner of a company that makes surgical-grade stainless steel components for the Bio-Tech industry. The design he works from is a CAD drawing of the original piece. The basic elements are cut from SS tubing and welded together. The weld is machined down a bit and the resulting part is sand blasted to make it nice and shiny. The only major difference between the OEM part and the SS replacement is that the replacement part does not have the barb at the end of each fitting. This has not been a problem since the fuel vapor carried by the connector is not under pressure, the fit is very tight, and there are hose clamps on all three connections. The stainless shop in question generally works only in English sizes. The shop is manned by a bunch of Harley-type guys that have a bit of a made-in-the-USA disposition. The size of the part is such that they can use stainless tubing that would otherwise be simply discarded - remnants so-to-speak. Thus, while the size of the tubing is non-metric the charge for materials is zero. The result is that the tubing used will be slightly over-sized. The outer diameter if the main part of the connector will be 0.5 inch tubing rather than 0.472 inches (12mm) and the smaller part of the Y will be 0.375 inches rather than 0.354 inches (9mm). Thus the part will be over-sized by .7mm for the two large ends and .5mm for the smaller end. -- David Chamberland 91 928GT (Amazonagrunmetallic: Green. NO! Blue! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!) 928 Owners Club Charter Member (http://www.928oc.org) From: Jim [jim@928intl.com] Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2000 3:34 PM To: 928 Subject: [928] Re: Still More about the Stainless Stainless Y Connectors The Y is part of the fuel tank vapor ventilation system -- the fuel tank is in the right rear of the car , it looks like an old-fashioned teapot . The top of the spout is where the gas cap is located . Above the right rear wheel there is a small plastic reservoir(shaped like a bed pan) it connects to the top of the fuel tank near the gas cap . If liquid gasoline overflows the tank due to thermal expansion it holds the liquid . The reservoir also has a vent line that has a check valve allowing it to inhale but not exhale, thus keeping the gas tank from collapsing as the fuel is sucked out of the tank . There is a second line and check valve attached to the reservoir that goes forward under the car and up into the right front fender . It attaches to the charcoal canister ,a black cylinder approx 5 inches diameter 12 inches length . The charcoal canister absorbs fuel vapors when the engine is not running . The Y connector is connected to the hose from the canister and the hose from the rear reservoir and to the hose that runs to the engine . When the engine is running a vacuum switch opens and a small amount of air is pulled into the intake purging the fuel vapors from the charcoal container . The actual plumbing ,vents ,deceleration valves vary from year to year . The Y connector is in the right front fender behind the inner fender liner for 85> newer it can only be seen under the fender . When this connector breaks some fuel vapors may escape under the fender and find their way back under the fender and up into the cowl area where the fresh air intake is located giving a fuel smell when the tank is very full . My 79 will do this if the tank is filled completely two blocks from home and parked in the garage . If I can get it away from my wife for a day I will fix it or maybe I will work on the TRACK CAR instead. Jim Bailey 928 International jim@928intl.com 79 928 5spd 80 928 5spd 68 911 5spd