My commute to work is about 45 minutes depending on weather, traffic and how lucky I feel on the interstate. In recent weeks as in the rest of the country we have had some cold weather. During that time my car heater quit working and it felt just as cold inside the car as out minus the wind. The fan worked so I knew it wasn’t that. My first thought was the water was low. There was the least bit of warmth coming out of the vent if I had the fan on low so I knew I had some water in the radiator. I looked at my temp gauge and it barely moved off of cold. I opened the radiator and it was full so what else could it be? HMMMMMM?

My second guess was the thermostat was sticking open. I popped the hood and looked for the ole standard gooseneck that has been common on cars for ages. They normally sit right on top the intake where they are simple to change. Wellllll, hmmmmmmmmm? Theres the top hose. Its usually on the end of that, but that’s way under there, Would they put it under there?? Uhh, well by golly they certainly did. (Makes note to chat with GM thermostat postioner/designer dude. Take cattle prod.)

This is what it looks like. $14.95 In stock.

Warning: the following pictures contain graphic images of automoble innards.


No, I dont typically jury rig my car repairs but the wire tie cruise cable repair $.25 versus $75.00 for a new cable? No contest. The Vacuun hose was done an hour prior to heading to a wedding 45 miles away. It was 97 degrees out and I will be in a suit. No vacuum means No AC and No Cruise. Sooooo it had to be done quick.


I had to take the Filter housing top off as well as the mass air flow sensor just to get to other stuff I needed to remove. I had to get physical with a couple of the water lines to get them off. Dont worry I am ok. Now. LOL You cant buy those replacement tubes from anyone but GM but if you know your local parts house dealer he will let you around back to compare with similar hoses that might work instead. I was lucky they had something I could modify to fit.


There she is. Buried way down under the throttle assembly and between the block and the exhaust header. It was hard to get the bottom bolt loose due to clearance issues but I had an offset wrench that worked nicely. I know I know you wanted to see inside the gooseneck to prove I did it but my hands we pretty nasty by that time. However, I do have toasty toes to prove it.


Here she is all buttoned back up. Well actually thats the same picture as the first one just not marked up. But thats the goal aint it? To make it look just like it was before you started? Other wise you got problems.

So now I cruising and singing in a warm car. I dont have to wear gloves as I drive and I got a rise out of the Temp Gauge needle. That was fun and rewarding.

Hope y'all are staying warm.