Spare Wire - hood latch - helicoil plugs

[stmoci]

I have a 92 Lumina Z34 which I just had the plenum and lower intake off to fix the distributor shaft leak. While taking it apart I notice a spare wire with plug on it down by the battery that was not attached to anything. I have gotten the car running and I am trying to tie up the loose ends and check for leaks. Does anybody know what this wire could possibly be? It is in a sheath with a black wire that is going to the post wire you jump start the car from. My air conditioner hasn't worked for quit some time, so could this be for that and where does it plug into? Maybe it is just a spare that GM has in there for something that the car doesn't have?

Anybody ever replace the hood latch cable on one of these? It also decided to break.

I would also like to change the plugs but I know one of them is held in there with a helicoil that was put in without taking the heads off about 6 years ago. Can a person safely get the plugs out or will the helicoil come with it?

Thank!
JB

[3100 MPFI]

First of all, the spare wire. If it is anything like the one in my car (red wire with a gray connector), it is for priming the fuel pump. If you touch the end of it to a battery source, you should hear your fuel pump turn on and run until you remove the power source.

I have done several hood release cables. Only advice I have is that you have to remove it from the interior. Get it totally ready to come out, reach up to the firewall and undo the grommet (it is twisted in place like a screw). Before you pull the old cable out, tie a piece of string to the end on the drivers side. When you pull the cable through, you can then untie the string, tie the new cable to the string, then pull the new cable through the firewall with the screw. Makes it a LOT easier to get it in.

If the helicoil was not done right, then yes, it will come out with the sparkplug. If it was done right, it should stay in.

I have a helicoil on cylinder 1 in my 1990 Grand Prix STE with the 3.1 MPFI. When the helicoil came out, I just screwed a new one onto the new sparkplug, and threaded it in. I know it is not the proper way to do it, but once it was tightened in, it has been fine, and not leaked, or messed up at all since I did the plugs almost 8K miles ago.

[IsaacHayes]

If that is the fuel pump wire it's used to test the fuel pump directly by by-passing the fuel pump relay. That way you know if it's the pump or the relay.

[3100 MPFI]

I ran out to my car and snapped some pics for you.

First of all, whenever you have questions like this, if you can get pics, that will almost always be the biggest help.

This is the area that I think you are talking about. You can see the red wire with the gray connector there.


This is the fuel pump prime wire. As Isaac said, it is to bypass the relay to turn the fuel pump on.


Lastly, this is the only AC component in that area. The thing I circled is the AC PRESSURE sensor. If you look down to the AC lines just below the battery, it is on the bottom line sticking out.

[stmoci]

Great information! Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Once I get the hood latch cable back on the car should be ready to go, which is going to beat the hell out of my pickup with gas the way it is!

JB