Hi guys, I am working on my 72 Skylark with a 350 Buick. When I removed the thermostat housing I removed this solenoid? from the thermostat housing. It has 2 wires going to it and vacuum ports top and bottom. There are no lines hooked to it? Can anyone tell me what it is, what it does, and if I need to hook it back up? Is this part of the timing advance I have read about on here? Car runs and drives fine but does run a little warm(205-210), hence why I was looking at the thermostat. Thank you!
That is the TCS (Transmission Controlled Spark) solenoid. It holds off the vacuum advance until you are in 3rd gear. Unless you are going for a concours restoration, you can bypass it, tape off the wires and forget about it. My 71 4-speed car had one and I cut the resistor off of it and used it for my electric choke upgrade on my Qjet carb. It will not help your car run cooler if it is hooked up. Instead, retarding the timing could cause it to run warm. I'd power time it per this thread. https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/power-timing-your-buick-v8.63475/
205-210 isn’t bad . Good for emissions. But you probably have a weak fan clutch or a slightly plugged radiator . If you have the timing set to the factory specifications, add a few degrees of timing. 4 maybe depending on your year of car.
My 2013 Ford F150 with 5.0 motor runs at 205* all the time pulling a camper or not still runs at that temp, I would imagine that is for emissions. My Buick does run at 180-190 with a 180 stat, good clutch fan. Might get to 195 if sitting in drive on a hot 85* day. Get the rad cleaned out usually it is the bottom that is plugged and that is where you get the coldest water from for motor.
