After removing the rats nest of crud wiring that the previous owner had made, I fount this thingy was unplugged. It also looks as though it should have a vacuum hose attached to it, and I am betting this thing has something to do with my cruise control not working.
Any idea what this is called?

 

Low vacuum sensor.

 

Yep, it was probably turning the light on because there was an actual low vacuum problem, but someone decided to just unplug it instead of repairing the problem. So you probably have a vacuum leak that's causing the cruise control problem.

 

Yup, snapped the plastic nipple off of mine too trying to unplug the hose. Gonna mix up some 2 part epoxy and glue it back together.

 

A previous owner fixed mine by screwing a (very) used MIG welding tip into the hole left by the broken nipple and sealing it with RTV. When I knocked it loose, I liked the fix so much I just upgraded it by epoxying the welding tip back in the hole.

The tip was so burnt up I couldn't tell what the part number was, but it looks like a standard Tweco style tip.

 

Thanks guys!
So where should the vacuum hose go to from this sensor?


Oh and single strand wire, marrettes and scotchlock (the connectors that pierce the wire) have no place on any vehicle.

 

They get pretty brittle after 19 years.

I'm going to mix up the epoxy, put a wad of it over the broken end, match the broken ends up and clamp it. After it's good and dry, I'll run a 1/16" drill bit down the hole to open it up again at the break.

It connects to the brake booster tee to sense vacumm.