Big_Z

Ok, so i checked the EGR. Simple enough. The diaphragm works ok, but i started the car and took off the hose and theres no vacuum in that hose! why not? also, as a random note since it seems possibly related, on top of the thermostat housing, there is a bolt jobby that a little thing plugs into, and it has a little hose that goes back into itself. that hose that plugs into that bolt broke off. it wasnt plugged into anything, it just ran around into its self. I'll see if i can find a camera and show you what i mean. But what about the no vacuum to the EGR? how do i fix that? thanks!

Big_Z

Ok, so i looked again, and there are two little hose jobs coming out of the thermostat housing. The one on the left broke. The one on the right is actually connected to things, whereas the one on the left just looped back into itself

BlowBye

Reason there is no vacuum is cause the EGR works under load or at Throttle. Its sort of like a timed vacuum. What the EGR does is recycle the unburned fuel back to cool down down the combustion process, lowering temperature in the Combustion chamber. This is of course only done while at WOT and not at Idle.

Big_Z

hmm, interesting. how do i check if its getting vacuum like it should then? do i see if it does anything while the engine is revved up? I figured out one big problem, there was a huge rip in one hose, so i fixed that and it idles at like 550 now instead of 900 And it runs a ton and a wad better. we'll see what it does once its cold though, it usually runs badly when its cold. I still hear a bit of a hiss though, could there be another leak somewhere or is that just what it sounds like? thanks!

EDIT: scatch that, I just checked it with the engine revved up some and i felt some vacuum. good times! lets see what it does when i take it to get tested again

Big_Z

thought I'd post again before i go take it to get tested. It runs like a charm now, even when cold But when i first start it, it puffs out a bit of blue smoke. I dont remember that doing that much before. Will that be a problem when i take it to get tested, as long as its warmed up? thanks

Big_Z

grr. sometimes my car drives me nuts. last time it got 15 on the hydrocarbons, this time it got 24 Its supposed to be two. The only that is different, is i think i fixed all the vacuum leaks, i advanced the timing back around to stock, i drove about 65 for 20 minutes or so to warm it up, used 93 octane instead of 92, and its raining out. I also replaced the filter on the vacuum canister and the pcv filter, as well as cleaning some gunk off hte pcv. last time the timing was retarded a bit, and i didnt warm up the engine very well. what could be wrong?

edit: last time the CO was 1, this time it was 20 that is still under the limit of 30 though. what gives?

Big_Z

So I was lookin around, and looked in my haynes manual. those two things coming off the thermostat housing are TVS switches. one of them connects to the distributer, the other one (That i broke) connects to the EFE or early fuel evaporation system. there is another one of these on the intake manifold that goes to the EGR. they all have lines that go to the carb. the one to the EFE is broken, and it also never had a vacuum line to the carb or to the EFE itself. It just had one hose that looped into itself, instead of to the carb and the EFE. not only that, but the EFE was not connected to the exhaust manifold as it should be, it was just sitting there in the engine bay how do i replace it? I dont know how it mounts. the haynes manual says the exhaust must be dropped. also, where can i get a new one of these TVS's for the EFE? and where does that vacuum line go on the carb? I cant find a port for it. thank you very much

doug791

that sounds bad. Not sure how all of that is set up because my car is tpi and im assuming itd be much different but that would definitly have a large impact on your emissions. other things to check for....You said before your air filters were really gunked up did you ever change those? That wont be enough to fix your problem but it needs to be done. Also check your oxygen sensor. If it is broken thatll kill you.

Big_Z

anyone else know how this thing hooks up before i just start pulling exhaust pipes apart? im gonna pick up a chiltons manual because this haynes is crap. thanks a bunches