95 GTS - What is this plug?

doctorj357

5 Year Member
Aug 7, 2018
94
23
18
Michigan
As I was crawling underneath the car the other day to install new O2s, I happened to notice a plug in my passenger fender well not connected to anything. About a month ago I took the liner out to do some testing on the EGR system / valve / vac lines / solenoid. Anyway the liner is still out, leaving everything underneath exposed. I just happened to glance up and see this plug sitting there. Its not connected by fault of anything I've done, so have no clue really. Could it be for accessories maybe the car was never equipped with? Like cruise control maybe?

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So interesting you said that. I looked it up and very first thing that I noted, was articles about faulty valve causing a gas smell inside the car. Which is exactly what I've been experiencing lately. How it burns your eyes a little bit and when I get moving it dissipates quickly. This was the article I stubbled across

http://www.themustangnews.com/conte...-odor-issue/nggallery/slideshow/#.W_RscuhKiM9


Just to verify, I resorted to my service manual and followed the diagram and sure nuff, its exactly what it is 'Purge Canister Valve'

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But wait a min, that's for a 3.8 it says....... and I have a 5.0. But it clearly matches whats in the service manual. I traded the line and it connects to the vapor return tube on the canister. The line could be in better shape, little crackly and probably will replace it.

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So if I look at the 5.0 diagram, it shows the Purge Canister Valve away from the firewall, on the passenger side fender apron with the charcoal canister towards the front bumper.

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I'm wondering if this is one of Ford's wonder extras they threw in for free. As in the wiring harness is indeed for a V6, but the plug for the 5.0 was also supplied as part of the EGR vac harness. Kind of like how these cars are [OBD I] but they decided to include the [OBD II] port on it, even though its not connected to anything on the GT, but is on the V6
 
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The purge canister valve and charcoal canister are identical between the 94-95 GT and 94-98 V6. I kept both when doing my Cobra swap. Not sure about the use of the plug offhand, but cruise control is all on the driver's side. The only thing electrical I remember on the passenger side is solenoids for emissions. Your gas smell would definitely be caused by the cracked hoses on both sides of the purge canister valve. Not sure if you know how that stuff works - fumes from the gas tank are collected in the charcoal canister. When at part throttle (I think), the purge canister valve opens and engine vacuum pulls the fumes from the charcoal canister into the engine.