EGR....i think.

[92foxconvertibl]

ok. i just purchased a beautiful 1992 lx 5.0 convertible. it has 57000 miles (original and on title) and i am the third owner. my goal is to keep this car stock and nice. i believe the original owner may have bypassed the EGR. here is my question. they apparently plugged the pipe for the egr w/a spark plug....apparently it just threaded into place. but there is no check engine light like there should be and i dont see where it should originally go into the intake. there is no plugged hole there. i met a guy the other day with a modified 1993 GT and his is the same way. what appears to be the egr is plugged (although not with the spark plug) and his check engine light is on. it cant be a flamethrower or anything like that because it's not in the exhaust itself and i am really trumped. we looked in a haynes manual for what it may be and it isnt even mentioned. i am going to ford on monday to purchase a real shop manual to try to figure this out but if anyone knows and is willing to help i would greatly appreciate it. this is a great car and i am trying to keep it the way it was built.

 

[Michael Yount]

Have you got any pictures? The egr system on the car is fed from a port in the head up through an internal passage in the intake manifold. The egr valve bolts onto the back side of the egr spacer in between the throttle body and the manifold. To remove it a block off the hole requires some sort of metal plate.

Now the air injection (smog pump) system runs into a crossover pipe across the back of the heads, and has a fitting for each head which it pumps air into under cold start conditions. Many people take off the smog pump and crossover, and I've heard of plugging the holes in the back of the heads with the correct size spark plug.

So, which system are you talking about?

 

[92foxconvertibl]

pic

not sure what system to be honest. here are some pictures.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Hahaha, oh man i've never seen it done that way before.

That's not the EGR. It's part of it but the EGR is the big rusty round thing up next to the throttle body.

That pipe comes from the back of the heads and leads down to the smog pump. There are two solenoids ahead of it which if they are disconnected will throw codes but not a CE light.

Does your car have the smog pump still in place? We need a few more pictures to tell us what you are missing. That pipe should have 2 or 3 rubber houses with black check solenoids in line running down to the smog pump on the lower pass side of the engine.

I'm sure tons of guys will have these parts laying around if you ask as they are commonly removed. I myself removed them

 

[Michael Yount]

foxvert -- what 5L5 said; they've disabled the air injection system, not the egr. Funny thing is - there's little to be gained by disabling either system.

Is the air pump still on the car? If it hasn't been run for a while (short belt), it's probably locked up and will have to be replaced.

 

[92foxconvertibl]

sorry. here is some more info. the actual location is right beside the cylinder head on the passanger side if it helps at all.

 

[92foxconvertibl]

where is the air pump located? air injection system? sorry for the questions but i'm trying to return this car to stock. how much am i looking at to get this done? i'll be posting more pictures of the car in the picture section shortly

 

[Michael Yount]

The air pump (smog pump), if it's still present, is located under the alternator on the same bracket. There are also two thermactor switches that control where the air goes -- they have vacuum connections, and connections to the computer. The computer tells the air from the pump where to go -- on cold start up diverting it to the heads (where your spark plug is) so the cold air doesn't interfere with converter light-off; once warm either bypassing it or sending it to the cats so the system has excess oxygen with which to work.

 

[92foxconvertibl]

i'll take a look tomorrow morning. it's dark here now and i will post back. so basically, if i understand what your saying is that someone bypassed part of the EGR and maybe the smog pump(?) may have to be replaced? also, i saw short belt on a previous post. my car has a serpentine belt.......havnt looked under the hood of many 5.0's.

 

[joel5.0]

where is the air pump located? air injection system? sorry for the questions but i'm trying to return this car to stock. how much am i looking at to get this done? i'll be posting more pictures of the car in the picture section shortly

If you really want to restore the Thermactor system, this diagram will help you id the components of the system and the ones you need to replace/re-install. Keep in mind, that there are 2 solenoids that control the vacuum to the diverter and bypass valves, they are located at the back of the RH strut tower, check this description of the two solenoids (known as TAB/TAD or AM1/AM2 solenoids). GL

 

[joel5.0]

i'll take a look tomorrow morning. it's dark here now and i will post back. so basically, if i understand what your saying is that someone bypassed part of the EGR and maybe the smog pump(?) may have to be replaced? also, i saw short belt on a previous post. my car has a serpentine belt.......havnt looked under the hood of many 5.0's.

Check the different short belts configurations vs. the stock one here. GL

 

[Michael Yount]

No - you're misunderstanding. What we're talking about here has NOTHING to do with the EGR system. The EGR valve is the device that's in between the throttle body and the upper intake on the back-side. You can see it in the first picture.

What's missing is at least part of the air injection plumbing -- the piping that connects the pump (we don't know if it's missing or not) to the cross-over tube. The cross-over is that piece running around to the back of the heads that has the spark plug in it. I doubt they just took the plumbing out -- I'd bet the pump is missing too.

 

[92foxconvertibl]

well i took a look under my hood this morning and the smog pump is gone. maybe it froze up in the past and they just bypassed it instead of fixing it. so off to ford i go on monday. thanks for the help guys.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Prepare to get raped.

You can prob pick that up on ebay dirt cheap or you can find someone that will give it to you for free.

Most likely it will be discontinued since it's past the 10 year obligation Ford has to carry parts for a vehicle. Unless they used that exact same smog pump on a vehicle until 1996, you will be out of luck.

 

[Michael Yount]

Try AutoZone or PepBoys on Sunday instead...

 

[92foxconvertibl]

good deal. there is an autozone about 30 yards off post.thanks again.

 

[mustangsally93]

good deal. there is an autozone about 30 yards off post.thanks again.

Where is your post? whats you mos?

 

[HISSIN50]

If someone mentioned needing a smog pump, LRS sells them for 60 bucks, and parts stores sell reman'd units for under 50.

Good luck.